---
type: "Bill"
title: "Criminal law issues."
description: "Makes numerous changes to the criminal law, including: (1) changing references from \"county prosecuting attorney\" to \"prosecuting attorney\"; (2) specifying the membership of county school safety commissions; (3) removing and replacing the organized theft statute; (4) increasing the penalty for fraud and battery under certain circumstances; and (5) defining \"abusive head trauma\" and permitting it to be used as an aggravating circumstance. Makes unlawful carrying of a handgun by a child a waivable offense. Specifies that \"telephone sales call\" includes certain types of electronically transmitted information. Makes certain other changes for consistency."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 1240"
citation: "Indiana HB 1240 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE; Generally", "CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE; Offenses Against Persons", "CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE; Prosecuting Attorneys (Non-Elected)"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Aaron Freeman", "Gregory Steuerwald"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 22
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2024-01-09"
last_action: "2024-03-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ca83a84b-246a-41d6-a05a-69142931d697"
source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2024/bills/hb1240"
source_hash: "b9ee2e031e439b5b8449762c38f00e18cf733146093b7930766bf0e7600a3f24"
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 1240 (2024) — Criminal law issues.

Makes numerous changes to the criminal law, including: (1) changing references from "county prosecuting attorney" to "prosecuting attorney"; (2) specifying the membership of county school safety commissions; (3) removing and replacing the organized theft statute; (4) increasing the penalty for fraud and battery under certain circumstances; and (5) defining "abusive head trauma" and permitting it to be used as an aggravating circumstance. Makes unlawful carrying of a handgun by a child a waivable offense. Specifies that "telephone sales call" includes certain types of electronically transmitted information. Makes certain other changes for consistency.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/house/bills/HB1240/HB1240.04.ENGS.pdf)
2. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/house/bills/HB1240/HB1240.05.ENRS.pdf)
3. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/house/bills/HB1240/HB1240.03.COMS.pdf)
4. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/house/bills/HB1240/HB1240.01.INTR.pdf)

## Votes

- HB 1240 - Steuerwald — **93–0** (pass) · lower
- HB 1240 - Freeman - 3rd Reading — **47–1** (pass) · upper
- HB 1240 - Steuerwald - 3rd Reading — **95–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Aaron Freeman — primary (person)
- Gregory Steuerwald — primary (person)
- Alex Zimmerman — coauthor (person)
- Wendy McNamara — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2024-01-09** Coauthored by Representative McNamara
- **2024-01-09** First reading: referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2024-01-09** Authored by Representative Steuerwald
- **2024-01-22** Representative Zimmerman added as coauthor
- **2024-01-25** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-29** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-01-30** Senate sponsor: Senator Freeman
- **2024-01-30** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 89: yeas 95, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2024-01-31** Referred to the Senate `referral`
- **2024-02-07** First reading: referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2024-02-22** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-27** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-27** Amendment #1 (Freeman) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2024-03-05** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 281: yeas 47, nays 1 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2024-03-05** Returned to the House with amendments `receipt`
- **2024-03-06** Motion to concur filed `filing`
- **2024-03-06** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 300: yeas 93, nays 0
- **2024-03-11** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2024-03-12** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2024-03-13** Public Law 148 `became-law`
- **2024-03-13** 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/ca83a84b-246a-41d6-a05a-69142931d697`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).