HB 1251 Indiana House · 2026 Regular Session

Emergency ambulance services.

Summary
Specifies that emergency medical services, including emergency ambulance services, are essential services in Indiana. Specifies that the provision of emergency medical services is an essential purpose of political subdivisions. Requires the county commissioners of each county to: (1) identify areas that are unserved by emergency ambulance services; and (2) provide emergency ambulance services to those areas by establishing a county emergency ambulance service, contracting with a public, private, or nonprofit provider of emergency ambulance services, or by any other available means. Allows a governing body to opt out of the requirement to provide emergency ambulance services to unserved areas in certain cases. Provides that a county governing body that opts out of the provision of emergency ambulance services is immune from civil liability for personal injury or death resulting from a lack of emergency ambulance services in an area of the county.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 5, 2026 Last action Feb 12, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

House Bill (H) House Bill (S) · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill number was updated from HB 1251.1 to HB 1251.2, and the document dates were revised to reflect later legislative actions. A new provision was added allowing local governing bodies to opt out of the requirement to provide emergency ambulance services in unserved areas under specific conditions. Additionally, new sponsors were added to the bill, and the legislative timeline was extended to include an amendment and final report on January 27, 2026.
Scope change
The bill's applicability was modified by introducing a new exemption that permits governing bodies to decline the mandate of providing emergency ambulance services to unserved areas in certain cases.
REQUIREMENT

Added a provision allowing governing bodies to opt out of the requirement to provide emergency ambulance services to unserved areas in certain cases.

TIMELINE

Updated the bill number from HB 1251.1 to HB 1251.2 and revised all internal dates to reflect the amendment and final reporting on January 27, 2026.

ELIGIBILITY

Added two new sponsors, Gore and Garcia Wilburn, to the list of bill sponsors.

Floor votes · House Feb 2, 2026

How they voted

820
Passed · 17 other
Total votes 99
Feb 2, 2026
D Democratic29
25 Yea 4
86% Yea
I Independent1
1 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican69
56 Yea 13
81% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
16
Key actions
4
Committee
4
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Committee report: amend do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy
upper
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Third reading: passed; Roll Call 177: yeas 83, nays 0
lower
Jan 27, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee report: amend do pass, adopted
lower
Jan 12, 2026
Committee
Recommitted to Committee on Ways and Means pursuant to House Rule 126.3
lower
Jan 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee report: do pass, adopted
lower
4 primary · 4 co-sponsors

Sponsors