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HB1303 • 2026

A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning criminal law and procedure.

A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning criminal law and procedure.

Children Crime
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Representative Wendy McNamara
Last action
2026-03-04
Official status
Enrolled House Bill (H)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide detailed information on how the new rules will be enforced or specific defenses regarding CSAM.

Indiana Sex Offender Reporting and Child Safety Act

This act changes Indiana's laws to add new sex offender reporting requirements, expand the definition of 'missing child', apply the Silver Alert program to missing children, create a new crime for distributing child sex abuse material (CSAM), and make sentencing enhancements for CSAM offenses.

What This Bill Does

  • Adds new rules for people from other places who need to report if they are a sex offender in their home state.
  • Expands the definition of 'missing child' to include high-risk missing persons.
  • Makes sure that the Silver Alert program, which helps find missing seniors and people with disabilities, also looks for missing children.
  • Moves rules about having child abuse images into a new section of the law.
  • Creates a new crime called distributing CSAM and makes punishments stricter.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Sex offenders who move to Indiana from other states
  • People involved in finding missing children
  • Law enforcement agencies that track sex offenders

Terms To Know

High risk missing person
A child who is considered at high risk of being harmed or killed if they go missing.
Silver Alert program
A system used to help find missing seniors and people with disabilities.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how the new rules will be enforced.
  • It is unclear what specific defenses are provided in certain circumstances regarding CSAM.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HB1303.03.ENGH.AMS06

Committee Engrossed House Bill (S) • Senator Aaron Freeman

Filed

Plain English: The amendment adds new rules about how Indiana can use information from other states when dealing with criminal cases.

  • Adds a section to the Indiana Code that allows courts and law enforcement to use criminal records and other legal documents from other states in their investigations and court proceedings.
  • The amendment does not specify which other jurisdictions' information can be used or under what conditions.
  • It is unclear how this new section will interact with existing Indiana laws regarding evidence and due process.
HB1303.03.ENGH.AMS07

Committee Engrossed House Bill (S) • Representative Wendy McNamara

Filed

Plain English: The amendment adds a new definition for 'high risk missing person' in Indiana's criminal law.

  • Adds a new section to the Indiana Code that defines what a 'high risk missing person' is.
  • The exact criteria and implications of being classified as a 'high risk missing person' are not detailed in this amendment text, so more information would be needed to understand how it will affect people or procedures.
HB1303.04.COMS.AMS09

Committee House Bill (S) • Senator Aaron Freeman

Filed

Plain English: The amendment aims to add new provisions related to missing children in Indiana's criminal law.

  • Adds new sections to the Indiana Code concerning criminal law and procedure, focusing on issues related to missing children.
  • The specific details of how these new provisions will affect current laws are not provided in the amendment text.
HB1303.01.INTR.AMH01

Committee Introduced House Bill (H) • Representative Jennifer Meltzer

Filed

Plain English: This amendment changes the penalties for certain criminal offenses in Indiana.

  • Modifies the penalties related to specific crimes under Indiana's criminal law and procedure.
  • The exact nature of the crimes affected by this amendment is not specified, making it unclear which specific offenses will be impacted.
  • Further details about how penalties are modified are not provided in the given text.
HB1303.01.INTR.AMH04

Committee Introduced House Bill (H) • Representative Wendy McNamara

Filed

Plain English: This amendment is about changing how certain criminal cases are handled in Indiana.

  • The amendment does not specify any concrete changes to the bill's content or rules regarding criminal law and procedure.
  • The official text of the amendment does not provide enough information to explain specific changes.
  • More details about the amendment's intent and effects are needed.
HB1303.02.COMH.AMH001

Filed House Bill (H) • Representative Garrett Bascom

Passed

Plain English: This amendment does not provide specific changes to the bill and is marked as 'second', indicating it might be procedural or a placeholder.

  • The official text of the amendment does not specify any concrete changes, making it unclear what impact this amendment would have.
HB1303.02.COMH.AMH002

Filed House Bill (H) • Representative Alex Zimmerman

Failed

Plain English: This amendment proposes to change the Indiana Code regarding criminal law and procedure, but does not provide specific details about what changes it would make.

