Bill Would Pay Wrongfully Imprisoned $50K Per Year Spent Behind Bars

Indiana lawmakers are supporting a measure to provide payments to people who are wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.

Indiana Statehouse

(Indianapolis, Ind.) – People who are wrongfully convicted and imprisoned only to later be exonerated and freed could receive compensation from the State of Indiana under a legislative proposal.

Indiana is one of 17 states which do not provide compensation for people who are exonerated after spending time in prison, according to the Associated Press.

House Bill 1150 would change that. It would allow exonerated former prisoners to receive $50,000 from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute for each year they were wrongfully imprisoned in a state prison or county jail.

The bill passed the Indiana House on a 96-0 vote in February. It was passed unanimously by the Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee on Tuesday, March 19. HB 1150 is now forwarded to the Senate Appropriations Committee for review of its financial impact on the state.

An Indiana Legislative Services analysis of the bill says that that at least 34 people who spent time locked up for crimes they didn’t commit may be eligible for a combined $18.4 million in payments if the bill becomes law. Nine of those 34 have already received court-ordered restitution or damages in civil lawsuits.

To receive the $50,000 per year payment, an exoneree would have to drop a lawsuit or agree not to sue the state for the wrongful imprisonment. A change made to the bill by the Corrections and Criminal Law Committee on Tuesday clarifies that an exoneree with a pending lawsuit would not be required to drop the litigation until their ICJI payment is approved.