---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public safety."
description: "Removes the requirement that school buses have black reflective tape affixed on the bumpers and sides of the bus. Provides that, in certain instances, a person who: (1) fails to yield to an emergency vehicle; and (2) causes serious bodily injury, catastrophic injury, or death to any person operating, occupying, or affiliated with the authorized emergency vehicle; commits a Level 6 felony. Provides that the offense of resisting law enforcement is a Level 6 felony if, while committing the offense of resisting law enforcement by forcibly resisting, obstructing, or interfering with a law enforcement officer, the person: (1) creates a substantial risk of bodily injury to the person or another person; and (2) has two or more prior unrelated convictions for resisting law enforcement. Provides that the offense of resisting law enforcement is a Level 6 felony if, while committing the offense of resisting law enforcement by fleeing from a law enforcement officer, the person has two or more prior unrelated convictions for resisting law enforcement. Makes conforming amendments."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1225"
citation: "Indiana HB 1225 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["MOTOR VEHICLES", "Traffic Violations and Penalties", "SCHOOLS", "Buses", "CRIMES AND OFFENSES generally"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Mark Messmer", "Vaneta Becker", "Wendy McNamara"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 22
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-13"
last_action: "2020-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d21f87ad-d146-4ab5-aba4-057af0331836"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/house/1225"
source_hash: "7695c6932a67824394c59b065101457d8b3cb44b43483ed68de078b72840772b"
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 HB 1225 (2020) — Public safety.

Removes the requirement that school buses have black reflective tape affixed on the bumpers and sides of the bus. Provides that, in certain instances, a person who: (1) fails to yield to an emergency vehicle; and (2) causes serious bodily injury, catastrophic injury, or death to any person operating, occupying, or affiliated with the authorized emergency vehicle; commits a Level 6 felony. Provides that the offense of resisting law enforcement is a Level 6 felony if, while committing the offense of resisting law enforcement by forcibly resisting, obstructing, or interfering with a law enforcement officer, the person: (1) creates a substantial risk of bodily injury to the person or another person; and (2) has two or more prior unrelated convictions for resisting law enforcement. Provides that the offense of resisting law enforcement is a Level 6 felony if, while committing the offense of resisting law enforcement by fleeing from a law enforcement officer, the person has two or more prior unrelated convictions for resisting law enforcement. Makes conforming amendments.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1225/versions/HB1225.03.ENGH)
2. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1225/versions/HB1225.05.ENRS)
3. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1225/versions/HB1225.02.COMH)
4. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1225/versions/HB1225.04.COMS)
5. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1225/versions/HB1225.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1225 - Messmer - 3rd Reading — **50–0** (pass) · upper
- HB 1225 - McNamara - 3rd Reading — **85–10** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Mark Messmer — primary (person)
- Vaneta Becker — primary (person)
- Wendy McNamara — primary (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — cosponsor (person)
- Michael Crider — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-13** Authored by Representative McNamara
- **2020-01-13** First reading: referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-01-23** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-27** Amendment #2 (DeLaney) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2020-01-27** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-29** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 130: yeas 85, nays 10 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-01-29** Senate sponsors: Senators Messmer and Becker
- **2020-01-30** Referred to the Senate
- **2020-02-11** First reading: referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-27** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-02** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-03-02** Senator Crider added as cosponsor
- **2020-03-02** Senator Randolph added as cosponsor
- **2020-03-03** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 301: yeas 50, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-03-04** Returned to the House with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-04** Motion to concur filed
- **2020-03-05** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 322: yeas 70, nays 15 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-10** Signed by the Speaker
- **2020-03-12** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-30** Public Law 116

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d21f87ad-d146-4ab5-aba4-057af0331836`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).