Senate passes bill that would appoint replacement attorneys for prosecutors who won’t file charges

A bill that would allow the appointment of a special attorney if county prosecutors refuse to file charges for crimes is on its way to Indiana’s House.

Senate Bill 284 passed the Senate Tuesday. The bill would establish a three-person prosecutor review board to investigate whether a prosecutor is noncompliant. No more than two of the members can be part of the same political affiliation.

To be considered noncompliant, the prosecutor would need to make a public statement that they will not prosecute certain crimes and show a pattern of not bringing charges in these cases. Noncompliant prosecutors would not face discipline, but a special prosecutor would be appointed to oversee that category of crimes.

The bill’s author, Sen. Aaron Freeman (R-Indianapolis), said the legislation creates a “calculated” procedure for handling noncompliant prosecutors.

“My hope is that no prosecutor can claim this as in any way unfair or unreasonable,” he said.

Similar bills have been introduced in the past, but have failed. Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears’ decision to not prosecute small possession of marijuana cases has been brought up repeatedly in those discussions. Mears cited a disproportionate impact on people of color – and the fact that possession is not a violent crime –  when he made that decision in 2019.

Sen. Greg Taylor (D-Indianapolis) cautioned lawmakers that the legislation did not exist in a vacuum.

“If your prosecutors and your counties that you represent – if I ever hear of them making a blanket statement that they're not going to enforce the law, I may be the first person to file and ask that your prosecutor be requested to go in front of this panel,” he said.

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.