---
type: "Bill"
title: "Alcohol matters."
description: "Allows a city or town to designate an outdoor location as a refreshment area with the approval of the alcohol and tobacco commission (commission). Provides that if a refreshment area is approved, the commission designates retailer permittees that may sell alcoholic beverages for consumption within the refreshment area. Prohibits a refreshment area from being located near a school or church unless the school or church does not object. Allows a minor to be within the refreshment area. Adds language providing that a person entering a licensed premises within a refreshment area with an alcoholic beverage is not subject to criminal penalties. Makes it a Class C infraction for a participating retailer permittee or vendor to sell a person more than two alcoholic beverages at a time or an open container of an alcoholic beverage that exceeds the volume limitations. Allows a restaurant to sell or dispense alcoholic beverages from a bar located on the licensed premises that opens to an outside patio or terrace that is contiguous to the main building."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "SB 20"
citation: "Indiana SB 20 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES", "Crimes and Offenses", "ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES", "Licenses", "Permits", "and Taxes", "LOCAL GOVERNMENT"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chip Perfect", "Linda Rogers", "Liz Brown", "Matt Lehman"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 39
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2023-01-09"
last_action: "2023-05-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8e13e6b8-bea2-4e62-a006-7e55ea47ab23"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/senate/20"
source_hash: "c8d926864b0e8a963ae7eb25d7ea7a1251a41c5d6437f26aff89c98874747f36"
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 20 (2023) — Alcohol matters.

Allows a city or town to designate an outdoor location as a refreshment area with the approval of the alcohol and tobacco commission (commission). Provides that if a refreshment area is approved, the commission designates retailer permittees that may sell alcoholic beverages for consumption within the refreshment area. Prohibits a refreshment area from being located near a school or church unless the school or church does not object. Allows a minor to be within the refreshment area. Adds language providing that a person entering a licensed premises within a refreshment area with an alcoholic beverage is not subject to criminal penalties. Makes it a Class C infraction for a participating retailer permittee or vendor to sell a person more than two alcoholic beverages at a time or an open container of an alcoholic beverage that exceeds the volume limitations. Allows a restaurant to sell or dispense alcoholic beverages from a bar located on the licensed premises that opens to an outside patio or terrace that is contiguous to the main building.

## 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/2023/bills/SB0020/versions/SB0020.05.ENGH)
2. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/SB0020/versions/SB0020.03.ENGS)
3. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/SB0020/versions/SB0020.06.ENRH)
4. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/SB0020/versions/SB0020.01.INTR)
5. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/SB0020/versions/SB0020.04.COMH)
6. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/SB0020/versions/SB0020.02.COMS)

## Votes

- SB 20 - Lehman - 3rd Reading — **79–19** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chip Perfect — primary (person)
- Linda Rogers — primary (person)
- Liz Brown — primary (person)
- Matt Lehman — primary (person)
- David Niezgodski — coauthor (person)
- Jennifer Meltzer — cosponsor (person)
- Kyle Miller — cosponsor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)
- Philip GiaQuinta — cosponsor (person)
- Randy Lyness — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-09** Authored by Senator Brown L
- **2023-01-09** First reading: referred to Committee on Public Policy `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-01-30** Senator Rogers added as second author
- **2023-02-02** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-06** Senator Perfect added as third author
- **2023-02-07** Amendment #1 (Young M) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2023-02-07** Amendment #2 (Perfect) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2023-02-07** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-02-09** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 91: yeas 39, nays 10 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-02-09** House sponsor: Representative Lehman
- **2023-02-09** Cosponsors: Representatives GiaQuinta and Miller K
- **2023-02-09** Senator Niezgodski added as coauthor
- **2023-02-09** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2023-02-10** Referred to the House `referral`
- **2023-02-28** First reading: referred to Committee on Public Policy `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-13** Representative Meltzer J added as cosponsor
- **2023-03-14** Rule 105.1 suspended
- **2023-03-14** Representative Lyness added as cosponsor
- **2023-04-04** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-04-06** Amendment #2 (Lehman) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2023-04-06** Amendment #1 (Moed) failed; Roll Call 364: yeas 33, nays 58 `amendment-failure, failure`
- **2023-04-06** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-04-11** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 381: yeas 79, nays 19 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-12** Returned to the Senate with amendments `receipt`
- **2023-04-12** Motion to dissent filed `filing`
- **2023-04-13** Senate dissented from House amendments
- **2023-04-14** House conferees appointed: Manning and Moed
- **2023-04-14** House advisors appointed: Lehman, Bartels, Morris, GiaQuinta and Miller K
- **2023-04-18** Senate conferees appointed: Brown L and Niezgodski
- **2023-04-18** Senate advisors appointed: Melton and Perfect
- **2023-04-26** CCR # 1 filed in the Senate `filing`
- **2023-04-26** CCR # 1 filed in the House `filing`
- **2023-04-27** Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the House; Roll Call 530: yeas 92, nays 3
- **2023-04-27** Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the Senate; Roll Call 501: yeas 37, nays 11
- **2023-04-28** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2023-04-28** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2023-05-01** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2023-05-04** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-04** Public Law 167 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8e13e6b8-bea2-4e62-a006-7e55ea47ab23`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).