A proposal to decriminalize marijuana in Gary fell one vote short of passage amid concerns that it would overstep Indiana law. Councilwoman Lavetta Sparks-Wade said she abstained from voting because the council’s attorney advised the council that it would circumvent state law.
While the firestorm over the Indiana Department of Child Services has died down, the Indiana General Assembly is preparing to begin its examination of the agency and possibly make recommendations for action during the 2019 legislative session. The Interim Study Committee on Courts and the Judiciary is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Room 431 of the Statehouse to review a host of issues related to DCS.
Indiana’s sheriffs say they need more state money to cover the costs of holding low-level nonviolent felons in county jails. Indiana’s county jails currently get a $35 per-day payment for every Level 6 felon they house. But it’s been at least 30 years since that amount changed, according to the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association.
Indiana’s top elections official is planning to use more than $7.5 million in federal funding to improve the state’s election security, but not to upgrade its voting machines. Indiana was among the states and territories to receive money from the $380 million approved by Congress amid ongoing threats from Russia and others.
Three Indiana prosecutors are renewing their calls for Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill to concede on their behalf the merits of lawsuit that blocked a 2018 abortion law and told the AG's staff in an email that Hill is obligated under the Indiana Rules of Professional Conduct to follow their directive as his clients. Hill, however, maintains he is authorized to defend the statute on behalf of his "ultimate client:" the people of Indiana.
When the Indiana Alcohol Code Revision Commission heard public testimony for the first time ahead of the 2019 legislative session on Friday, members of the Indiana legal and business community came forward to discuss the topic that has emerged as one of the most important for the commission to grapple with: how long alcohol permits can be held in escrow before being revoked.
A man who argued public policy should disfavor criminally charging people who have overdosed on heroin lost Wednesday, as the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed his felony possession conviction.
Indiana lawmakers are considering allowing farmers to grow industrial hemp. Members of the Interim Study Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources heard from farmers and state leaders in support of the new crop during a committee meeting on Monday.
The formation of a 501(c)3 to collect contributions to provide for Attorney General Curtis Hill’s legal defense against sexual misconduct allegations brought a fresh round of inquiry. Nonprofit law attorneys questioned the legality of starting a charity to raise money for one specific person and how the fund would be monitored in Indiana.
An Indiana lawmaker says a new state law promises to be an important step toward helping hold down Hoosiers’ prescription drug costs.
Even as Indiana lawmakers from both parties continue to echo Gov. Eric Holcomb’s call for hate crime legislation, the deep divisions that foiled previous attempts to pass a bias-motivated crime bill appear to still be entrenched.
Republican Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is calling on the General Assembly to pass a hate crimes bill after someone spray-painted anti-Semitic graffiti at a suburban Indianapolis synagogue. Holcomb said Monday he’ll meet with lawmakers, legal experts, corporate leaders and “citizens of all stripes who are seeking to find consensus on this issue so that, once and for all, we can move forward as a state."
Despite demands for Indiana to be withdrawn from a federal lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act, Attorney General Curtis Hill said he will continue to lead Indiana’s opposition to the “unconstitutional” law. Hill said “the foundation on which the Supreme Court built its justification for Obamacare’s constitutionality ceased to exist” when Congress repealed the individual mandate tax.
As the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky marked yet another legal victory in a challenge to an Indiana abortion law, the leaders of the organizations say they hope state lawmakers will begin to see what they say is the futility of the annual passage of abortion-restricting legislation.
A 2016 law requiring Indiana women who choose to have an abortion to first view an ultrasound of the fetus at least 18 hours in advance was struck down Wednesday by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Daniel Sigler, a senior prosecuting attorney from Fort Wayne, has been appointed special prosecutor as part of the investigation into sexual misconduct allegations surrounding Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill.
It’s not uncommon for the Indiana Department of Child Services to hear it doesn’t have enough evidence to support its child welfare cases. Children in need of services cases that enter the court often leave shredded by judges for lack of a sufficient reasoning as to why they came before the bench without enough evidence to back up the claims.
Five reviews of the Indiana Department of Child Services cost more than $1.3 million but yielded no state action to address the troubled agency’s increasing caseloads.
Since a memo was released detailing Curtis Hill’s alleged sexual misconduct at a party celebrating the end of the 2018 legislative session, the Indiana Attorney General has continued to fight back, even as calls for his resignation persist. This week, a nonprofit for his legal defense was announced.
Coming off the successful passage of Sunday sales legislation during the 2018 Indiana legislative session, the Alcohol Code Revision Commission re-convened for the first time on July 18 to chart its course for this year’s study topics. While the commission’s work last year focused on more specific topics like Sunday sales, this year’s group has been charged with studying more general issues, including alcohol permits, the state’s quota structure and the causes and effects of over-consumption.