KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

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SB140 • 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
Senator Vaneta Becker
Last action
2026-03-12
Official status
Enrolled Senate Bill (S)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on enforcement mechanisms for social media platforms outside Indiana.

Amending Indiana's Intimidation Law

This law changes how Indiana defines and punishes threats, especially those involving posting someone's personal information on social media with harmful intent.

What This Bill Does

  • Changes the definition of 'threat' to include sharing a person's private details on social media if it is meant to cause them harm, such as bodily injury, property damage, or making someone commit a crime.
  • Increases the punishment for threatening a legislator.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People who post others' personal information on social media with harmful intent
  • Legislators

Terms To Know

intimidation
Trying to scare or threaten someone into doing something.
legislator
A person who makes laws, like a senator or representative.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The law does not specify how it will be enforced on social media platforms outside of Indiana.
  • It's unclear what happens if the threat is made against other public officials besides legislators.

Amendments

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

SB0140.03.ENGS.AMH03

Committee Engrossed Senate Bill (H) • Representative Wendy McNamara

Filed

Plain English: The amendment adds a new section to the Indiana Code that makes it illegal to use drones or other remote-controlled devices to harass someone.

  • Adds a new law under the criminal code that prohibits using drones or similar remote-controlled devices to harass, intimidate, or threaten another person.
  • The exact penalties for violating this new law are not specified in the amendment text and would need to be determined elsewhere in the bill or by other legislative action.
SB0140.03.ENGS.AMH08

Committee Engrossed Senate Bill (H) • Representative Alex Zimmerman

Filed

Plain English: The amendment adds a new law to protect Indiana legislators from intimidation.

  • Adds a new section to the Indiana Code that makes it illegal to intimidate or threaten an elected official who is a member of the General Assembly (legislature).
  • The amendment does not specify what actions would be considered intimidating or threatening, leaving some details unclear.
SB0140.03.ENGS.AMH05

Committee Engrossed Senate Bill (H) • Representative Mitch Gore

Filed

Plain English: The amendment adds a new section to the Indiana Code that requires railroad companies to provide certain information about their crews to law enforcement.

  • Adds a requirement for railroad companies to give specific details about their crew members to police when requested.
  • The exact details of what information must be provided by the railroad company are not specified in this amendment text, making it unclear exactly which data will be shared with law enforcement.
SB0140.01.INTR.AMS01

Committee Introduced Senate Bill (S) • Senator Aaron Freeman

Filed

Plain English: This amendment does not provide specific changes to the bill and is incomplete.

  • The official text of the amendment does not specify any concrete changes or updates to the Indiana Code concerning criminal law and procedure.
SB0140.02.COMS.AMS001

Filed Senate Bill (S) • Senator Liz Brown

Failed

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

  • The exact nature of the change is unclear from the provided text.
  • The official amendment text does not specify any concrete changes or updates to the Indiana Code.
  • Further information would be needed to understand the intended modifications.
SB0140.02.COMS.AMS002

Filed Senate Bill (S) • Senator Aaron Freeman

Failed

Plain English: This amendment would change how Indiana handles certain criminal cases involving minors.

  • It would modify the way Indiana law deals with juvenile offenders in specific situations.
  • The official text does not provide enough details to explain exactly what changes are being proposed or how they will affect current laws.
  • Without more information, it's unclear which specific parts of criminal law and procedure would be amended.
SB0140.02.COMS.AMS003

Filed Senate Bill (S) • Senator Aaron Freeman

Passed

Plain English: This amendment changes how Indiana handles certain criminal cases involving minors.

  • Adds new rules for handling criminal cases where the defendant is a minor.
  • The official text does not provide specific details about what these new rules are, so we cannot explain them further.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-12 Senate

    Signed by the Governor

  2. 2026-03-12 Senate

    Public Law 146

  3. 2026-03-05 Senate

    Signed by the President Pro Tempore

  4. 2026-03-03 House

    Signed by the Speaker

  5. 2026-03-02 Senate

    Signed by the President of the Senate

  6. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Senator Young M added as coauthor

  7. 2026-02-27 Senate

    CCR # 1 filed in the Senate

  8. 2026-02-27 House

    CCR # 1 filed in the House

  9. 2026-02-27 Senate

    Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the Senate; Roll Call 328: yeas 47, nays 0

  10. 2026-02-27 House

    Rules Suspended. Conference Committee Report 1: adopted by the House; Roll Call 427: yeas 96, nays 0

  11. 2026-02-23 Senate

    Senate dissented from House amendments

  12. 2026-02-23 Senate

    Senate advisors appointed: Pol, Freeman

  13. 2026-02-23 Senate

    Senate conferees appointed: Becker, Taylor G

  14. 2026-02-23 House

    House advisors appointed: Bascom, Ireland, Bauer

  15. 2026-02-23 House

    House conferees appointed: Zimmerman, Gore

  16. 2026-02-20 Senate

    Motion to dissent filed

  17. 2026-02-18 House

    Returned to the Senate with amendments

  18. 2026-02-17 House

    Third reading: passed; Roll Call 264: yeas 88, nays 0

  19. 2026-02-16 House

    Second reading: ordered engrossed

  20. 2026-02-16 House

    Representative Lucas added as cosponsor

  21. 2026-02-12 House

    Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  22. 2026-02-02 House

    Representative Bascom added as cosponsor

  23. 2026-01-28 House

    First reading: referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code

  24. 2026-01-27 Senate

    Referred to the House

  25. 2026-01-26 Senate

    Third reading: passed; Roll Call 70: yeas 44, nays 0

  26. 2026-01-26 Senate

    House sponsor: Representative Zimmerman

  27. 2026-01-22 Senate

    Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed

  28. 2026-01-22 Senate

    Amendment #3 (Freeman) prevailed; voice vote

  29. 2026-01-13 Senate

    Committee report: amend do pass, adopted

  30. 2026-01-08 Senate

    Senator Walker K added as coauthor

  31. 2026-01-05 Senate

    Authored by Senators Becker, Freeman, Glick

  32. 2026-01-05 Senate

    Coauthored by Senators Leising, Goode, Charbonneau, Deery, Walker G

  33. 2026-01-05 Senate

    First reading: referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law

Official Summary Text

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

Public safety.

Amends the definition of "threat" in the intimidation statute to include posting a person's personal information on a social media platform with the intent to cause: (1) bodily injury to the person; (2) damage to the person's property; or (3) the commission of a crime against the person. Increases the penalty for intimidation if committed against a legislator.