Bills might change prison sentence management

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WTHI) - New bills proposed in the Indiana House and Senate look at drastically changing the way prison sentences are managed.

On those those bills is House Bill 1249 . In that proposal, author Representative Sean Eberhart (R- District 57) suggests ending educational credit time for both sexual and violent offenders. A similar bill in the Senate, Senate Bill 260 creates the same standards.

Meanwhile, another bill propose in the Indiana House takes a look at a much broader reform of current prison sentencing. House Bill 1006 is working its way out of committee as well. This bill drastically changes the way prison sentences are handled, including altering good time credit, creating new levels of felonies (six levels rather than the current four classes), and creating clear definitions of sentencing standards for each felony.

According to Representative Eberhart, both bills work to keep the greatest offenders behind bars and utilize other services from the Department of Corrections for non-violent, lesser offenses.