---
type: "Bill"
title: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning criminal law."
description: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning criminal law."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 479"
citation: "Indiana SB 479 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["MOTOR VEHICLES", "Traffic Violations and Penalties", "CRIMES AND OFFENSES", "Sentencing"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Eric Koch", "John Young", "Joseph Zakas"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 23
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-01-12"
last_action: "2017-04-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6d71be22-89e7-4ba6-a921-3c6211d80f17"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/senate/479"
source_hash: "6aa993bcb229cb50fbe274a6173cfad12a52e67cf2cee360a55f539602366c98"
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 479 (2017) — A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning criminal law.

## 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/sb0479/versions/sb0479.03.engs)
2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0479/versions/sb0479.05.enrh)
3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0479/versions/sb0479.01.intr)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0479/versions/sb0479.02.coms)
5. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2017/bills/sb0479/versions/sb0479.04.comh)

## Votes

- SB 479 - Koch - 3rd Reading — **45–5** (pass) · legislature
- SB 479 - Young J - 3rd Reading — **98–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Eric Koch — primary (person)
- John Young — primary (person)
- Joseph Zakas — primary (person)
- Chris May — cosponsor (person)
- Gregory Steuerwald — cosponsor (person)
- Thomas Washburne — cosponsor (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 Corrections and Criminal Law `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2017-02-23** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2017-02-27** Amendment #1 (Koch) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2017-02-27** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-02-27** Senator Zakas added as second author
- **2017-02-28** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 238: yeas 45, nays 5 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-02-28** House sponsor: Representative Washburne
- **2017-02-28** Cosponsors: Representatives Steuerwald and May
- **2017-03-01** Referred to the House
- **2017-03-07** First reading: referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2017-03-27** Representative Washburne removed as sponsor
- **2017-03-27** Representative Young J added as sponsor
- **2017-03-27** Representative Washburne added as cosponsor
- **2017-03-30** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2017-04-03** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2017-04-04** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 384: yeas 98, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2017-04-05** Returned to the Senate without amendments
- **2017-04-10** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2017-04-19** Signed by the Speaker
- **2017-04-20** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2017-04-21** Public Law 123
- **2017-04-21** 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/6d71be22-89e7-4ba6-a921-3c6211d80f17`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).