republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2020/hb-1198.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public safety matters."
description: "Designates an Indiana first responder to include the following employees and volunteers of state and local public safety agencies: (1) Law enforcement officers. (2) Firefighters, including volunteer firefighters. (3) Corrections officers. (4) Public safety telecommunicators. (5) Providers of emergency medical services. (6) Providers of emergency management services. (7) Any other individuals whose duties in serving a public safety agency include rapid emergency response. Provides that the designation of an individual as an Indiana first responder does not affect an individual's terms of employment or volunteer service with the public safety agency. Provides that a certified emergency medical technician or a licensed paramedic is not liable for transporting any person to an appropriate health care facility when the emergency medical technician or the licensed paramedic makes a good faith judgment that the emergency patient or the emergency patient's primary caregiver lacks the capacity to make an informed decision about the patient's: (1) safety; or (2) need for medical attention; and the emergency patient is reasonably likely to suffer disability or death without the medical intervention available at the facility."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 1198"
citation: "Indiana HB 1198 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["PUBLIC SAFETY", "EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["David Abbott", "Michael Crider", "Susan Glick"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 23
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-13"
last_action: "2020-03-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8327fe61-458a-4eed-b2ae-5b25d5beaf16"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/house/1198"
source_hash: "ec049367ae4bb601c51d7485e824f02913e0b7ac581f20fce7cdd863cdb48437"
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 1198 (2020) — Public safety matters.

Designates an Indiana first responder to include the following employees and volunteers of state and local public safety agencies: (1) Law enforcement officers. (2) Firefighters, including volunteer firefighters. (3) Corrections officers. (4) Public safety telecommunicators. (5) Providers of emergency medical services. (6) Providers of emergency management services. (7) Any other individuals whose duties in serving a public safety agency include rapid emergency response. Provides that the designation of an individual as an Indiana first responder does not affect an individual's terms of employment or volunteer service with the public safety agency. Provides that a certified emergency medical technician or a licensed paramedic is not liable for transporting any person to an appropriate health care facility when the emergency medical technician or the licensed paramedic makes a good faith judgment that the emergency patient or the emergency patient's primary caregiver lacks the capacity to make an informed decision about the patient's: (1) safety; or (2) need for medical attention; and the emergency patient is reasonably likely to suffer disability or death without the medical intervention available at the facility.

## Version chain

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

1. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1198/versions/HB1198.04.ENRS)
2. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1198/versions/HB1198.03.COMS)
3. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1198/versions/HB1198.02.COMH)
4. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/HB1198/versions/HB1198.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1198 - Abbott D - 3rd Reading — **98–0** (pass) · lower
- HB 1198 - Glick - 3rd Reading — **49–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- David Abbott — primary (person)
- Michael Crider — primary (person)
- Susan Glick — primary (person)
- Karlee Macer — coauthor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — cosponsor (person)
- Randall Frye — coauthor (person)
- Ronald Bacon — coauthor (person)
- Sheila Klinker — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-13** Coauthored by Representatives Frye R and Bacon
- **2020-01-13** Authored by Representative Abbott
- **2020-01-13** First reading: referred to Committee on Veterans Affairs and Public Safety `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-01-23** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-23** Representative Macer added as coauthor
- **2020-01-27** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-28** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 92: yeas 98, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-01-28** Senate sponsor: Senator Glick
- **2020-01-28** Rule 105.1 suspended
- **2020-01-28** Representative Klinker added as coauthor
- **2020-01-29** Referred to the Senate
- **2020-02-05** First reading: referred to Committee on Homeland Security and Transportation `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-11** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-13** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-17** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 206: yeas 49, nays 0 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-02-17** Senator Crider added as second sponsor
- **2020-02-17** Senator Randolph added as cosponsor
- **2020-02-18** Returned to the House without amendments
- **2020-03-03** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2020-03-03** Signed by the Speaker
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2020-03-30** Public Law 113

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8327fe61-458a-4eed-b2ae-5b25d5beaf16`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).