---
type: "Bill"
title: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local government."
description: "A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local government."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "SB 139"
citation: "Indiana SB 139 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CORONERS", "DRUGS", "Testing", "HEALTH", "State Department and Agencies"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ed Charbonneau", "James Merritt", "John Ruckelshaus", "Steven Davisson"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 30
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-01-03"
last_action: "2018-03-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d0401875-8780-499a-875f-766f13253537"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2018/bills/senate/139"
source_hash: "6e1344b7d64e2fa03b17eb8f64b1586c6f910b35a6580261398d4dc4082cd70e"
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 139 (2018) — A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local government.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2018/bills/sb0139/versions/sb0139.05.engh)
2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2018/bills/sb0139/versions/sb0139.06.enrh)
3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2018/bills/sb0139/versions/sb0139.01.intr)
4. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2018/bills/sb0139/versions/sb0139.04.comh)
5. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2018/bills/sb0139/versions/sb0139.03.comh)
6. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2018/bills/sb0139/versions/sb0139.02.coms)

## Votes

- SB 139 - Davisson - 3rd Reading — **95–0** (pass) · legislature
- SB 139 - Merritt - 3rd Reading — **47–2** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Ed Charbonneau — primary (person)
- James Merritt — primary (person)
- John Ruckelshaus — primary (person)
- Steven Davisson — primary (person)
- Charlie Brown — cosponsor (person)
- Dennis Zent — cosponsor (person)
- Jean Breaux — coauthor (person)
- Jeff Raatz — coauthor (person)
- Joseph Zakas — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2018-01-03** Authored by Senator Merritt
- **2018-01-03** First reading: referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2018-01-11** Senator Charbonneau added as second author
- **2018-01-18** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2018-01-22** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2018-01-22** Senator Ruckelshaus added as third author
- **2018-01-22** Senator Raatz added as coauthor
- **2018-01-22** Senator Breaux added as coauthor
- **2018-01-23** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 51: yeas 47, nays 2 `reading-3, passage`
- **2018-01-23** House sponsor: Representative Davisson
- **2018-01-23** Senator Zakas added as coauthor
- **2018-01-26** Referred to the House
- **2018-02-06** First reading: referred to Committee on Public Health `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2018-02-15** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2018-02-15** Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means pursuant to House Rule 127 `referral-committee`
- **2018-02-15** Representative Brown, C. added as cosponsor
- **2018-02-15** Representative Zent added as cosponsor
- **2018-02-22** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2018-02-26** Amendment #1 (Davisson) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2018-02-26** Amendment #2 (Bacon) failed; voice vote `amendment-failure`
- **2018-02-26** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2018-02-27** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 230: yeas 95, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2018-02-28** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2018-02-28** Motion to concur filed
- **2018-03-06** Senate concurred in House amendments; Roll Call 339: yeas 46, nays 3 `amendment-failure`
- **2018-03-12** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2018-03-13** Signed by the Speaker
- **2018-03-21** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2018-03-22** Public Law 193
- **2018-03-22** 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/d0401875-8780-499a-875f-766f13253537`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).