# Indiana

Indiana has no single corrections certifying body. County jail officers must complete the Law Enforcement Training Board’s 40-hour Jail Officer’s Course within a year of appointment, the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) trains its own correctional and parole officers, and probation officers are certified by exam through the Indiana Office of Court Services. IDOC inspects every county jail each year. The General Assembly’s statute and bill site could not be read, so this page relies on agency documents and does not credit any 2023 to 2026 legislation. The one change recorded is IDOC’s consolidated restrictive housing policy, effective March 1, 2026.

Source: https://uscli.org/corrections-tracker/indiana

## At a glance

- **Certifying body:** Split system. The Law Enforcement Training Board, through the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), sets the minimum 40-hour Jail Officer’s Course, which county sheriffs’ jail officers must complete “within a year of their appointment date” ([ILEA, Jail Officers](https://www.in.gov/ilea/about-the-academy/jail-officers)). IDOC trains its own correctional and parole officers through its preservice and parole academies; no state certificate for IDOC officers was found. Probation officers are qualified by the Judicial Conference of Indiana, and the Indiana Office of Court Services (IOCS) administers the certification exam. The Board is covered on the [Indiana Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/indiana).
- **Statute:** As cited in agency documents; the statute text was not read: IC 5-2-1 (Law Enforcement Training Board), IC 11-8-2-5 (IDOC powers, cited for staff training), IC 11-12-4 (county jail standards and inspection), IC 11-10-1-7 and 11-11-6-1 (cited for restrictive housing), and IC 11-13-1-1(b) (probation officer exam). Rules: 250 IAC 2 (Board) and 210 IAC 3 (county jail standards) ([IDOC Policy 03-01-101](https://www.in.gov/idoc/files/policy-and-procedure/policies/03-01-101-Jail-Services-Division.pdf)).
- **Minimum standards:** IDOC correctional officers, by agency hiring criteria rather than statute: a high school diploma or equivalent, age 18 or older, a valid driver’s license, and negative drug tests ([IDOC, Working for IDOC](https://www.in.gov/idoc/get-involved/careers/working-for-idoc)). Probation officers: at least 21, U.S. citizenship, a baccalaureate degree (applicants may test in their last semester but cannot serve until they graduate), and good moral character. A probation officer must pass the IOCS exam before employment or within six months; a person who fails “shall not be permitted to serve” until passing, and after a second failure is barred from testing or serving for one year. New probation officers attend an IOCS orientation within one year of hire ([IOCS, Probation Officer Certification](https://www.in.gov/courts/iocs/probation/certification)). Jail officers: the 40-hour Jail Officer’s Course within one year of appointment.
- **Basic training:** Jail officers: the Board’s minimum 40-hour Jail Officer’s Course, taught at ILEA or at approved sheriff, career-center, and college sites. Topics include legal issues from intake to release, jail security, medical care, suicide prevention, abnormal behavior, admissions and booking, and stress management. IDOC correctional staff: a preservice academy of four weeks of instructor-led classroom training followed by four weeks of on-the-job training ([IDOC Policy 01-05-102](https://www.in.gov/idoc/files/policy-and-procedure/policies/01-05-102-Admin-and-Op-of-Employee-Training-Programs-and-Training-Depts.pdf), effective January 1, 2026). New parole officers complete a four-week parole academy.
- **In-service training:** IDOC: “All staff that have routine contact with the incarcerated population shall complete a minimum of 40 hours of Inservice annually.” Staff with controlled, minimal contact need 16 hours, and all staff take annual PREA training (Policy 01-05-102, sec. XXI). Jail officers: ILEA says the jail course “is intended to be supplemented by annual in-service training provided by their respective departments”; no statutory hour figure was verified. The Board’s annual in-service requirement for law enforcement officers is on the Officer Ledger page.
- **Decertification:** The Board may revoke, suspend, modify, or restrict a certificate authorizing a person to act as a law enforcement officer ([ILEA, Decertification](https://www.in.gov/ilea/decertification)); grounds, process, and the public list are on the [Officer Ledger page](https://uscli.org/officer-certification-tracker/indiana). No decertification process for jail officers, IDOC correctional officers, or probation officers was found.
- **Jail standards:** IDOC’s Jail Services Division “shall be responsible for the annual inspections of all county jails within the state” under the minimum jail standards (210 IAC 3). IDOC construction staff review final plans for new jails. A Jail Standards Committee of at least five county sheriffs, appointed each year by the Commissioner, reviews, revises, and interprets the standards ([IDOC Policy 03-01-101](https://www.in.gov/idoc/files/policy-and-procedure/policies/03-01-101-Jail-Services-Division.pdf), effective August 1, 2025, citing IC 11-12-4).
- **Probation and parole officers:** Probation officers are court employees qualified under Judicial Conference rules and certified by the IOCS exam, a two-hour computerized test. Parole officers are IDOC employees. By agency hiring criteria they need 5 years of related professional experience (accredited college substitutes year for year) and a valid driver’s license, must complete the Correctional Training Academy, including “the four-week parole reserve academy upon being hired,” before permanent status, and must qualify with and carry a firearm ([IDOC, Working for IDOC](https://www.in.gov/idoc/get-involved/careers/working-for-idoc)). Parole services operate under IDOC Policy 03-03-101 (effective June 1, 2023).
- **Restrictive housing:** By IDOC policy, not statute: a seriously mentally ill person “shall not be placed in restrictive status administrative placement housing over thirty (30) days,” unless the person consents or the Treatment Team finds an immediate and present danger. A disciplinary placement over 30 days for a seriously mentally ill person needs approval from the Executive Director of Behavioral Health ([IDOC Policy 02-04-103](https://www.in.gov/idoc/files/policy-and-procedure/policies/02-04-103-Restrictive-Status-Housing-03-01-26.pdf), effective March 1, 2026). No statutory limit was verified.
- **Corrections use of force:** Not verified. Indiana Code text could not be read, so no corrections use-of-force or pregnant-restraint statute is reported. The Board’s Uniform Statewide Policy on Deadly Force and its Defensive Tactics Training Policy apply to law enforcement officers, not jail or IDOC staff.

