republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2020/sb-206.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Deposition of a child victim."
description: "Defines \"child victim\" as a child less than 16 years of age who is the victim of a sex offense, and specifies that a child victim has the right to confer with a representative of the prosecuting attorney's office before being deposed. Repeals and replaces the current statute concerning the deposition of a child with a new statute that provides that a defendant may only depose a child victim if the prosecuting attorney agrees to the deposition or if a court authorizes the deposition. Establishes a procedure for a court to use to determine whether to authorize the deposition of a child victim, and to specify the manner in which the deposition may be conducted. Provides that an order authorizing the deposition of a child must expressly prohibit the presence of the person accused of committing the offense against the child unless certain conditions apply and the presence of the accused is necessary to preserve the person's rights under the United States or Indiana constitution. Makes conforming amendments."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 206"
citation: "Indiana SB 206 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Crimes Against Children", "CRIMES AND OFFENSES", "Criminal Courts and Court Procedures", "CRIMES AND OFFENSES", "Sex Crimes"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jerry Torr", "Linda Rogers", "Mark Messmer", "Michael Young"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 25
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-06"
last_action: "2020-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7453a10a-a176-4ad0-926e-34f031864ea5"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/senate/206"
source_hash: "783da1adf3cf674ec7dfee5d51ab56e054444a26f992037e41d8f942a4c730da"
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 206 (2020) — Deposition of a child victim.

Defines "child victim" as a child less than 16 years of age who is the victim of a sex offense, and specifies that a child victim has the right to confer with a representative of the prosecuting attorney's office before being deposed. Repeals and replaces the current statute concerning the deposition of a child with a new statute that provides that a defendant may only depose a child victim if the prosecuting attorney agrees to the deposition or if a court authorizes the deposition. Establishes a procedure for a court to use to determine whether to authorize the deposition of a child victim, and to specify the manner in which the deposition may be conducted. Provides that an order authorizing the deposition of a child must expressly prohibit the presence of the person accused of committing the offense against the child unless certain conditions apply and the presence of the accused is necessary to preserve the person's rights under the United States or Indiana constitution. Makes conforming amendments.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0206/versions/SB0206.03.ENGS)
2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0206/versions/SB0206.05.ENRH)
3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0206/versions/SB0206.01.INTR)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0206/versions/SB0206.04.COMH)
5. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0206/versions/SB0206.02.COMS)

## Votes

- SB 206 - Messmer - 3rd Reading — **49–1** (pass) · upper
- SB 206 - Torr - 3rd Reading — **87–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jerry Torr — primary (person)
- Linda Rogers — primary (person)
- Mark Messmer — primary (person)
- Michael Young — primary (person)
- Cindy Kirchhofer — cosponsor (person)
- Donna Schaibley — cosponsor (person)
- Edward DeLaney — cosponsor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)
- Timothy Lanane — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-06** Authored by Senator Messmer
- **2020-01-06** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-01-16** Senator Young M added as second author
- **2020-01-16** Senator Rogers added as third author
- **2020-01-16** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2020-01-23** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-27** Amendment #1 (Messmer) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2020-01-27** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-28** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 76: yeas 49, nays 1 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-01-28** House sponsor: Representative Torr
- **2020-01-28** Senator Lanane added as coauthor
- **2020-01-29** Referred to the House
- **2020-01-30** Representatives Schaibley, Kirchhofer, DeLaney added as cosponsors
- **2020-02-04** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-25** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-27** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-03-02** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 234: yeas 87, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-03-03** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-03** Motion to concur filed
- **2020-03-04** Senate concurred in House amendments; Roll Call 328: yeas 49, nays 0 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-09** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2020-03-16** Signed by the Speaker
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2020-03-18** Public Law 62

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7453a10a-a176-4ad0-926e-34f031864ea5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).