  • The amendment aims to modify the Indiana Code concerning criminal law and procedure, but the exact nature of these modifications is not specified in the provided text.
  • The official amendment text does not include detailed information on the specific changes proposed, making it impossible to provide a clear explanation of its effects.
HB1303.02.COMH.AMH003

Filed House Bill (H) • Representative Alex Zimmerman

Passed

Plain English: This amendment does not provide specific changes to the bill and is marked as 'second', indicating it might be procedural or a placeholder.

  • The official text of the amendment does not specify any concrete changes, making it unclear what effect this amendment would have.
HB1303.05.COMS.AMS001

Filed House Bill (S) • Senator Aaron Freeman

Passed

Plain English: This amendment changes the Indiana Code to add a new section about criminal law and procedure, but the specific details of what this new section will include are not provided in the given information.

  • Adds a new section to the Indiana Code concerning criminal law and procedure.
  • The official amendment text does not provide enough detail to explain the exact changes or content of the new section.
HB1303.05.COMS.AMS002

Filed House Bill (S) • Senator Mike Bohacek

Failed

Plain English: This amendment proposes to change the Indiana Code regarding criminal law and procedure, but does not provide specific details about what changes it would make.

  • The exact nature of the proposed changes is unclear from the provided information.
  • The official text does not specify the concrete changes this amendment aims to make.
  • Further details are needed to understand the impact and specifics of the amendment.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-04 House

    Signed by the Governor

  2. 2026-03-04 House

    Public Law 92

  3. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Signed by the President Pro Tempore

  4. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Signed by the President of the Senate

  5. 2026-02-26 House

    Signed by the Speaker

  6. 2026-02-25 Senate

    Returned to the House with amendments

  7. 2026-02-25 House

    House concurred with Senate amendments; Roll Call 377: yeas 96, nays 0

  8. 2026-02-25 House

    Motion to concur filed

  9. 2026-02-24 Senate

    Third reading: passed; Roll Call 253: yeas 46, nays 0

  10. 2026-02-23 Senate

    Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed

  11. 2026-02-23 Senate

    Amendment #1 (Freeman) prevailed; voice vote

  12. 2026-02-19 Senate

    Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  13. 2026-02-19 Senate

    Senator Qaddoura added as cosponsor

  14. 2026-02-19 Senate

    Senator Randolph added as cosponsor

  15. 2026-02-12 Senate

    Committee report: amend do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Appropriations

  16. 2026-01-27 Senate

    First reading: referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law

  17. 2026-01-27 Senate

    Senator Brown L added as cosponsor

  18. 2026-01-23 House

    Referred to the Senate

  19. 2026-01-22 House

    Third reading: passed; Roll Call 79: yeas 89, nays 0

  20. 2026-01-22 House

    Senate sponsors: Senators Clark, Carrasco

  21. 2026-01-20 House

    Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed

  22. 2026-01-20 House

    Amendment #1 (Bascom) prevailed; voice vote

  23. 2026-01-20 House

    Amendment #3 (Zimmerman) prevailed; voice vote

  24. 2026-01-14 House

    Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  25. 2026-01-06 House

    Authored by Representative McNamara

  26. 2026-01-06 House

    Coauthored by Representatives Karickhoff, Meltzer, Pressel

  27. 2026-01-06 House

    First reading: referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code

Official Summary Text

A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning criminal law and procedure.
Sex crimes and child safety.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning criminal law and procedure.

Sex crimes and child safety.

Specifies the sex offender reporting requirements for persons who are sex offenders or required to register in other jurisdictions. Adds "high risk missing person" to the definition of "missing child". Specifies that the silver alert program applies to missing children. Removes provisions concerning possession of child sex abuse material (CSAM) from the statute containing the offense of child exploitation, and makes a new section for CSAM offenses. Creates a new crime for distribution of CSAM, and generally conforms the sentencing enhancements for possession of CSAM, distribution of CSAM, and child exploitation. Specifies that certain restrictions on CSAM in discovery also apply in civil proceedings (under current law, they only apply in criminal proceedings). Provides a defense in specified circumstances. Removes certain duplicative provisions and makes conforming amendments and technical corrections.