---
type: "Bill"
title: "Paternity actions."
description: "Allows a child, by the child's next friend, to commence a child custody proceeding under certain circumstances. Defines \"next friend.\" Provides that a court having jurisdiction over a child who is the subject of a child in need of services proceeding or juvenile delinquency proceeding has concurrent jurisdiction with a court having jurisdiction over a paternity proceeding for the purpose of establishing or modifying paternity, custody, parenting time, or child support of the child."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1172"
citation: "Indiana HB 1172 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Child Support", "Custody", "and Visitation", "CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Juvenile Courts and Proceedings", "CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Juvenile Delinquents"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Edward Clere", "Greg Walker", "Jon Ford", "Rodney Pol"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 23
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2023-01-10"
last_action: "2023-04-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c81e9e18-bf2e-41d8-9910-6004fa42b448"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/house/1172"
source_hash: "028a90655242b3584493ca0f4f564e9c4819e43862a5638919a8e73f299af4a4"
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 1172 (2023) — Paternity actions.

Allows a child, by the child's next friend, to commence a child custody proceeding under certain circumstances. Defines "next friend." Provides that a court having jurisdiction over a child who is the subject of a child in need of services proceeding or juvenile delinquency proceeding has concurrent jurisdiction with a court having jurisdiction over a paternity proceeding for the purpose of establishing or modifying paternity, custody, parenting time, or child support of the child.

## Version chain

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

1. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1172/versions/HB1172.05.ENRS)
2. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1172/versions/HB1172.02.COMH)
3. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1172/versions/HB1172.03.COMH)
4. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1172/versions/HB1172.04.COMS)
5. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1172/versions/HB1172.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1172 - Walker G - 3rd Reading — **41–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Edward Clere — primary (person)
- Greg Walker — primary (person)
- Jon Ford — primary (person)
- Rodney Pol — primary (person)
- Carolyn Jackson — coauthor (person)
- Dale DeVon — coauthor (person)
- Gregory Steuerwald — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-10** Coauthored by Representatives DeVon and Jackson
- **2023-01-10** Authored by Representative Clere
- **2023-01-10** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-16** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-16** Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means pursuant to House Rule 127
- **2023-02-21** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-23** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-02-23** Representative Steuerwald added as coauthor
- **2023-02-27** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 239: yeas 95, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-02-27** Senate sponsors: Senators Walker G, Ford Jon, Pol
- **2023-02-28** Referred to the Senate `referral`
- **2023-03-06** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-16** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-20** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-03-21** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 239: yeas 41, nays 2 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-03-22** Returned to the House with amendments `receipt`
- **2023-03-27** Motion to concur filed `filing`
- **2023-03-28** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 321: yeas 95, nays 0
- **2023-04-06** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2023-04-06** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-17** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2023-04-20** Public Law 66 `became-law`
- **2023-04-20** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c81e9e18-bf2e-41d8-9910-6004fa42b448`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).