republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2021/sb-358.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "School buildings."
description: "Provides that before a governing body may sell, exchange, lease, demolish, hold without operating, or dispose of a school building, the governing body shall: (1) obtain a certification from the attorney general's office; and (2) make the building available for lease or purchase by a charter school or state educational institution. Provides that before a governing body may sell, exchange, lease, demolish, hold without operating, or dispose of a school building, the governing body must receive a certification from the attorney general to ensure that the governing body is in compliance with requirements for making a vacant school building available for sale or lease to a charter school or state educational institution for $1. Requires the attorney general to investigate complaints that a school corporation has not complied with the requirements for making a vacant school building available for sale or lease to a charter school or state educational institution for $1. Provides that, in the event that a complaint is substantiated, the attorney general, in consultation with the department of education (department) and Indiana state board of education (state board), is authorized to take any action necessary to remedy a substantiated complaint, which may include actions to be performed by the state board or the department to ensure compliance of a school corporation. Provides that, if a school corporation does not comply with the requirements to sell a vacant school building, as determined by the attorney general, the school corporation shall submit any proceeds from the sale of the vacant school building to the state board. Provides that the state board shall distribute proceeds collected equally between each charter school located in the attendance area of the school corporation. Provides that, if no charter schools are located in the attendance area, the state board must use the proceeds to provide grants under the charter school and innovation grant program. Provides that a lease of school property entered into by a governing body prior to January 1, 2019, with a state accredited nonpublic school shall remain in full force and effect. (Current law provides that a lease of school property entered into by a governing body prior to July 1, 2019, with a state accredited nonpublic school shall remain in full force and effect.) Provides that a school corporation is responsible for maintaining a vacant school building until it is: (1) sold or leased to a charter school or state educational institution; (2) sold to an accredited nonpublic school or postsecondary educational institution other than a state educational institution; or (3) eligible to be sold or otherwise disposed."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 358"
citation: "Indiana SB 358 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ATTORNEY GENERAL", "EDUCATION", "State Superintendent", "State Department and Boards", "HIGHER EDUCATION", "Colleges and Universities", "SCHOOLS", "Buildings and Grounds", "SCHOOLS", "Charter Schools"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dennis Kruse", "Jeff Raatz", "Linda Rogers", "Robert Behning"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 24
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-04-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0a5e1954-bc0d-42cf-b717-f1df459a22c7"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/senate/358"
source_hash: "a29e2032c07cefdb0b89ba330ea197e14adee8795f21c2bc97155e1f251d6e96"
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 358 (2021) — School buildings.

Provides that before a governing body may sell, exchange, lease, demolish, hold without operating, or dispose of a school building, the governing body shall: (1) obtain a certification from the attorney general's office; and (2) make the building available for lease or purchase by a charter school or state educational institution. Provides that before a governing body may sell, exchange, lease, demolish, hold without operating, or dispose of a school building, the governing body must receive a certification from the attorney general to ensure that the governing body is in compliance with requirements for making a vacant school building available for sale or lease to a charter school or state educational institution for $1. Requires the attorney general to investigate complaints that a school corporation has not complied with the requirements for making a vacant school building available for sale or lease to a charter school or state educational institution for $1. Provides that, in the event that a complaint is substantiated, the attorney general, in consultation with the department of education (department) and Indiana state board of education (state board), is authorized to take any action necessary to remedy a substantiated complaint, which may include actions to be performed by the state board or the department to ensure compliance of a school corporation. Provides that, if a school corporation does not comply with the requirements to sell a vacant school building, as determined by the attorney general, the school corporation shall submit any proceeds from the sale of the vacant school building to the state board. Provides that the state board shall distribute proceeds collected equally between each charter school located in the attendance area of the school corporation. Provides that, if no charter schools are located in the attendance area, the state board must use the proceeds to provide grants under the charter school and innovation grant program. Provides that a lease of school property entered into by a governing body prior to January 1, 2019, with a state accredited nonpublic school shall remain in full force and effect. (Current law provides that a lease of school property entered into by a governing body prior to July 1, 2019, with a state accredited nonpublic school shall remain in full force and effect.) Provides that a school corporation is responsible for maintaining a vacant school building until it is: (1) sold or leased to a charter school or state educational institution; (2) sold to an accredited nonpublic school or postsecondary educational institution other than a state educational institution; or (3) eligible to be sold or otherwise disposed.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0358/versions/SB0358.03.ENGS)
2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0358/versions/SB0358.05.ENRH)
3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0358/versions/SB0358.01.INTR)
4. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0358/versions/SB0358.04.COMH)
5. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0358/versions/SB0358.02.COMS)

## Votes

- SB 358 - Behning - 3rd Reading — **52–40** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Dennis Kruse — primary (person)
- Jeff Raatz — primary (person)
- Linda Rogers — primary (person)
- Robert Behning — primary (person)
- Dale DeVon — cosponsor (person)
- Jake Teshka — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Authored by Senator Rogers
- **2021-01-11** First reading: referred to Committee on Education and Career Development `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-02-15** Senator Raatz added as second author
- **2021-02-15** Senator Kruse added as third author
- **2021-02-18** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-22** Amendment #1 (Rogers) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-failure, amendment-passage`
- **2021-02-22** Amendment #2 (Ford J.D.) failed; Roll Call 145: yeas 10, nays 39 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-02-22** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-02-23** Cosponsors: Representatives DeVon and Teshka J
- **2021-02-23** House sponsor: Representative Behning
- **2021-02-23** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 194: yeas 30, nays 16 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-24** Referred to the House
- **2021-03-04** First reading: referred to Committee on Education `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-01** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-05** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-04-06** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 369: yeas 52, nays 40 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-07** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-09** Motion to concur filed
- **2021-04-13** Senate concurred in House amendments; Roll Call 436: yeas 28, nays 21 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-21** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2021-04-22** Signed by the Speaker
- **2021-04-28** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-04-29** Public Law 155
- **2021-04-29** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0a5e1954-bc0d-42cf-b717-f1df459a22c7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).