---
type: "Bill"
title: "Local government matters."
description: "Provides that individuals who are appointed to certain boards, committees, or other bodies in a county that does not have a consolidated city, serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority as long as: (1) the officeholder who appointed the individual continues to hold the office; or (2) the board, committee, or body that appointed the individual retains all of the same members who served when the individual was appointed. Provides that, in the case of a reorganized political subdivision, the oath of office of the town board of police commissioners is administered by any of the individuals granted notary powers. Staggers the terms of a nine member local board of health. Provides that the county executive, excluding a county containing a consolidated city, may set the salary of a county administrator subject to: (1) salary parameters established; or (2) approval; by the county fiscal body. Provides that each county executive, excluding a county containing a consolidated city and certain employees, shall adopt and maintain a written personnel policy, employee handbook, or equivalent document establishing minimum standards for county employee conduct, performance, and workplace expectations. Requires the executive of a county or municipality (unit) to preapprove any of the following actions of the unit's park and recreation board, if the cost exceeds the lesser of $500,000 or 10% of the park district's annual budget: (1) Exercising eminent domain powers. (2) Entering into a contract. (3) Acquiring real or personal property. (4) Making capital improvements. Adds public defenders to those officials whose home addresses may be restricted from public property data base websites."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 1161"
citation: "Indiana HB 1161 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["BOARDS", "COMMISSIONS", "AND COUNCILS; Board of Zoning Appeal", "BOARDS", "COMMISSIONS", "AND COUNCILS; Generally", "COUNTY GOVERNMENT", "LOCAL GOVERNMENT; Contracts", "Procurements", "and Purchases", "PROPERTY; Eminent Domain", "TRANSPORTATION; Airports", "ZONING AND PLANNING"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brett Clark", "Ethan Lawson", "Mike Bohacek"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 23
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2026-01-05"
last_action: "2026-02-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e02a8f70-f4fa-4f9a-b14d-4a8c9eb41ad9"
source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/hb1161"
source_hash: "2fe083385a98044124d1291091b0cf3cb25f2413109ffce03c62313671bc23a6"
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 1161 (2026) — Local government matters.

Provides that individuals who are appointed to certain boards, committees, or other bodies in a county that does not have a consolidated city, serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority as long as: (1) the officeholder who appointed the individual continues to hold the office; or (2) the board, committee, or body that appointed the individual retains all of the same members who served when the individual was appointed. Provides that, in the case of a reorganized political subdivision, the oath of office of the town board of police commissioners is administered by any of the individuals granted notary powers. Staggers the terms of a nine member local board of health. Provides that the county executive, excluding a county containing a consolidated city, may set the salary of a county administrator subject to: (1) salary parameters established; or (2) approval; by the county fiscal body. Provides that each county executive, excluding a county containing a consolidated city and certain employees, shall adopt and maintain a written personnel policy, employee handbook, or equivalent document establishing minimum standards for county employee conduct, performance, and workplace expectations. Requires the executive of a county or municipality (unit) to preapprove any of the following actions of the unit's park and recreation board, if the cost exceeds the lesser of $500,000 or 10% of the park district's annual budget: (1) Exercising eminent domain powers. (2) Entering into a contract. (3) Acquiring real or personal property. (4) Making capital improvements. Adds public defenders to those officials whose home addresses may be restricted from public property data base websites.

## Version chain

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

1. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/house/bills/HB1161/HB1161.04.ENRS.pdf)
2. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/house/bills/HB1161/HB1161.03.COMS.pdf)
3. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/house/bills/HB1161/HB1161.02.COMH.pdf)
4. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/house/bills/HB1161/HB1161.01.INTR.pdf)

## Votes

- HB 1161 - Clark - 3rd Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- HB 1161 - Lawson - 3rd Reading — **90–0** (pass) · lower
- HB 1161 - Lawson — **93–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Brett Clark — primary (person)
- Ethan Lawson — primary (person)
- Mike Bohacek — primary (person)
- Alex Zimmerman — coauthor (person)
- Jennifer Meltzer — coauthor (person)
- Justin Moed — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-05** First reading: referred to Committee on Local Government `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-01-05** Coauthored by Representative Zimmerman
- **2026-01-05** Representative Meltzer added as coauthor
- **2026-01-05** Authored by Representative Lawson
- **2026-01-13** Representative Moed added as coauthor
- **2026-01-13** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-15** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-01-20** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 58: yeas 90, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2026-01-20** Senate sponsor: Senator Clark
- **2026-01-21** Referred to the Senate `referral`
- **2026-01-26** First reading: referred to Committee on Local Government `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-02-05** Senator Bohacek added as second sponsor
- **2026-02-12** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-16** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-02-17** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 180: yeas 45, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2026-02-18** Motion to concur filed `filing`
- **2026-02-19** House concurred with Senate amendments; Roll Call 297: yeas 93, nays 1
- **2026-02-18** Returned to the House with amendments `receipt`
- **2026-02-23** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2026-02-24** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2026-02-25** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2026-02-26** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-02-26** Public Law 40 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e02a8f70-f4fa-4f9a-b14d-4a8c9eb41ad9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).