HB 1197: Election matters. - Indiana

House Bill (H) → House Bill (S) · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to add new restrictions on precinct committeemen appointments and expand removal grounds for county officers. The Senate version adds a new section preventing reappointment of removed committeemen to different precincts until the next election, clarifies caucus participation requirements, and adds provisions for charging county officers with misconduct even in their absence.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from primarily election matters to include additional provisions for county officer removal and precinct committeeman appointment restrictions.

ELIGIBILITY

New section added requiring removed precinct committeemen to wait until the next election before being reappointed to a different precinct by the same county chairman.

REQUIREMENT

Citations affected list expanded to include IC 3-6, IC 3-13, and IC 5-8 in addition to the original IC 3-8, IC 36-2, and IC 36-3.

New requirement that appointed precinct committeemen must have been committeemen for 30 days before a vacancy occurred to participate in caucuses.

Senate sponsors (Gaskill, Crider) and additional committee member (Jackson C) added to bill header.

ENFORCEMENT

New provision allowing courts to hear and determine accusations against county officers even if the accused party does not appear before the court.

TIMELINE

Digest update date changed from January 15, 2025 to March 31, 2025, and bill date changed from January 21, 2025 to April 1, 2025.

Enrolled House Bill (H) → House Bill (H) · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from an enrolled act to a regular house bill, removing official enactment language and adding committee report details. The substantive policy content regarding election candidate requirements and county member expulsion procedures remains unchanged.

Scope change

No substantive scope change; the bill text content is identical between versions, only the formatting and presentation differ.

TECHNICAL

Removed official enrolled act header and printing code instructions that were present in the enrolled version.

Added committee report section showing the bill was amended in committee and passed with 11 yeas and 0 nays.

Changed document title from 'HOUSE ENROLLED ACT No. 1197' to 'HOUSE BILL No. 1197' reflecting current legislative status.

Removed page numbering and 'HEA 1197 - Concur' markers from the enrolled version.

Engrossed House Bill (H) → Enrolled House Bill (H) · 3 edits · May 1, 2025

MINOR

This bill transitions from an Engrossed version to an Enrolled version, indicating it has been finalized and approved by both chambers of the General Assembly. The substantive policy content remains unchanged, with the primary differences being formatting adjustments, updated printing codes, and the addition of the official House Enrolled Act title.

Scope change

No substantive scope change; the bill's applicability and provisions remain identical to the Engrossed version.

TECHNICAL

Updated document header from 'ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL No. 1197' to 'HOUSE ENROLLED ACT No. 1197' with revised printing code instructions.

Adjusted page numbering and formatting markers to reflect final enrolled status.

TIMELINE

Added effective date confirmation of July 1, 2025 for all amended sections.

Engrossed House Bill (S) → Engrossed House Bill (H) · 5 edits · Apr 15, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was amended to expand its scope from primarily election-related matters to include provisions for removing county officers and township executives from office. The changes add new grounds for charging and depriving certain officials of office, including failure to attend meetings and physical presence requirements, while also updating the bill's digest and sponsor information.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include removal procedures for county officers and township executives, in addition to the original election-related provisions for pro tempore appointments and county member vacancies.

SCOPE

Added new provisions allowing county officers and township executives to be charged and deprived of office following a hearing for specific violations including illegal fees, neglect of duty, and failure to attend meetings.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement that if an accused party does not appear before the court, the court may proceed to hear and determine the accusation in their absence.

Added exemption for county executive members from physical presence requirements in the county officer's office.

DEFINITION

Included county executive members in provisions concerning the initiation of removal actions for county officers when the county does not contain a consolidated city.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill version from HB 1197 to EH 1197, changed effective date from January 28, 2025 to April 11, 2025, and added Senate sponsors to the document.

Introduced House Bill (H) → Engrossed House Bill (S) · 4 edits · Apr 15, 2025

MODERATE

This bill was amended to shift authority over county legislative body member expulsions from the county legislative body itself to the county executive. The change also updated the list of applicable election codes and added a committee report explaining the amendment.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from applying to county legislative bodies to applying to county executives, and the list of affected Indiana Code citations was simplified.

REQUIREMENT

Authority to expel members or declare seats vacant was transferred from the county legislative body to the county executive.

The voting threshold for expulsion actions now requires approval from the county executive instead of the county legislative body.

ELIGIBILITY

The list of election-related Indiana Code sections was updated to include IC 3-13-6 and simplified other citations.

TECHNICAL

A committee report was added to document the amendment process and the specific changes made to the bill.

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