republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2023/hb-1493.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Elimination of costs and fees in juvenile court."
description: "Provides that a parent is presumed indigent for purposes of parental payment or reimbursement for services provided by the department of child services to a child adjudicated delinquent or a child in need of services. Further provides that, when the department of correction is awarded wardship of a child, the juvenile court may not order a parent to pay or reimburse the department unless the juvenile court makes a specific finding that the parent is able to pay. Removes fees and costs associated with a child alleged to be a delinquent child from the supplemental public defender services fund and the public defense administration fee. Allows the alternative dispute resolution fund (fund) to be used for guardian ad litem services. Requires the court to determine whether, when a party is charged or convicted with a crime against the person, participation in services provided by the fund poses an unreasonable risk of harm. Makes conforming changes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1493"
citation: "Indiana HB 1493 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Department of Child Services", "CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Juvenile Courts and Proceedings", "CORRECTION", "Department of"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jon Ford", "Michael Crider", "Wendy McNamara"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 21
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2023-01-17"
last_action: "2023-05-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8c68f0c0-3817-4c77-b545-f543231aaab5"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/house/1493"
source_hash: "e411283a6b07b75bf6ec6bcd7b4ac9dc7fad6fe23b26fb29e99410aa2550ad56"
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 1493 (2023) — Elimination of costs and fees in juvenile court.

Provides that a parent is presumed indigent for purposes of parental payment or reimbursement for services provided by the department of child services to a child adjudicated delinquent or a child in need of services. Further provides that, when the department of correction is awarded wardship of a child, the juvenile court may not order a parent to pay or reimburse the department unless the juvenile court makes a specific finding that the parent is able to pay. Removes fees and costs associated with a child alleged to be a delinquent child from the supplemental public defender services fund and the public defense administration fee. Allows the alternative dispute resolution fund (fund) to be used for guardian ad litem services. Requires the court to determine whether, when a party is charged or convicted with a crime against the person, participation in services provided by the fund poses an unreasonable risk of harm. Makes conforming changes.

## 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/2023/bills/HB1493/versions/HB1493.05.ENRS)
2. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1493/versions/HB1493.02.COMH)
3. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1493/versions/HB1493.03.COMS)
4. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1493/versions/HB1493.04.COMS)
5. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1493/versions/HB1493.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1493 - Crider - 3rd Reading — **32–18** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Jon Ford — primary (person)
- Michael Crider — primary (person)
- Wendy McNamara — primary (person)
- Alan Morrison — coauthor (person)
- Gregory Steuerwald — coauthor (person)
- Sheila Klinker — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-17** Coauthored by Representative Steuerwald
- **2023-01-17** Authored by Representative McNamara
- **2023-01-17** First reading: referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-09** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-13** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-02-13** Representatives Klinker and Morrison added as coauthors
- **2023-02-14** Senate sponsor: Senator Crider
- **2023-02-14** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 132: yeas 94, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-02-15** Referred to the Senate `referral`
- **2023-02-27** First reading: referred to Committee on Family and Children Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-13** Committee report: do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Appropriations `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2023-03-13** Senator Ford Jon added as second sponsor
- **2023-04-13** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-04-17** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-04-18** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 445: yeas 32, nays 18 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-04-19** Returned to the House without amendments `receipt`
- **2023-04-24** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-25** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2023-04-26** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2023-05-01** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-01** Public Law 151 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8c68f0c0-3817-4c77-b545-f543231aaab5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).