---
type: "Bill"
title: "Victim impact statements."
description: "Requires a defendant to be present in the courtroom while a victim makes a statement concerning the crime and the sentence, unless the defendant presents a safety risk or causes a significant disruption. Provides that if a defendant fails to appear at sentencing and is later taken into custody, the court may hold a hearing to permit the victim to makes a statement concerning the crime and the sentence in the presence of the defendant."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 9"
citation: "Indiana SB 9 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["COURTS; Generally", "CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE; Offenses Against Persons", "CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE; Sentencing", "CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE; Victims", "LOCAL ELECTED OFFICIALS; Prosecutors"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Eric Bassler", "Joanna King", "Liz Brown", "Tyler Johnson"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 28
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2025-12-08"
last_action: "2026-03-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c30861c8-017c-4692-9a08-89ba8c11f164"
source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/sb0009"
source_hash: "75464d4a03bd8d7e44066767a3d1deec4f9b4591f0d50630d2d9bcbf0556ab4b"
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 SB 9 (2026) — Victim impact statements.

Requires a defendant to be present in the courtroom while a victim makes a statement concerning the crime and the sentence, unless the defendant presents a safety risk or causes a significant disruption. Provides that if a defendant fails to appear at sentencing and is later taken into custody, the court may hold a hearing to permit the victim to makes a statement concerning the crime and the sentence in the presence of the defendant.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0009/SB0009.03.ENGS.pdf)
2. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0009/SB0009.05.ENGH.pdf)
3. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0009/SB0009.06.ENRH.pdf)
4. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0009/SB0009.01.INTR.pdf)
5. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0009/SB0009.04.COMH.pdf)
6. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2026/senate/bills/SB0009/SB0009.02.COMS.pdf)

## Votes

- SB 9 - King - 3rd Reading — **90–0** (pass) · lower
- SB 9 - Brown L - 3rd Reading — **45–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 9 - Brown L — **42–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Eric Bassler — primary (person)
- Joanna King — primary (person)
- Liz Brown — primary (person)
- Tyler Johnson — primary (person)
- Aaron Freeman — coauthor (person)
- Brett Clark — coauthor (person)
- Eric Koch — coauthor (person)
- Maureen Bauer — cosponsor (person)
- Robert Morris — cosponsor (person)
- Rodney Pol — coauthor (person)
- Scott Baldwin — coauthor (person)
- Spencer Deery — coauthor (person)
- Susan Glick — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-12-08** Authored by Senator Brown L
- **2025-12-08** First reading: referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-01-13** Senator Bassler added as third author
- **2026-01-13** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-13** Senator Johnson T added as second author
- **2026-01-15** Senators Pol, Koch, Clark, Glick, Deery added as coauthors
- **2026-01-15** Senator Freeman added as coauthor
- **2026-01-20** Amendment #2 (Freeman) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2026-01-20** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-01-22** Senator Baldwin added as coauthor
- **2026-01-22** House sponsor: Representative King
- **2026-01-22** Cosponsor: Representative Morris
- **2026-01-22** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 46: yeas 45, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2026-01-23** Referred to the House `referral`
- **2026-01-28** First reading: referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-02-12** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-16** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-02-16** Amendment #1 (Meltzer) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-17** Representative Bauer added as cosponsor
- **2026-02-17** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 258: yeas 90, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2026-02-18** Returned to the Senate with amendments `receipt`
- **2026-02-23** Motion to concur filed `filing`
- **2026-02-25** Senate concurred with House amendments; Roll Call 269: yeas 42, nays 0
- **2026-02-26** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2026-02-26** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2026-03-04** Public Law 66 `became-law`
- **2026-03-04** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-02-27** 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/c30861c8-017c-4692-9a08-89ba8c11f164`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).