The new larger book-in area at Johnson County jail is seen in September.
DAILY JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
Two bills passed by the Indiana General Assembly this year will have major impacts on local law enforcement.
House Enrolled Act 1004 will allow local judges to again sentence people convicted of low-level felonies to state prisons by reversing part of Indiana’s criminal justice reform bills from the mid-2010s.
The previous provision required courts to sentence low-level offenders to a county jail, with some exceptions.
The bill also says offenders on lifetime parole who violate the conditions of their parole commit a Level 6 felony offense, and also defines other conditions of lifetime parole.
The justification at the time was low-level offenders suffering from mental illness and drug addictions could receive treatment locally, according to the Indiana Lawyer. Exempting some offenders caused overcrowding problems at county jails across the state, including in Johnson County, said Joe Villanueva, county prosecutor.
HEA 1004 does not require courts to send low-level felons to the Indiana Department of Correction if a county has treatment resources available, meaning a Level 6 felony offender could stay at a local jail. The bill goes into effect on July 1, and will only apply to new offenses committed after June 30.
Soon after the original law passed, it put a burden on county jails, including Johnson County’s. Right now, the county jail has anywhere from 55 to 65 Level 6 felons incarcerated at the facility, a number that often changes due to the number of offenders released and new sentences rendered, said Duane Burgess, sheriff.
The changes introduced in HEA 1004, mainly the option to send some Level 6 felons back to state facilities, are great for county jails. The state department of correction can offer more programs for offenders than the county can due to the length of stay for many of the inmates, Burgess said.
However, many counties have a similar number of felons, which will present an issue for the foreseeable future, he said.
“(The state) can’t take them all at once, so we are going to be sitting on these numbers for a while,” Burgess said.
The changes received widespread and bipartisan — though not unanimous — support. The Indiana Department of Correction and police unions were among the many groups that supported the bill.
The changes do a lot of great things for many parts of the justice system, including allowing judges to send people to the department of correction for treatment, Villanueva said.
“The DOC has some of the best options out there for treatment, especially recovery while incarcerated, for people suffering from addictions,” he said.
It also saves local taxpayers money by not having people housed at the jail for long periods of time. Jails were not designed, nor should they be thought of, as de facto holding facilities for state prisons, Villanueva said.
“I fully support this. It will be a great tool moving forward,” he said. “It doesn’t send the pendulum back to where it was before, but it strikes a good balance to get people to DOC who should be there, and saves room at local jails for (lower offenses).”
HEA 1296, legalized constitutional carry despite significant opposition from law enforcement groups.
Under the law, anyone can carry a handgun without a permit moving forward, including those 18 years and older, with some exceptions. The bill also elevates the theft of a firearm to a Level 5 felony, meaning someone convicted could face up to six years in prison, and could be fined up to $10,000.
The State Senate approved the bill 30—20 after the House voted 68-30 largely along party lines as the Indiana General Assembly neared adjournment of this year’s session. In the Senate, 9 Republicans joined all 11 Democratic senators in voting against the bill, including a local representative, Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus.
HEA 1296 was the second attempt to get the constitutional carry changes passed. The original repeal proposal passed the House in January, but stalled in the Senate last month.
Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter, along with the Indiana’s Fraternal Order of Police, police chiefs association and county prosecutors association, strongly objected to the changes. They all said the permit repeal would strip officers of a screening tool to quickly identify dangerous people they encounter who shouldn’t have guns, the Associated Press reported.
Locally, law enforcement officials are divided on the bill and how it will impact officers on the job.
Burgess said the right to bear arms is a constitutional, God-given right, but the permit was a nice thing for officers on the street to have so they knew who could legally have a firearm.
“If a person does not have a criminal history, they should be able to carry a handgun,” he said. “Permits do not stop bad guys from carrying handguns. They will get it if they really want it.”
Burgess is not against the changes made to the permit requirement, but says his deputies are going to need to adapt to the changes, something that will take time.
Edinburgh Police Chief Doyne Little said the changes could put more officers at risk. Lawful citizens have the right to carry a weapon, and they often already do have permits to do so and are doing it the right way. However, if anyone can carry a weapon, it takes away officers’ ability to ask someone if they can legally carry it, particularly when they’re trying to determine if they’re allowed to, he said.
“What it did was give me some avenues to see if they are legally able to carry the weapon. It gave me some teeth to enforce the law,” Little said.
When officers stop those who are carrying weapons to ask them for a permit, they run the information to see if they’re carrying the weapon legally. With the changes, that is no longer possible, he said.
“If you’re a felon, I don’t know if you’re legally allowed to have it. The only way I could know is if they’re committing a crime and I run a criminal history (check),” Little said.
The permit required people to go online and go through the application process to get a permit. The entire process was completely free, and helped make sure people who may be restricted from getting a weapon, such as some felons and folks with mental illnesses.
Little supports people’s rights to carry a firearm responsibly. However, most firearm-related crimes are committed by people who aren’t allowed to have them, regardless of whether they have a permit, he said.
Everyone at the prosecutor’s office took an oath to uphold the Constitution, and Villanueva doesn’t know of any other rights the government tries to license. It is a slippery slope for the government to say which rights are under government supervisions and which aren’t. There are 21 other states that have legalized constitutional carry, and Villanueva does not know of any that have seen a significant spike in crime rates, he said.
“We’ll have to wait and see what changes with statistics (here),” Villanueva said. “We have a lot of people who are good citizens who will carry (weapons) and do things appropriately.”
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill Monday evening, saying it entrusts Hoosiers who can lawfully carry a handgun to responsibly do so.
