An 81-page lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Indiana Department of Child Services claims the agency is failing to protect children and further inflicting trauma by placing foster children in inappropriate, unstable or overly restrictive facilities and not providing the necessary medical and mental health care.
The following enrolled acts, followed in parentheses by their corresponding public law numbers, take effect July 1 unless otherwise noted below.
The idea of revamping the state’s administrative law system has been floating around the Statehouse for years, but during the 2019 session, the reform effort finally gained broad support that has resulted in a new law proponents say will bring independence and transparency to the proceedings.
The National Election Defense Coalition filed a lawsuit Thursday against Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson alleging she’s violated state law in denying public record requests since September for her communications about election security with the National Association of Secretaries of State.
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a child in need of services adjudication after concluding the dismissal sanction for failure to timely conduct a CHINS factfinding hearing is not a mechanism to collaterally attack a CHINS adjudication.
Hoosier families celebrating adoption later this year will have the chance to commemorate the experience with cameras in the courtroom.
The Indiana Department of Correction’s refusal to disclose to the public information concerning the means it would use to execute a condemned criminal will cost taxpayers more than a half-million dollars in attorney fees, a judge has ruled.
A man convicted of harassing his Department of Child Services case manager to the point that she quit her job and moved to another county lost an appeal of his conviction Thursday, failing to convince the appellate court that the offense didn’t occur in Indiana.
A federal judge has granted an abortion provider’s motion for a preliminary injunction to open the doors of a South Bend abortion clinic without a state-required license, prompting an immediate appeal from the state.
Saying it was “troubled” by how the Department of Child Services chose to litigate two nearly back-to-back child welfare cases, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ordered a trial court to re-evaluate a 2018 CHINS petition without relying on facts that were available for litigation during a 2017 CHINS proceeding.
Even though the Indiana Department of Transportation declined to install a traffic signal at a Tippecanoe County intersection where a deadly crash later occurred, the Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld summary judgment for the department, finding it was immune from liability under the Indiana Tort Claims Act.
On May 5, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a bill supported by the Indiana Chamber, the Indiana Manufacturers Association, and other business and environmental groups that will allow the state to raise pollution permit fees after an extensive rulemaking process that could last more than a year.
A much longer-than-ordinary delay funneling state and federal grant dollars through the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute to domestic violence agencies has had dire results for many, causing at least one shelter for victims of abuse to close.
A Boone County pediatrician charged with sexually abusing three boys has had his medical license suspended for another 90 days. The Indiana Medical Licensing Board originally suspended 41-year-old Dr. Jonathon Cavins’ medical license in March for 90 days, until mid-June, but the board recently added another 90 days to the Jamestown man’s original suspension, meaning he’ll remain suspended until after his July trial.
Officials say more than 550 birds and 10 dogs allegedly being kept for use in animal fighting have been rescued from properties in two Indiana counties.
In response to a lawsuit seeking to require the state appoint attorneys to represent children in termination of parental rights or children in need of services proceedings, Indiana is arguing that adding more lawyers would only flatter the legal professionals and not mollify tragic circumstances.
A child in need of services case has been dismissed after an appellate panel concluded that a mother’s motion to dismiss because the fact-finding hearing was not completed within the statutory timeframe was incorrectly denied by the trial court.
A criminal investigation has been opened into mismanagement at the Indiana Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
An inmate lawsuit filed against New Castle Correctional Facility seemingly marks the first time a judge has ruled that a private prison operator can be liable for human trafficking in a punitive setting.
A long-running dispute between the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and a terminated employee has been partially revived after a panel of appellate judges agreed the former worker could have been held personally liable for misuse of state funds.