Lobbyists who work in Indianapolis and Marion County will now have to register their information in a public database beginning
next year. Effective Jan. 1, 2010, a new ordinance requires all lobbyists engaging in executive or legislative branch lobbying
activity with an agency of the City of Indianapolis or Marion County to register with the Department of Code Enforcement.
Mark Rutherford wants America’s third-largest political party to make inroads by showing competence at the grassroots level of government.
The Indiana Supreme Court offered some clues recently about why it’s ignored repeated attempts to address the issue
of legislative logrolling, where multiple unrelated changes are stuffed into one massive bill that becomes law.
Immigration attorneys and victims advocates are reading up on the Arizona illegal immigrant law and bracing themselves for
what a similar bill in Indiana could mean for their clients.
A House bill looking to ban texting while driving in Indiana on its own may not be very effective in preventing drivers from
using their cell phones in the car, according to a policy brief from an Indiana University research center.
Indianapolis attorney Mark Rutherford is the new vice chairman of the Libertarian National Committee.
Lawmakers have passed a bill that allows the Indiana Department of Child Services to more efficiently collect delinquent child
support, including a gaming intercept requiring casinos to check whether gamers are on a state delinquency list before releasing
large jackpots to them.
A bill that incorporated suggestions from attendees and organizers of an Indiana State Bar Association-sponsored juvenile
justice summit last summer passed the Indiana Senate 45-3 Feb. 18.
The Indiana State Bar Association has learned it will receive the LexisNexis 2010 Community and Educational Outreach Award
for the “Summit on Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System: A Statewide Dialogue,” which took place
in August 2009.
In what started at a summit hosted by the Indiana State Bar Association in August, House Enrolled Act 1193, which authorizes
a work study commission to consider various juvenile justice issues in Indiana, was signed by the governor March 17.
Long before he became Greenwood’s police chief, attorney Joe Pitcher recalls sitting as a special judge in town court and
facing an Unauthorized Practice of Law case that may be one of few like it in Indiana.
Hoosier lawyers and judges were kept on the edge of their seats as the Indiana General Assembly navigated its final days of
the session, reviving talk on two issues that have significant impact on the state’s judiciary and legal system.
More than a year since she was first nominated to head the Office of Legal Counsel, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee March
4 approved Indiana law professor Dawn Johnsen along party lines for the second time.
In the last days of the legislative session, lawmakers addressed funding proposals in HB 1154 on converting Marion County commissioners into magistrates and using a $35 fee on traffic infractions to pay for this; SB 307 that would allow a $50 fee on Bartholomew County traffic infractions to pay for a new Superior Court there; and SB 399 on capping traffic violation fines statewide.
Energy is one of the major issues environmentalists and lawyers who work with companies concerned about green technology are keeping an eye on during the 2010 Indiana legislative session.
In his 35 years as a lawyer-legislator, Sen. Richard Bray has thought about whether he should get involved in litigation because
of his role as an elected state official. While he doesn't recall this ever affecting his involvement on a case or legislation
before him, the veteran attorney from Martinsville, who practices with his son at The Bray Law Office, sees how it could present
problems.
An amended version of House Bill 1193, which came about as a result of a juvenile justice conference in August, passed out of the Senate's Judiciary Committee 6-1 Feb. 10. One major change in the bill approved by the committee was the deletion of the section about training for police officers who deal with juveniles on a regular basis.
For a little more than a year, Grant Superior Judge Mark Spitzer has presided over his local drug court and
has witnessed what he describes as remarkable results from the problem-solving court model.
State lawmakers want to crack down on child support collections and make it tougher for deadbeat parents to not pay what's owed.
Lawmakers are considering legislation that would repeal a last-minute 2009 special session provision that gave the Indiana Department of Child Services key control in deciding whether juveniles should be placed outside the state.