---
type: "Bill"
title: "Town party conventions."
description: "Specifies the manner of nomination applicable to a candidate for town office in a small town, based on the year in which the election occurs. Modifies the deadlines for: (1) filing a copy of an ordinance establishing a primary election for nomination of major political party candidates; and (2) holding a town convention."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 29"
citation: "Indiana SB 29 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CITIES AND TOWNS; Generally", "ELECTIONS; Conducting Elections (Excluding Recounts)", "ELECTIONS; Political Parties"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Ben Smaltz", "Blake Doriot", "Mike Gaskill", "Stacey Donato"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 21
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2024-01-08"
last_action: "2024-03-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5ad10d70-c2f4-47fb-9238-d457d6a47e3b"
source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2024/bills/sb0029"
source_hash: "cfeeac7e585655f21e9626554ea7cd88518349de2a6a804dd8511113246244ea"
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 29 (2024) — Town party conventions.

Specifies the manner of nomination applicable to a candidate for town office in a small town, based on the year in which the election occurs. Modifies the deadlines for: (1) filing a copy of an ordinance establishing a primary election for nomination of major political party candidates; and (2) holding a town convention.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0029/SB0029.03.ENGS.pdf)
2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0029/SB0029.05.ENRH.pdf)
3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0029/SB0029.01.INTR.pdf)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0029/SB0029.04.COMH.pdf)

## Votes

- SB 29 - Donato - 3rd Reading — **46–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 29 - Smaltz - 3rd Reading — **94–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Ben Smaltz — primary (person)
- Blake Doriot — primary (person)
- Mike Gaskill — primary (person)
- Stacey Donato — primary (person)
- Timothy Wesco — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-08** First reading: referred to Committee on Elections `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2024-01-08** Authored by Senator Donato
- **2024-01-09** Senator Gaskill added as second author
- **2024-01-09** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-23** Amendment #5 (Donato) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2024-01-23** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-01-25** Cosponsor: Representative Wesco
- **2024-01-25** Senator Doriot added as third author
- **2024-01-25** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 32: yeas 46, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2024-01-25** House sponsor: Representative Smaltz
- **2024-01-26** Referred to the House `referral`
- **2024-02-06** First reading: referred to Committee on Elections and Apportionment `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2024-02-15** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-19** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-21** Returned to the Senate without amendments `receipt`
- **2024-02-20** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 164: yeas 94, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2024-03-04** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2024-03-07** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-08** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2024-03-12** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-12** Public Law 74 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5ad10d70-c2f4-47fb-9238-d457d6a47e3b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).