Repeat OWI offenders face mandatory jail or community service under new Indiana law

Indiana drivers convicted of a second operating-while-intoxicated offense will face at least 10 days in jail or community service, and a third conviction will trigger at least 20 days, under an omnibus criminal law package (HB1249) signed by the governor on March 11 as Public Law 158. People serving those sentences will earn good time credit, which they could not under prior law.

The bill folds operating a watercraft into the OWI statute and repeals the separate boat-OWI offense. It adds OWI involving a controlled substance to the habitual traffic violator law and requires officers to offer a chemical test that includes a blood draw to anyone they have reason to believe was driving a vehicle in a fatal crash.

The package also raises penalties for battery against health care employees and school employees and requires those employers to file semiannual reports on workplace battery incidents with the Department of Labor. A new offense of remote aerial harassment criminalizes certain uses of drones. Children charged with dangerous possession of a firearm can now be tried in juvenile court in some circumstances, and the offense becomes a Level 5 felony when the child has a prior unlawful-carrying conviction or is on or near school property.

Rep. Zimmerman was primary sponsor. The House passed the bill 74-18 on January 28 and the Senate 46-0 on February 19. The conference report cleared the House 96-0 and the Senate 43-4 on February 27.