Attorney General endorses legislation to reform post-conviction process, protect victims and restore finality to the justice systemy

Attorney General Todd Rokita is endorsing legislation proposed by state Rep. Andrew Ireland (R-Indianapolis) that would reform Indiana’s post-conviction relief process — the narrow legal procedure that allows convicted offenders to ask courts to reopen closed cases based on limited claims after their trials and all direct appeals have concluded. 

House Bill 1314 would close loopholes used to repeatedly reopen cases that have already been fully adjudicated, which delays closure for victims, clogs courts and drains public resources long after the justice system has done its work. 

“When a case has gone through trial and appeals, the public and the victims deserve to know that the outcome means something,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Taxpayer dollars should be spent prosecuting new crimes and supporting victims — not reopening closed cases through endless meritless petitions. These reforms protect constitutional rights while restoring integrity and finality to the system.” 

Under current law, offenders whose cases are closed — meaning guilt has been determined, sentences imposed and appeals exhausted — can still file repeated post-conviction petitions. Often, offenders recycle claims that were already rejected or could have been raised years earlier. Each new filing forces courts to reopen finalized cases, set new hearings, issue new rulings, and sometimes conduct new appeals — even when there is no new evidence to consider. 

For victims, this means cases they were told were over are never truly over. Families that have already endured investigation, trial and appeals can be pulled back into court again and again — sometimes decades later — to confront the same offenders and the same facts. For courts and prosecutors, it means diverting limited time and resources away from current crimes to re-litigate matters the justice system has already resolved. 

Rep. Ireland added that HB 1314 would restore post-conviction relief to its original, limited purpose.  

“Every repetitive post-conviction filing reopens a case that was already finished,” Rep. Ireland said. “Victims are forced back into a process they believed had ended, and courts are asked to revisit convictions that have already been tested and upheld. This legislation ensures that credible new claims can still be heard while bringing real finality to cases that have already been fully and fairly litigated.”