republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2020/hb-1173.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Indiana department of veterans' affairs."
description: "Requires the director of veterans' affairs to be a resident of Indiana for at least two cumulative years prior to being appointed. Requires certain veterans' affairs service officers (officers) to be a resident of Indiana or to become a resident of Indiana not more than six months after the officer's start date and to: (1) be an honorably discharged veteran with at least six months of active service in the armed forces of the United States; or (2) be a service officer assistant (assistant) with at least two years of experience. Requires an assistant to be a resident of Indiana or become a resident of Indiana not later than six months after the assistant's start date and to: (1) satisfy certain officer eligibility requirements; or (2) be the spouse, surviving spouse, parent, or child of an officer that satisfies certain eligibility requirements. Allows county recorders to keep an electronic record of discharges. Requires the department of veterans' affairs (department) to develop a process concerning the release of discharge records by county recorders. Provides the department with rulemaking authority, including emergency rulemaking authority, for the purpose of developing and implementing a discharge record process. Revises certain program eligibility provisions to reference participants more precisely. Repeals statutes related to unused programs. Makes technical changes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1173"
citation: "Indiana HB 1173 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["VETERANS", "STATE AGENCIES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["James Tomes", "Michael Crider", "Randall Frye"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 23
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-08"
last_action: "2020-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/0620595f-5260-4773-a939-1cdb4c9113a9"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/house/1173"
source_hash: "d1f0ed28a207a867692daed59c2152519dd27d89c156fb7ef7e94eadaad316fc"
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 1173 (2020) — Indiana department of veterans' affairs.

Requires the director of veterans' affairs to be a resident of Indiana for at least two cumulative years prior to being appointed. Requires certain veterans' affairs service officers (officers) to be a resident of Indiana or to become a resident of Indiana not more than six months after the officer's start date and to: (1) be an honorably discharged veteran with at least six months of active service in the armed forces of the United States; or (2) be a service officer assistant (assistant) with at least two years of experience. Requires an assistant to be a resident of Indiana or become a resident of Indiana not later than six months after the assistant's start date and to: (1) satisfy certain officer eligibility requirements; or (2) be the spouse, surviving spouse, parent, or child of an officer that satisfies certain eligibility requirements. Allows county recorders to keep an electronic record of discharges. Requires the department of veterans' affairs (department) to develop a process concerning the release of discharge records by county recorders. Provides the department with rulemaking authority, including emergency rulemaking authority, for the purpose of developing and implementing a discharge record process. Revises certain program eligibility provisions to reference participants more precisely. Repeals statutes related to unused programs. Makes technical changes.

## 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/2020/bills/HB1173/versions/HB1173.04.ENGS)
2. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1173/versions/HB1173.05.ENRS)
3. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1173/versions/HB1173.03.COMS)
4. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1173/versions/HB1173.02.COMH)
5. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1173/versions/HB1173.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1173 - Tomes - 3rd Reading — **44–0** (pass) · upper
- HB 1173 - Frye - 3rd Reading — **97–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- James Tomes — primary (person)
- Michael Crider — primary (person)
- Randall Frye — primary (person)
- Chris Judy — coauthor (person)
- Dennis Zent — coauthor (person)
- Karlee Macer — coauthor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-08** Authored by Representative Frye R
- **2020-01-08** First reading: referred to Committee on Veterans Affairs and Public Safety `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-01-14** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-14** Representatives Judy, Zent, Macer added as coauthors
- **2020-01-16** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-21** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 38: yeas 97, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-01-21** Senate sponsor: Senator Tomes
- **2020-01-22** Referred to the Senate
- **2020-02-05** First reading: referred to Committee on Veterans Affairs and The Military `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-18** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-20** Senator Crider added as second sponsor
- **2020-02-20** Senator Randolph added as cosponsor
- **2020-02-24** Amendment #2 (Tomes) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage, amendment-failure`
- **2020-02-24** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-25** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 244: yeas 44, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-02-26** Returned to the House with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-03** Motion to concur filed
- **2020-03-04** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 311: yeas 59, nays 28 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-05** Signed by the Speaker
- **2020-03-09** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2020-03-11** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2020-03-14** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-30** Public Law 42

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/0620595f-5260-4773-a939-1cdb4c9113a9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).