# Indiana SB 261: Criminal vandalism. Indiana SB 261, Criminal vandalism., is a Second Regular Session 124th General Assembly (2026) Senate bill sponsored by Michael Young (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-03-05 (Public Law 132); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB261-2026 - As of: 2026-11-01 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Indiana SB 261 - State: Indiana - Session: Second Regular Session 124th General Assembly (2026) - Title: Criminal vandalism. - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-01-08 - Last action: 2026-03-05, Public Law 132 - Sponsor: Michael Young (Republican) - Cosponsors: 5 - Subjects: corrections and criminal law, the house, courts and criminal code - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 2 (144 yes, 1 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 5 ## Summary Renames the crime of "criminal mischief" to "criminal vandalism". Repeals: (1) institutional criminal mischief; (2) cemetery mischief; (3) railroad mischief; and (4) critical infrastructure facility mischief; places them in the "criminal vandalism" statute, and preserves the original penalties and defenses. Repeals and places provisions involving damage to a cave in the criminal vandalism statute. Repeals and places provisions involving depositing refuse in a cave in the littering statute. Makes conforming amendments. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Household vandalism counts as domestic violence: benefit, low. Beginning July 1, 2026, Indiana includes criminal vandalism in its definition of crimes involving domestic or family violence. This applies when one family or household member commits, attempts, or conspires to commit the offense against another. The classification applies under laws that use that… - Cave littering brings fines and misdemeanors: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2026, placing or leaving refuse in a cave is a Class A infraction. The judgment can reach $1,000 per violation. Reckless, knowing, or intentional repeat violations become Class C misdemeanors. That applies after a prior unrelated conviction or juvenile adjudication for the same vi… - Infrastructure vandalism conspiracies carry substantial fines: cost, low. Beginning July 1, 2026, conspiring with another person to commit vandalism involving a critical infrastructure facility carries financial penalties. A person involved in that conspiracy faces a fine of up to $100,000. - Graffiti can cost drivers their licenses: mixed, medium. Beginning July 1, 2026, courts may order license suspensions or learner's permit invalidations after graffiti vandalism convictions. The restriction can last up to one year. Juvenile courts may impose a one-year restriction after a delinquency finding for graffiti that would be criminal vandalism f… - Vandalism penalties depend on damage caused: mixed, medium. Beginning July 1, 2026, Indiana combines separate cemetery, railroad, cave, foreclosure, and critical infrastructure offenses into its criminal vandalism rules. These rules cover reckless, knowing, or intentional damage to another person's property without consent. The baseline is a Class B misdeme… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Michael Young (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Aaron Freeman (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Andrew Ireland (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Garrett Bascom (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Rodney Pol (Democratic), Senate - Cosponsor: Scott Baldwin (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-02-24 | House | Third reading: passed | pass | 97 | 0 | | | 2026-01-28 | Senate | Third reading: passed | pass | 47 | 1 | | ## Actions (23) - 2026-03-05: Public Law 132 (Senate) - 2026-03-05: Signed by the Governor (Senate) - 2026-02-27: Signed by the President Pro Tempore (Senate) - 2026-02-27: Signed by the President of the Senate (Senate) - 2026-02-27: Signed by the Speaker (House) - 2026-02-25: Returned to the Senate without amendments (House) - 2026-02-24: Third reading: passed; Roll Call 352: yeas 97, nays 0 (House) - 2026-02-23: Second reading: ordered engrossed (House) - 2026-02-18: Committee report: do pass, adopted (House) - 2026-02-02: First reading: referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code (House) - 2026-01-29: Referred to the House (Senate) - 2026-01-28: House sponsor: Representative Ireland (Senate) - 2026-01-28: Senator Pol added as coauthor (Senate) - 2026-01-28: Senator Baldwin added as third author (Senate) - 2026-01-28: Representative Ireland removed as sponsor (Senate) - 2026-01-28: Cosponsor: Representative Ireland (Senate) - 2026-01-28: Third reading: passed; Roll Call 126: yeas 47, nays 1 (Senate) - 2026-01-28: House sponsor: Representative Bascom (Senate) - 2026-01-26: Second reading: ordered engrossed (Senate) - 2026-01-26: Senator Freeman added as second author (Senate) - 2026-01-22: Committee report: amend do pass, adopted (Senate) - 2026-01-08: Authored by Senator Young M (Senate) - 2026-01-08: First reading: referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law (Senate) ## Bill text - Enrolled Senate Bill (S): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/SB0261/versions/SB0261.04.ENRH?format=pdf) - Introduced Senate Bill (S): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/SB0261/versions/SB0261.01.INTR?format=pdf) - Senate Bill (H): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/SB0261/versions/SB0261.02.COMS?format=pdf) - Senate Bill (S): [PDF](https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/SB0261/versions/SB0261.03.COMH?format=pdf) ## Related bills - SB 239: Various education matters. (signed) - SB 204: Various education matters. (signed) - SB 179: Indiana department of transportation. (signed) - SB 185: Alcohol and tobacco matters. (signed) - SB 80: Code publication. (signed) - HB 1424: Farm and homestead food sales. (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled Senate Bill (S) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/SB0261/versions/SB0261.04.ENRH?format=pdf) - [Introduced Senate Bill (S) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/SB0261/versions/SB0261.01.INTR?format=pdf) - [Senate Bill (H) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/SB0261/versions/SB0261.02.COMS?format=pdf) - [Senate Bill (S) (PDF)](https://api.iga.in.gov/2026/bills/SB0261/versions/SB0261.03.COMH?format=pdf) ## Related - [SB 239: Various education matters.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB239-2026) - [SB 204: Various education matters.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB204-2026) - [SB 179: Indiana department of transportation.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB179-2026) - [SB 185: Alcohol and tobacco matters.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB185-2026) - [SB 80: Code publication.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB80-2026) - [HB 1424: Farm and homestead food sales.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-HB1424-2026) - [Indiana bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/indiana/bills) - [Indiana state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/indiana) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/IN-SB261-2026 (as of 2026-11-01).