---
type: "Bill"
title: "Direct contact with specified animals."
description: "Prohibits a person that owns or possesses a specified animal from allowing a member of the public to come into direct contact, or enter into a proximity that allows for or permits direct contact, with the specified animal. Prohibits the department of natural resources from adopting a rule to designate additional specified animals. Requires that a person who owns a specified animal must have a commercial animal dealer, breeder, or exhibitor's license issued by the United States Department of Agriculture. Provides that a violation of the law is a Class B infraction. Excludes from the substance of the bill physical contact or proximity between certain persons and a specified animal. Defines terms."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2022"
identifier: "HB 1248"
citation: "Indiana HB 1248 (2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ANIMALS (other than Livestock)", "CRIMES AND OFFENSES generally", "NATURAL RESOURCES", "State Department of"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Blake Doriot", "David Abbott", "Mike Bohacek"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 24
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2022-01-06"
last_action: "2022-03-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/681b88ac-f758-4485-b781-5e2e25cdf9a1"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2022/bills/house/1248"
source_hash: "bc149b6f227058495204350566f86ed2cbcf5a824596f7f34f7efadda67e07ab"
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 1248 (2022) — Direct contact with specified animals.

Prohibits a person that owns or possesses a specified animal from allowing a member of the public to come into direct contact, or enter into a proximity that allows for or permits direct contact, with the specified animal. Prohibits the department of natural resources from adopting a rule to designate additional specified animals. Requires that a person who owns a specified animal must have a commercial animal dealer, breeder, or exhibitor's license issued by the United States Department of Agriculture. Provides that a violation of the law is a Class B infraction. Excludes from the substance of the bill physical contact or proximity between certain persons and a specified animal. Defines terms.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2022/bills/HB1248/versions/HB1248.03.ENGH)
2. **Engrossed House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2022/bills/HB1248/versions/HB1248.05.ENGS)
3. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2022/bills/HB1248/versions/HB1248.06.ENRS)
4. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2022/bills/HB1248/versions/HB1248.02.COMH)
5. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2022/bills/HB1248/versions/HB1248.04.COMS)
6. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2022/bills/HB1248/versions/HB1248.01.INTR)

## Sponsors

- Blake Doriot — primary (person)
- David Abbott — primary (person)
- Mike Bohacek — primary (person)
- Chris Campbell — coauthor (person)
- Pat Boy — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-06** Coauthored by Representative Campbell
- **2022-01-06** Authored by Representative Abbott
- **2022-01-06** First reading: referred to Committee on Natural Resources `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2022-01-24** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2022-01-25** Representative Boy added as coauthor
- **2022-01-26** Amendment #1 (Abbott) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-failure, amendment-passage`
- **2022-01-26** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2022-01-27** Senate sponsor: Senator Doriot
- **2022-01-27** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 125: yeas 68, nays 27 `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-01-28** Referred to the Senate
- **2022-02-01** First reading: referred to Committee on Natural Resources `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2022-02-07** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-14** Amendment #1 (Doriot) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-failure, amendment-passage`
- **2022-02-14** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2022-02-14** Senator Bohacek added as second sponsor
- **2022-02-15** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 203: yeas 43, nays 4 `passage, reading-3`
- **2022-02-16** Returned to the House with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2022-02-21** Motion to concur filed
- **2022-02-22** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 249: yeas 66, nays 26 `amendment-failure`
- **2022-03-01** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2022-03-01** Signed by the Speaker
- **2022-03-11** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2022-03-11** Public Law 96
- **2022-03-11** Signed by the President of the Senate

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/681b88ac-f758-4485-b781-5e2e25cdf9a1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).