Bill would make it harder to change gender on Indiana IDs
Indiana residents would face more hurdles changing their gender on driver’s licenses or other credentials issued by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles under changes approved by a House panel.
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Indiana offers nonbinary gender option on licenses, IDs
Indiana residents who don’t identify as male or female have the option starting this month of describing themselves as a nonbinary gender on their driver’s licenses and state identification cards.
Duke Energy to create plan for Indiana coal ash ponds
Duke Energy will need to create a corrective action plan for its coal ash ponds in Indiana after mandatory groundwater testing found the ponds have contaminants at levels higher than groundwater protection standards.
Tax Court vacates previous remand in McCordsville dispute
Three months after remanding a dispute to the Indiana Board of Tax Review with instructions to conduct another hearing, the Indiana Tax Court has vacated that opinion and ruled the claims by co-trustees are barred and untimely.
Indiana lawmakers have 400 bills at session’s halfway mark
Indiana lawmakers are entering the second half of the legislative session with more than 400 bills still alive, covering issues including teacher pay, gambling and hate crimes.
Charlestown residents challenging sale of water utility
A group of residents from Charlestown is challenging the sale of the local water utility to Indiana-American Water, a transaction that comes with a $13.4 million price tag. Charlestown officials say the sale will improve the local water quality in the long run while mitigating rate increases, but the challenging residents claim the opposite.
SCOTUS to determine when permits are necessary to pollute navigable waters
The US Supreme Court is reviewing a lower court ruling that seemingly expands the Clean Water Act. Under the 9th Circuit’s decision, any pollutant found in navigable water that is “fairly traceable” to a permittable discharge source is subject to permitting requirements, even if the source of the pollutant does not discharge directly into a navigable water.
Ruling in smart meter case highlights privacy concerns
A ruling from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals about smart meters inspired contradictory reactions as the appellate panel held that data collected through the devices by a public utility is protected by the Fourth Amendment, but then, in the next breath, found the search by the Naperville, Illinois, power company was reasonable.
Lake Michigan public use bill advances to Indiana House
A bill establishing in state law the permitted public uses of the shore of Lake Michigan passed the Indiana Senate on Monday and now moves to the House for consideration.
House passes tighter rules on Indiana veterans fund grants
A bill aimed at tightening management of an Indiana grant program for struggling military veterans has been approved by the Indiana House after news reports that a state agency awarded grants to its own employees.
Indiana House passes $34.6B budget along party lines
The Indiana House on Monday passed a $34.6 billion two-year budget along party lines. The budget includes an increase of more than $550 million over two years for the Indiana Department of Child Services.
Indiana seeks injunction against assisted living center where woman died
State officials are seeking an injunction against a western Indiana assisted living center where a woman died after wandering outside on a cold night. The request filed on behalf of the State Department of Health seeks to stop Bethesda Gardens in Terre Haute from providing nursing care outside the scope of an unlicensed assisted living facility.
COA rejects developer’s private pond argument
An Evansville developer’s argument that the Indiana Department of Environmental Management does not have jurisdiction over private ponds did not hold water with the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Indiana agrees to provide Hepatitis C drugs to more Medicaid recipients
An agreement reached in federal court in February will allow Indiana Medicaid recipients infected with Hepatitis C to receive direct-acting antiviral medications, or DAAs, sooner rather than having to wait until the disease has significantly damaged their livers.
Appellate court: Termination of father’s parental rights not erroneous
A Marion County father has lost his appeal of the termination of his parental rights after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined the termination was not clearly erroneous.
Indiana parolees find success, employment after prison
Most people in Indiana’s parole program are finding jobs after their release from prison despite having felony convictions, the program’s director says.
Report: Indiana lawmaker may have violated lobbying laws
A former Indiana lawmaker’s contract with the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs may have violated state lobbying laws, according to a newspaper investigation. Allen Paul received more than $150,000 from July 2015 to December 2018 after signing a lobbying contract with the department nine months after the former Republican senator retired in 2014.
Judge reinstates credit time after DOC withholds potentially exculpatory evidence
An inmate who was one of more than 1,000 inmates in the Department of Correction with the last name “Taylor” has been granted habeas relief from a prison disciplinary proceeding, with a judge finding the man was denied due process when DOC officials failed to explain how he was selected as the correct “Taylor” in the proceedings.
COA: ‘Significant’ DCS failures made termination of parental rights erroneous
A mother won her appeal to reverse an erroneous order terminating her parental rights when the Indiana Court of Appeals found the Department of Child Services committed ‘significant procedural irregularities’ in her case.
Indiana lawmaker seeks to eliminate state child labor laws
An Indiana lawmaker’s efforts to eliminate the state’s child labor laws have raised conflict of interest concerns because he employs hundreds of minors at a ski resort.