In an increasingly digital world, the legal ritual of a person signing a last will and testament before two witnesses who attest to the signer’s capacity may be evolving. Lawmakers next year will consider a proposal to allow electronic signatures on wills and other trust and estate documents.
Indiana lawmakers will continue to learn more about the effect criminal code reform has had on the state’s criminal justice system when the Interim Study Committee on Corrections and Criminal Code meets for its third meeting this week.
A preliminary draft of proposed legislation that would revamp Indiana’s civil forfeiture law has been endorsed by members of a summer study committee, but not without concerns raised by lawmakers.
Four Indiana counties will be able to make their case to the Indiana General Assembly for additional judicial resources after a legislative study committee gave a positive recommendation to their requests for additional judges and courts.
Indiana lawmakers will gather for the final meeting of the Interim Study Committee on Courts and the Judiciary this week, when they will address the need for new courts or judicial officers throughout the state.
As the number of children in need of services cases continues to rise, public defenders across Indiana are stretching themselves to be able to offer competent representation while also serving as many clients as possible. Defenders are likewise feeling a strain on their misdemeanor caseloads.
After a federal judge ruled part of Indiana’s civil forfeiture framework unconstitutional, state lawmakers are now reviewing proposed legislation to bring that framework in compliance with federal mandates and prosecutors’ suggestions.
Public defenders from across the state came to the Indiana Statehouse Thursday to share their concerns about what they see as crisis in the state’s judiciary – the increasing difficulty their offices face to comply with caseload suggestions as more and more filings hit their desks.
A report to Indiana lawmakers shows the state hasn't seen significant savings from an overhaul of criminal sentencing laws aimed at sending fewer people convicted of nonviolent crimes to prison.
Like many states, Indiana has a problem — mountains of untested rape exam kits in local law enforcement agencies that contain DNA evidence potentially identifying sex offenders. Indiana’s backlog of untested kits is certainly in the thousands. Victim advocates say the question is, how many thousands?
Nearly half the people housed in Indiana jails were there on a low-level felony charge, and in some counties, this population by itself exceeded the capacity of local jails.
Indiana lawmakers will continue their discussions about various topics affecting the legal profession and law enforcement when two interim study committees reconvene next week.
Indiana police officials say a proposal to eliminate the state's handgun carry license requirement for civilians could result in a loss of revenue.
The number of people serving time in local jails instead of the Department of Correction on low-level felony convictions rose 177 percent in the two years since Indiana’s criminal code reform took effect, and 28 percent more were people convicted of the new Level 6 felony compared to the prior Class D felony.
Legislators heard testimony for five hours Tuesday on whether Indiana should do away with the requirement for people to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun in public.
With a little more than four months until the start of the 2018 Indiana General Assembly, lawmakers are back to work to consider two high-profile issues being closely watched by law enforcement and prosecutors throughout the state: civil forfeiture and constitutional carry — the proposition that people should be able to carry handguns without a license.
Indiana lawmakers will return to the Statehouse Tuesday for the first of three discussions about one of the most controversial issues being considered by a summer study committee this year – constitutional carry, or the belief that a person should be able to carry a handgun without a license.
The Statehouse will again be talking liquor as the Indiana Alcohol Code Revision Commission holds its first hearing Tuesday.
The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus is renouncing the racial hatred and violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend and renewing its push for hate crime legislation in the state.
Court technology and several other court programs got a boost in the latest state biennial budget, including an additional $5.9 million to fund, in part, key initiatives for Hoosiers, such as court appointed special advocate programs.