---
type: "Bill"
title: "Guardians ad litem in adoption pilot program."
description: "Establishes a guardian ad litem pilot program in LaPorte County, Marshall County, and Starke County. Requires a court to appoint a guardian ad litem in an adoption proceeding if a parent of the child has an intellectual disability and is subject to a guardianship."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 16"
citation: "Indiana SB 16 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN AND MINORS; Adoption", "COUNTIES; La Porte", "COUNTIES; Marshall", "COUNTIES; Starke", "COURTS; Guardianships and Conservatorships", "HEALTH; Developmental Disabilities"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jim Pressel", "Mike Bohacek", "Ron Alting"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 19
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2024-01-08"
last_action: "2024-03-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/01cb8065-ae7a-4a1a-ac64-13074ca57cde"
source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2024/bills/sb0016"
source_hash: "47a98bafaeb6408c197cc6d20aba00b1d3f1d7c79fa95d5cd8b2fe58d7d8d5c3"
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 16 (2024) — Guardians ad litem in adoption pilot program.

Establishes a guardian ad litem pilot program in LaPorte County, Marshall County, and Starke County. Requires a court to appoint a guardian ad litem in an adoption proceeding if a parent of the child has an intellectual disability and is subject to a guardianship.

## Version chain

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

1. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0016/SB0016.04.ENRH.pdf)
2. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0016/SB0016.01.INTR.pdf)
3. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0016/SB0016.02.COMS.pdf)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0016/SB0016.03.COMH.pdf)

## Votes

- SB 16 - Bohacek - 3rd Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 16 - Pressel - 3rd Reading — **97–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jim Pressel — primary (person)
- Mike Bohacek — primary (person)
- Ron Alting — primary (person)
- Jack Jordan — cosponsor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-08** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2024-01-08** Authored by Senators Bohacek and Alting
- **2024-01-11** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-16** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-01-18** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 8: yeas 45, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2024-01-18** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2024-01-18** Cosponsor: Representative Jordan
- **2024-01-18** House sponsor: Representative Pressel
- **2024-01-19** Referred to the House `referral`
- **2024-02-06** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2024-02-22** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-26** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-03-04** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 256: yeas 97, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2024-03-05** Returned to the Senate without amendments `receipt`
- **2024-03-07** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2024-03-13** Public Law 97 `became-law`
- **2024-03-13** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-12** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Signed by the Speaker `passage`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/01cb8065-ae7a-4a1a-ac64-13074ca57cde`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).