Lawmakers could change criminal code

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The Indiana General Assembly is looking to battle jail overcrowding with a major rewrite of the state's criminal code. It could reduce felonies for some drug possession crimes while raising penalties for violent crimes.

Indiana law makers estimate a new prison and staff would cost around $250 million to open. It's an expensive solution to a problem that plagues the entire country: prison overcrowding.
    
So in this year's Indiana General Assembly, lawmakers looked at a different way to ease the burden on prisons, starting with the laws.

"This (bill) is the first time the criminal code has been kind of over hauled like this since the late 70's like 1977,” Alan Morrison the District 42 representative said.

Morrison is referring to House Bill 1006, an ambitious rewrite of the state's criminal code, to ease the burden on prisons among other things.

“The people who are hurting other people are going to certainly be punished severely.  The non-violent crimes, a lot of those are the ones that are filling up our prisons,” he explained.
    
The bill would change the felony system from four levels to six and increase the penalties for violent crimes and sexual predators. But, it also eases the sentencing on drug possessions like marijuana.
    
According to House Democrat Clyde Kersey the bill would make all pot possession charges misdemeanors instead of felonies.

"Instead of those people going to prison, assign them to community corrections. And then, in community corrections, they find them a job.  If they don't have one, they must pay part of the cost of being in community corrections,” he explained.
    
Either way, Kersey and Morrison both agree that the system needs to change. But both will wait to see what the final product looks like before they know for sure if they will vote for it.