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The Associated Press
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July 1, 2014
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana — Sweeping changes to Indiana’s criminal code took effect Tuesday that will send more low-level, nonviolent criminals to community corrections programs and jails instead of state prisons, causing concern by some about the financial burden it will put on counties.
The new guidelines establish felony ranges numbered from Class 1 to Class 6, instead of the previous A through D system. They also decrease minimum sentences for many crimes, but call for the most serious felons to serve 75 percent of their sentences, instead of 50 percent.
“All other states that have done justice reinvestment have set aside money — Indiana has done nothing yet,” Monroe County chief probation officer Linda Brady told The Herald-Times. “I keep saying ‘yet,’ because I’m hopeful.”