republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2020/sb-256.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	Courts and judicial officers.	Provides that the interim study committee on courts and the judiciary (committee) shall review, consider, and make recommendations concerning requests for new courts, new judicial officers, and changes in jurisdiction of existing courts in each even-numbered year. Specifies the information that must be provided to the committee with such a request. Provides that in each even-numbered year the committee shall: (1) identify each county in which the number of courts or judicial officers exceeds the number used by the county for a particular year; and (2) determine the number of years in which the number of courts or judicial officers in the county has exceeded the number used by the county. Requires the office of judicial administration to post the required information on its Internet web site. Establishes the Clark circuit courts No. 5 and No. 6, beginning January 1, 2025. Provides for the election of the judges of each of these circuit courts at the November 2024 general election. Establishes the Clark superior courts No. 5 and No. 6. Requires the governor to appoint the judge of each of these superior courts. Provides that each of these superior courts converts to Clark circuit courts No. 5 and No. 6 beginning January 1, 2025. Establishes a sixth circuit court in Delaware County. Removes the requirement that Delaware circuit courts No. 4 and No. 5 each have a standard small claims and misdemeanor docket. Establishes a third superior court in Marshall County. Allows the judges of the Gibson superior court and Gibson circuit court to jointly appoint a magistrate to serve the Gibson County courts. Allows the judges of the Hamilton circuit and superior courts to jointly appoint an additional magistrate to serve the Hamilton County courts. Allows the judges of the Jennings circuit and superior courts to jointly appoint a magistrate to serve the Jennings County courts. Requires the Indiana criminal justice institute to: (1) collect data concerning rates of rearrest of defendants released with and without money bail; and (2) submit an annual report containing the information collected to the legislative council. Urges the legislative council to assign to the committee the topic of giving mutual full faith and credit to judgments and orders of a tribal court of a federally recognized Indian tribe.	us/states/in	Indiana General Assembly	2020	SB 256	Indiana SB 256 (2020)	bill	CIRCUIT COURTS AND COURT OFFICERS CLARK COUNTY DELAWARE COUNTY GIBSON COUNTY HAMILTON COUNTY JENNINGS COUNTY LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL; LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY MAGISTRATE COURTS MARSHALL COUNTY STUDY COMMITTEES SUPREME COURT AND COURT OFFICERS SUPERIOR COURTS	enacted	Eric Koch James Merritt Ryan Mishler Wendy McNamara	7	43	2	2020-01-09	2020-03-21	openstates	ocd-bill/816595f3-6526-4e1d-89e7-91799ae925c7	http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/senate/256	cac6d2364d026841c3599cbeed5827f48825130b50922ce13b7fa2114559eb20	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-in

Indiana SB 256 (2020) — Courts and judicial officers.

Provides that the interim study committee on courts and the judiciary (committee) shall review, consider, and make recommendations concerning requests for new courts, new judicial officers, and changes in jurisdiction of existing courts in each even-numbered year. Specifies the information that must be provided to the committee with such a request. Provides that in each even-numbered year the committee shall: (1) identify each county in which the number of courts or judicial officers exceeds the number used by the county for a particular year; and (2) determine the number of years in which the number of courts or judicial officers in the county has exceeded the number used by the county. Requires the office of judicial administration to post the required information on its Internet web site. Establishes the Clark circuit courts No. 5 and No. 6, beginning January 1, 2025. Provides for the election of the judges of each of these circuit courts at the November 2024 general election. Establishes the Clark superior courts No. 5 and No. 6. Requires the governor to appoint the judge of each of these superior courts. Provides that each of these superior courts converts to Clark circuit courts No. 5 and No. 6 beginning January 1, 2025. Establishes a sixth circuit court in Delaware County. Removes the requirement that Delaware circuit courts No. 4 and No. 5 each have a standard small claims and misdemeanor docket. Establishes a third superior court in Marshall County. Allows the judges of the Gibson superior court and Gibson circuit court to jointly appoint a magistrate to serve the Gibson County courts. Allows the judges of the Hamilton circuit and superior courts to jointly appoint an additional magistrate to serve the Hamilton County courts. Allows the judges of the Jennings circuit and superior courts to jointly appoint a magistrate to serve the Jennings County courts. Requires the Indiana criminal justice institute to: (1) collect data concerning rates of rearrest of defendants released with and without money bail; and (2) submit an annual report containing the information collected to the legislative council. Urges the legislative council to assign to the committee the topic of giving mutual full faith and credit to judgments and orders of a tribal court of a federally recognized Indian tribe.

