---
type: "Bill"
title: "Police and fire merit systems."
description: "Allows a fire protection district or fire protection territory to establish a merit system. Provides that unless a resolution or ordinance to establish a merit system is rejected not later than December 31, 2024, a merit system is established on January 1, 2025, for eligible: (1) city and town police and fire departments and township fire departments; and (2) fire protection districts and fire protection territories. Provides that the merit system may be dissolved after January 1, 2025. Requires a unit, district, or territory to vote to either retain or dissolve the merit system after January 1, 2029, and before January 31, 2029. Repeals a provision containing definitions and moves the definitions to another location."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1016"
citation: "Indiana HB 1016 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["FIRE DEPARTMENTS AND DISTRICTS", "FIREFIGHTERS; FIREFIGHTERS' PENSIONS AND BENEFITS", "LAW ENFORCEMENT", "City Police", "LAW ENFORCEMENT", "Police Pensions and Benefits", "LOCAL GOVERNMENT"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jack Sandlin", "Jim Pressel", "Linda Rogers"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 34
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2023-01-09"
last_action: "2023-05-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e6edaada-5143-4cc5-b1f8-ccd92f44eaea"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/house/1016"
source_hash: "10ed957ecb2ada6f1b3acea5615b6b0f79ba7c54bcf6cd73caa13a6edcddbdc8"
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 1016 (2023) — Police and fire merit systems.

Allows a fire protection district or fire protection territory to establish a merit system. Provides that unless a resolution or ordinance to establish a merit system is rejected not later than December 31, 2024, a merit system is established on January 1, 2025, for eligible: (1) city and town police and fire departments and township fire departments; and (2) fire protection districts and fire protection territories. Provides that the merit system may be dissolved after January 1, 2025. Requires a unit, district, or territory to vote to either retain or dissolve the merit system after January 1, 2029, and before January 31, 2029. Repeals a provision containing definitions and moves the definitions to another location.

## 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/2023/bills/HB1016/versions/HB1016.04.ENGS)
2. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1016/versions/HB1016.05.ENRS)
3. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1016/versions/HB1016.02.COMH)
4. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1016/versions/HB1016.03.COMS)
5. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1016/versions/HB1016.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1016 - Sandlin - 3rd Reading — **48–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jack Sandlin — primary (person)
- Jim Pressel — primary (person)
- Linda Rogers — primary (person)
- Chris Campbell — coauthor (person)
- Randall Frye — coauthor (person)
- Steve Bartels — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-09** Coauthored by Representatives Frye R, Bartels, Campbell
- **2023-01-09** Authored by Representative Pressel
- **2023-01-09** First reading: referred to Committee on Employment, Labor and Pensions `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-01-19** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-01-23** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-01-24** Senate sponsor: Senator Sandlin
- **2023-01-24** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 25: yeas 96, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-01-25** Referred to the Senate `referral`
- **2023-02-23** First reading: referred to Committee on Pensions and Labor `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-30** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-30** Senator Rogers added as second sponsor
- **2023-04-03** Amendment #1 (Sandlin) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2023-04-03** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-04-04** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 302: yeas 48, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-05** Returned to the House with amendments `receipt`
- **2023-04-06** Motion to dissent filed `filing`
- **2023-04-06** House dissented from Senate amendments
- **2023-04-11** House conferees appointed: Pressel and Gore
- **2023-04-11** House advisors appointed: Frye R, Haggard and Campbell
- **2023-04-13** Senate conferees appointed: Sandlin and Niezgodski
- **2023-04-13** Senate advisors appointed: Pol and Rogers
- **2023-04-19** CCR # 1 filed in the Senate `filing`
- **2023-04-19** CCR # 1 filed in the House `filing`
- **2023-04-20** Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the House; Roll Call 460: yeas 90, nays 1
- **2023-04-20** Motion to withdraw CCR #1: prevailed
- **2023-04-25** CCR # 2 filed in the House `filing`
- **2023-04-25** CCR # 2 filed in the Senate `filing`
- **2023-04-26** Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 2: adopted by the House; Roll Call 505: yeas 87, nays 1
- **2023-04-26** Conference Committee Report 2: adopted by the Senate; Roll Call 494: yeas 32, nays 18
- **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 207 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e6edaada-5143-4cc5-b1f8-ccd92f44eaea`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).