Bill targeting noncompliant prosecutors undergoes significant changes

An Indiana Senate bill intended to address “noncompliant” prosecutors underwent significant changes before a House committee advanced the legislation Wednesday.

Senate Bill 284 originally targeted prosecutors who refuse to prosecute certain crimes. In order to be considered noncompliant, the prosecutor would have to make a public statement that they would not prosecute certain crimes and show a pattern of not bringing charges in those instances. If found noncompliant, a special prosecutor would step in and take over those cases.

But the most current version of the bill focuses on a prosecutor review board that would decide if a special prosecutors unit would handle cases for any reason the board finds necessary.

Members of the three-person prosecutor review board would come from different parts of the state, and no more than two members could have the same political affiliation.

Courtney Curtis with the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council said the board could authorize the use of the special prosecutors unit when a prosecutor needs assistance on a complex case.

“So if you have an enormous case that's going to overwhelm the function of your office…I’m just asking you to come help me because I can't handle the case due to the size of my office,” Curtis said.

While the word noncompliant no longer appears in the amended bill, Curtis said the other function of the special prosecutors unit would entail “concurrent jurisdiction in areas where a prosecutor is not exercising his or her concurrent jurisdiction on a class of cases.”

Curtis pointed out that similar bills have been heard by the state Senate in recent legislative sessions, which have all failed. While IPAC has historically been opposed to those bills, it supports this iteration of SB 284 because it gives other prosecutors the power to determine if the special prosecutor unit should step in.

“We feel we are the best body to handle this problem,” she said. “We investigate allegations, we make decisions on that basis, we file motions, we file cases, we file pleadings, we take an oath to faithfully execute the laws of the state of Indiana. And so if this bill would pass, we would fairly execute that law as well.” 

The House Committee on Courts and Criminal Code passed the bill 9-4 Wednesday.
SB 284 will now move to a second reading in the House.

Contact WFYI criminal justice reporter Katrina Pross at kpross@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @katrina_pross.

Pross is a Corps Member of Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.