---
type: "Bill"
title: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning property."
description: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning property."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 478"
citation: "Indiana SB 478 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["EASEMENTS", "LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL; LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY", "PROPERTY", "TELECOMMUNICATIONS", "Telephone", "Television", "Radio", "and Internet", "UTILITIES", "STUDY COMMITTEES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Eric Koch", "James Merritt", "Matt Lehman"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 45
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-01-12"
last_action: "2017-04-28"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/1b521620-4172-4642-88d4-dd4584fced58"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/senate/478"
source_hash: "8a8f5f6a3d17045e11272959b16450bd86220478e634f1770c6163680085f3f1"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana SB 478 (2017) — A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning property.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0478/versions/sb0478.03.engs)
2. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0478/versions/sb0478.05.engh)
3. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0478/versions/sb0478.06.enrh)
4. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0478/versions/sb0478.01.intr)
5. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0478/versions/sb0478.04.comh)
6. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0478/versions/sb0478.02.coms)

## Votes

- SB 478 - Koch - 3rd Reading — **48–2** (pass) · legislature
- SB 478 - Lehman - 3rd Reading — **95–2** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Eric Koch — primary (person)
- James Merritt — primary (person)
- Matt Lehman — primary (person)
- Andy Zay — coauthor (person)
- Dale DeVon — cosponsor (person)
- David Ober — cosponsor (person)
- Dennis Kruse — coauthor (person)
- Ed Charbonneau — coauthor (person)
- Erin Houchin — coauthor (person)
- Jean Leising — coauthor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)
- Sharon Negele — cosponsor (person)
- Timothy Lanane — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-12** Authored by Senator Koch
- **2017-01-12** First reading: referred to Committee on Utilities `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2017-02-13** Senator Merritt added as second author
- **2017-02-16** Senator Lanane added as coauthor
- **2017-02-16** Senator Leising added as coauthor
- **2017-02-20** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2017-02-23** Senator Charbonneau added as coauthor
- **2017-02-27** Amendment #3 (Koch) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2017-02-27** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-02-27** Senator Houchin added as coauthor
- **2017-02-28** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 237: yeas 48, nays 2 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-02-28** House sponsor: Representative Ober
- **2017-02-28** Cosponsors: Representatives Negele and DeVon
- **2017-02-28** Senator Kruse added as coauthor
- **2017-02-28** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2017-03-01** Referred to the House
- **2017-03-07** First reading: referred to Committee on Utilities, Energy and Telecommunications `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2017-03-28** Representative Ober removed as sponsor
- **2017-03-28** Representative Lehman added as sponsor
- **2017-03-28** Representative Ober added as cosponsor
- **2017-04-03** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2017-04-05** Amendment #2 (Hatfield) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-05** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-04-05** Motion to divide the question on Amendment #1 (Pierce) prevailed; Roll Call 395: yeas 61, nays 31 `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-05** Amendment #1 (Ober) Question 1 [Sec. 17] failed; voice vote `amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-05** Amendment #1 (Ober) Question 2 [Sec. 18] prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-06** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 418: yeas 95, nays 2 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-04-07** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-10** Motion to dissent filed
- **2017-04-10** Senate conferees appointed: Koch and Stoops
- **2017-04-10** Senate advisors appointed: Merritt, Lanane and Zay
- **2017-04-10** Senate dissented from House amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2017-04-11** House advisors appointed: Lehman, Bacon, Cherry and Pierce
- **2017-04-11** House conferees appointed: Ober and Hatfield
- **2017-04-12** Representative Negele added as advisor
- **2017-04-13** Senator Zay added as coauthor
- **2017-04-20** CCR # 1 filed in the Senate
- **2017-04-20** CCR # 1 filed in the House
- **2017-04-20** Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the House; Roll Call 513: yeas 96, nays 2
- **2017-04-21** Signed by the Speaker
- **2017-04-21** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2017-04-21** Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the Senate; Roll Call 497: yeas 49, nays 1
- **2017-04-25** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2017-04-28** Public Law 236
- **2017-04-28** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/1b521620-4172-4642-88d4-dd4584fced58`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).