The Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis is seen on June 1.
Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
Indiana’s 2023 legislative session may have ended in April, but many of the state’s new laws go into effect today.
New laws include police buffer zones, work zone speed cameras, book removal, throwing stars and more. Here is a look at some of the laws that will impact Johnson County residents.
Gender transition therapy for minors
A law aimed at preventing gender transition procedures on minors is set to partially go into effect Saturday as a civil suit challenging the law plays out in federal court.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against SEA 480 on behalf of four families with transgender children in U.S. District Court for the Southern Indiana District earlier this year. On June 16, Judge James Patrick Hanlon issued a preliminary injunction in the case, stopping the law’s prohibitions on gender transition procedures based on the equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment, TheStatehouseFile.com reported.
A section of the law that would prevent physicians from aiding or abetting another physician or practitioner in the provision of gender transition procedures to a minor was also paused on First Amendment grounds.
The injunction does not cover the entire law. Hanlon ruled there was no standing to challenge the part that bans gender reassignment surgery since the services are not provided to minors in Indiana, the ruling says.
Contraceptive access
HEA 1568 will allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control pills, patches or rings to adults for up to one year. However, anything longer will require a referral to a provider, the law says.
Pharmacists who want to prescribe birth control will have to complete additional training under the new law. They will also be required to provide patients with a self-screening risk assessment and refer them for a follow-up with their primary care providers.
Additionally, pharmacists can refuse to prescribe hormonal contraceptives on the basis of ethical or religious objections.
Gax tax increases
Indiana’s annual gas tax increases will continue until at least 2027 as part of an amendment to HEA 1050.
Legislators first raised the tax by 10 cents in 2017 as a way to fund road projects, also setting it up to increase one cent per year to keep pace with inflation. The tax was originally set to expire next year.
However, with the extension the tax will continue for another four years, costing drivers an estimated $90 million, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
This tax is on top of a regular 7% sales tax on gasoline and 18.4 cents per gallon in federal taxes.
Police buffer zones
People wanting to get close to officers while they do their official duties have to stay 25 feet back under House Enrolled Act 1186. The bill creates a 25-foot “buffer zone” around officers conducting official duties.
If someone “knowingly or intentionally” approaches an officer and ignores an order to stop, they can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor, the law says.
Those who pushed for the legislation said yelling and touching from bystanders can make an officer’s job more difficult and even dangerous. Opponents of the bill said it will erode accountability for law enforcement officers, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
The bill has no exceptions for people who want to record police interactions, including the media.
Work zone cameras
A bill that authorizes a pilot program to allow the Indiana Department of Transportation to place speed cameras in some work zones will go into effect in July.
HEA 1015 allows INDOT to use cameras in some work zones to ticket people who are speeding. The pilot program is aimed at reducing construction worker injuries and deaths as a result of speeding.
People driving 11 mph over the speed limit in an active work zone will be ticketed, although only four cameras can be used across the state, the law shows.
The law only applies if construction workers are present. The first violation would be a warning, while subsequent violations would accrue progressively greater fines starting at $75, the law says.
Previously, drivers caught speeding by just one mile in an active work zone by police would result in a $300 ticket with no warning.
During the legislative session, Republican lawmakers were split on the bill, with some calling the program an example of government overreach, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
Firearms training
HEA 1177 grants funding for firearm training for teachers who choose to carry a handgun. It also covers the cost of counseling services for students, teachers and staff in the event of a shooting.
Schools will also be required to distribute firearm safety materials to parents regarding how to safely store firearms in order to keep them out of children’s hands.
Throwing stars
Indiana’s ban on throwing stars is repealed starting on July 1.
SEA 77 makes throwing stars — defined as “a throwing-knife, throwing-iron, or other knife-like weapon with blades set at different angles” — legal in Indiana except on school property. The stars will be treated like any other weapon, the law says.