Version chain

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

1. Enrolled Senate Bill (S) (committee substitute) — source
2. Introduced Senate Bill (S) (committee substitute) — source
3. Senate Bill (H) (committee substitute) — source
4. Senate Bill (H) (committee substitute) — source
5. Senate Bill (H) (committee substitute) — source
6. Senate Bill (S) (committee substitute) — source
7. Senate Bill (S) (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• SB 256 - Koch - 3rd Reading — 47–3 (pass) · upper
• SB 256 - McNamara - 3rd Reading — 91–0 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Eric Koch — primary (person)
• James Merritt — primary (person)
• Ryan Mishler — primary (person)
• Wendy McNamara — primary (person)
• Chip Perfect — coauthor (person)
• Chris Garten — coauthor (person)
• Dennis Kruse — coauthor (person)
• Gregory Steuerwald — cosponsor (person)
• J.D. Ford — coauthor (person)
• Jack Jordan — cosponsor (person)
• James Buck — coauthor (person)
• Jerry Torr — cosponsor (person)
• John Ruckelshaus — coauthor (person)
• Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)
• Mark Messmer — coauthor (person)
• Sheila Klinker — cosponsor (person)
• Timothy Lanane — coauthor (person)
• Victoria Spartz — coauthor (person)

Timeline

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

• 2020-01-09 Authored by Senator Koch
• 2020-01-09 First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary reading-1, referral-committee
• 2020-01-16 Committee report: amend do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Appropriations referral-committee, committee-passage
• 2020-01-16 Senator Randolph added as coauthor
• 2020-01-21 Senator Mishler added as second author
• 2020-01-21 Senator Merritt added as third author
• 2020-01-21 Senators Garten, Ruckelshaus, Perfect, Spartz, Ford J.D. added as coauthors
• 2020-01-21 Senator Messmer added as coauthor
• 2020-01-23 Committee report: amend do pass, adopted committee-passage
• 2020-01-23 Senator Buck added as coauthor
• 2020-01-27 Amendment #1 (Taylor G) failed; Roll Call 50: yeas 18, nays 32 amendment-failure
• 2020-01-27 Second reading: ordered engrossed reading-2
• 2020-01-27 Senator Kruse added as coauthor
• 2020-01-27 Senator Lanane added as coauthor
• 2020-01-28 Third reading: passed; Roll Call 80: yeas 47, nays 3 reading-3, passage
• 2020-01-28 House sponsor: Representative McNamara
• 2020-01-28 Cosponsors: Representatives Steuerwald and Torr
• 2020-01-29 Referred to the House
• 2020-02-10 First reading: referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code reading-1, referral-committee
• 2020-02-20 Committee report: amend do pass, adopted committee-passage
• 2020-02-20 Referred to the Ways and Means pursuant to House Rule 127
• 2020-02-27 Committee report: amend do pass, adopted committee-passage
• 2020-02-27 Representative Klinker added as cosponsor
• 2020-02-27 Rule 105.1 suspended
• 2020-02-27 Representative Jordan added as cosponsor
• 2020-03-02 Second reading: ordered engrossed reading-2
• 2020-03-03 Third reading: passed; Roll Call 283: yeas 91, nays 0 reading-3, passage
• 2020-03-04 Motion to dissent filed
• 2020-03-04 Senate dissented from House amendments amendment-failure
• 2020-03-04 Returned to the Senate with amendments amendment-failure
• 2020-03-04 House conferees appointed: McNamara and DeLaney
• 2020-03-04 House advisors appointed: Hostettler, Mayfield, Engleman, Steuerwald and Klinker
• 2020-03-05 Senate conferees appointed: Koch and Taylor G
• 2020-03-05 Senate advisors appointed: Garten, Lanane and Mishler
• 2020-03-10 CCR # 1 filed in the Senate
• 2020-03-10 CCR # 1 filed in the House
• 2020-03-10 Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the House; Roll Call 363: yeas 66, nays 28
• 2020-03-10 Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the Senate; Roll Call 362: yeas 49, nays 0
• 2020-03-12 Signed by the President Pro Tempore
• 2020-03-16 Signed by the Speaker
• 2020-03-18 Signed by the President of the Senate
• 2020-03-21 Signed by the Governor executive-signature
• 2020-03-21 Public Law 138

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/816595f3-6526-4e1d-89e7-91799ae925c7. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).