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The Indiana House Ways and Means Committee passed a proposed bill this week that would change the state’s reimbursement process for county deputy prosecutor salaries and could withhold funds from”non-compliant” prosecutors who refuse to prosecute certain criminal laws.
House Bill 1006 will be considered Monday by the full House.
The bill would establish guidelines and standards for services under which counties may be eligible for reimbursement for prosecution expenditures.
This is similar to how the Commission on Court Appointed Attorneys operates.
Additionally, the bill would establish a special prosecutor unit, review board and public prosecution fund.
The public prosecution fund would provide qualifying and participating counties with up to 50% reimbursement for the salaries of their deputy prosecutor.
Initially, the language of the bill would have deputy prosecutor salaries tied to caseloads, but that section was removed in the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee.
“We thought, well, we don’t want to really incentivize prosecutors to file more cases to get money. That seems wrong,” the bill’s author, Rep. Chris Jeter, R-Fishers, said in a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. “We changed it to a salary based in order to qualify for the reimbursement, you would have to be paying that deputy prosecutor at least 55% of the salary that’s being made by the elected prosecutor.”
Elected prosecutors are paid by the state.
The other qualifying factor for the reimbursement is that the elected prosecutor cannot be non-compliant in a “blanket decision to not enforce certain laws.”
“We define as essentially blanket decision not to enforce certain laws, right, like burglary or drugs or whatever, because obviously, that’s not sort of a policy that we want to advocate,” Jeter said.
Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, questioned the prosecutor review board portion of the bill.
He asked Jeter about how in some cities a prosecutor has said they won’t prosecute certain crimes and would instead focus their resources elsewhere.
“We just want to make sure that our state dollars are going to enforce the laws that we pass,” Jeter said.
In 2019, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said he would not prosecute lower-level marijuana possession cases. In advance of the special legislative session in 2022, Mears said he would not prosecute abortion cases if the state outlawed the procedure.
The review board would consist of five members of the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, who would investigate complaints against prosecutors.
The special prosecutor unit will be comprised of experienced prosecutors in the state and will be available if there is a conflict in a county they are able to assist.
The court appoints a special prosecutor in a case if there is a conflict. The unit will make a recommendation.
“I think that it’s really gonna be a historic investment, I think, in the criminal justice system as a whole, both public defenders and prosecutors,” Jeter said.
Jeter added that he believes the bill will help with Indiana’s attorney shortage.
The bill passed 13-6 and is on the House agenda for Monday with no amendments listed.
This story has been updated.
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