Changes to Indiana Criminal Law

On July 1st, the new legislation passed by the124th Indiana General Assembly took effect, including several amendments to Indiana’s Criminal Code. Some additions to the Code reflect a natural progression of the law designed to fill gaps that develop over time, such as provisions designed to address fentanyl-related crimes, while others made necessary updates to the Code in response to technology evolving, like the new provision of the Indiana Code § 35-33-8-0.4, which allows courts to conduct bail hearings virtually. Still other changes occurred in the text of the Code itself. For example, the Legislature modified the Code where it used the phrase “child pornography” to instead refer to this as “child sex abuse material.”

Among the changes was an extension on the statute of limitations for the crime of rape, amending Indiana Code § 35-41-4-2. The extended statute of limitations now allows the state to bring a prosecution for a level three felony rape up to ten years after the state discovered specific DNA evidence or the person confessed to committing the crime. By contrast, the prior statute limited this time range to only five years.

In the cocaine and narcotics portions of the Code, the drug laws were modified as a result of fentanyl, which was not a prominent issue the last time Indiana saw a major criminal code overhaul in 2014. The changes sought to specify different drug weights for crimes involving schedule 1 and 2 narcotic drugs because of fentanyl’s recent emergence and the drug’s highly potent nature. The Code now specifies, by smaller units of the weight or amount of the drug involved in a dealing offense, whether to charge the person with a Level 1, 2, 3, or 4 felony.

The General Assembly also revisited its previous buffer zone law from 2023, which had never taken full effect due to constitutional challenges—the new law aims to be more specific to avoid a similar fate. Public Law 4 aims to reduce bystander intrusion at an active crime scene by allowing an officer to order a person to stop approaching the active scene if the officer reasonably believes that the person’s presence (within 25 feet of the scene) may hinder police duties. Then, if the individual continues to move closer after the officer orders otherwise, that person can be charged with unlawful encroachment, a Class C misdemeanor.

If you are facing a criminal law issue and would like to discuss with an attorney, please contact McNeelyLaw LLP by calling (317) 825-5110.

Disclaimer: This McNeelyLaw LLP publication should not be construed as legal advice or legal opinion of any specific facts or circumstances. The contents are intended for general informational purposes only, and you are urged to consult your own lawyer on any specific legal questions you may have concerning your situation.