--- type: "Bill" title: "Security of property and meeting decorum." description: "Allows the governing bodies of certain local government agencies (local agencies) to adopt rules or policies governing the conduct of meetings. Provides that a rule or policy may provide that the presiding member of the governing body of the local agency may: (1) issue warnings to disruptive attendees and direct them to leave the meeting on the third warning; and (2) direct a law enforcement officer to remove disruptive attendees. Provides that the rules and policies must be posted at the meeting entrance or announced before taking public testimony. Specifies that a provision of the tort claims law providing immunity to a government entity or employee in adopting and enforcing a law or rule applies. Provides that a person commits criminal trespass by knowingly or intentionally: (1) entering a locked area without permission; or (2) refusing to leave an area not publicly accessible after being asked to leave by a law enforcement officer or agent of the property owner or operator. Specifies that: (1) the public access counselor serves at the pleasure of the governor; and (2) when issuing an advisory opinion, the public access counselor may consider only the plain text of the public access laws and valid Indiana court opinions. Provides that a committee appointed directly by the governing body or a governing body's designee does not constitute a governing body that is subject to the open door law if the committee: (1) is appointed for the sole purpose of receiving information, deliberating, or making recommendations to the governing body; and (2) has not more than one member of the governing body as a member." jurisdiction: "us/states/in" legislature: "Indiana General Assembly" session: "2024" identifier: "HB 1338" citation: "Indiana HB 1338 (2024)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: ["AGENCIES; Public Access Counselor (PAC)", "CIVIL LAW AND PROCEDURE; Immunity and Exemption from Liability", "CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE; Offenses Against Public Health", "Order", "and Decency", "LAW ENFORCEMENT; Generally", "LOCAL GOVERNMENT; Generally", "PUBLIC HEARINGS AND MEETINGS"] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["J.D. Prescott", "Jeff Raatz", "Scott Alexander", "Scott Baldwin"] version_count: 6 action_count: 32 vote_count: 3 first_action: "2024-01-10" last_action: "2024-03-18" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/87f90c5b-47f5-442d-b2f9-d55bfc866d60" source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2024/bills/hb1338" source_hash: "487161caa94e8cfdaae20f4ca291df5ea1e2cfd8e0d63b33cb625eace8548b37" 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 1338 (2024) — Security of property and meeting decorum. Allows the governing bodies of certain local government agencies (local agencies) to adopt rules or policies governing the conduct of meetings. Provides that a rule or policy may provide that the presiding member of the governing body of the local agency may: (1) issue warnings to disruptive attendees and direct them to leave the meeting on the third warning; and (2) direct a law enforcement officer to remove disruptive attendees. Provides that the rules and policies must be posted at the meeting entrance or announced before taking public testimony. Specifies that a provision of the tort claims law providing immunity to a government entity or employee in adopting and enforcing a law or rule applies. Provides that a person commits criminal trespass by knowingly or intentionally: (1) entering a locked area without permission; or (2) refusing to leave an area not publicly accessible after being asked to leave by a law enforcement officer or agent of the property owner or operator. Specifies that: (1) the public access counselor serves at the pleasure of the governor; and (2) when issuing an advisory opinion, the public access counselor may consider only the plain text of the public access laws and valid Indiana court opinions. Provides that a committee appointed directly by the governing body or a governing body's designee does not constitute a governing body that is subject to the open door law if the committee: (1) is appointed for the sole purpose of receiving information, deliberating, or making recommendations to the governing body; and (2) has not more than one member of the governing body as a member. ## 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/HB1338/HB1338.05.ENGS.pdf) 2. **Engrossed House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/house/bills/HB1338/HB1338.03.ENGH.pdf) 3. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/house/bills/HB1338/HB1338.06.ENRS.pdf) 4. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/house/bills/HB1338/HB1338.02.COMH.pdf) 5. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/house/bills/HB1338/HB1338.04.COMS.pdf) 6. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/house/bills/HB1338/HB1338.01.INTR.pdf) ## Votes - HB 1338 - Prescott - 3rd Reading — **77–19** (pass) · lower - HB 1338 - Baldwin - 3rd Reading — **40–8** (pass) · upper - HB 1338 - Prescott — **58–36** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - J.D. Prescott — primary (person) - Jeff Raatz — primary (person) - Scott Alexander — primary (person) - Scott Baldwin — primary (person) - Doug Miller — coauthor (person) - Jennifer Meltzer — coauthor (person) - Jim Pressel — coauthor (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2024-01-10** First reading: referred to Committee on Government and Regulatory Reform `reading-1, referral-committee` - **2024-01-10** Authored by Representative Prescott - **2024-01-16** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage` - **2024-01-18** Amendment #1 (Clere) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage` - **2024-01-18** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2` - **2024-01-18** Representative Meltzer J added as coauthor - **2024-01-18** Amendment #2 (Torr) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage` - **2024-01-22** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 24: yeas 77, nays 19 `passage, reading-3, reading-3` - **2024-01-22** Senate sponsors: Senators Raatz and Alexander - **2024-01-22** Representatives Pressel and Campbell added as coauthors - **2024-01-23** Referred to the Senate `referral` - **2024-02-05** First reading: referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law `reading-1, referral-committee` - **2024-02-22** Senator Raatz removed as sponsor - **2024-02-22** Senator Baldwin added as sponsor - **2024-02-27** Senator Raatz added as third sponsor - **2024-02-29** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage` - **2024-03-04** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2` - **2024-03-04** Amendment #1 (Pol) failed; voice vote `amendment-failure, failure` - **2024-03-04** Amendment #2 (Pol) failed; voice vote `amendment-failure, failure` - **2024-03-04** Amendment #3 (Freeman) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage` - **2024-03-04** Amendment #5 (Baldwin) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage` - **2024-03-05** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 286: yeas 40, nays 8 `passage, reading-3, reading-3` - **2024-03-05** Representative Campbell removed as coauthor - **2024-03-05** Representative Miller D added as coauthor - **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 302: yeas 58, nays 36 - **2024-03-18** Public Law 171 `became-law` - **2024-03-11** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage` - **2024-03-11** Signed by the Speaker `passage` - **2024-03-18** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature` - **2024-03-12** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage` ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/87f90c5b-47f5-442d-b2f9-d55bfc866d60`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).