## Changes, 2023 to 2026

- Mar 1, 2026 — **IDOC consolidates its restrictive housing policies into one Restrictive Status Housing policy** — IDOC Policy and Administrative Procedure 02-04-103, Restrictive Status Housing · Effective March 1, 2026 — The 42-page policy governs all adult restrictive status housing, both administrative and disciplinary. It replaces the 2021 Administrative Restrictive Status Housing policy (02-01-111, effective October 1, 2021) and policy 02-04-102 (effective February 1, 2023). The 30-day cap on administrative restrictive housing for seriously mentally ill people, absent consent or immediate danger, is carried forward from the 2021 policy. The new policy also requires approval by the Executive Director of Behavioral Health for disciplinary placements over 30 days for seriously mentally ill people, and face-to-face mental health contact several times a week, with no more than three non-contact days in a row, for stable people with serious mental illness kept in restrictive housing. The 2023 disciplinary policy was not available to compare, so whether those two rules are new is not confirmed. — **For corrections staff:** Restrictive housing units follow one policy, including the 30-day limits for seriously mentally ill people and the mental health contact schedule. — [IDOC Policy 02-04-103](https://www.in.gov/idoc/files/policy-and-procedure/policies/02-04-103-Restrictive-Status-Housing-03-01-26.pdf)[IDOC Policy 02-01-111 (2021)](https://www.in.gov/idoc/files/policy-and-procedure/policies/02-01-111-ARSH-10-1-2021.pdf)

## Enacted, not yet in force, pending, and bills that did not pass

- **IDOC pending rules LSA #26-316 to #26-319:** Parole Board definitions; parole release and revocation; parolee conduct and conditions of parole; and clemency petitions. Listed as current pending rules on IDOC’s rulemaking page as of October 20, 2026. Rule text and effective dates were not read because the Indiana Register site could not be reached. Not final. [IDOC rulemaking](https://www.in.gov/idoc/policies-and-statistics/rule-making)

Bills that did not pass were not checked, because the General Assembly’s bill site could not be read.

## Checked and unchanged

- The Indiana General Assembly site (iga.in.gov) and the Indiana Register site returned only an empty JavaScript page to every non-browser request, including statute and PDF paths, so no Indiana Code, enrolled act, or Indiana Administrative Code text could be read. Statutory citations above come from IDOC, ILEA, and IOCS documents.
- Not verified, and not credited as entries: enacted bills on corrections topics listed on the Governor’s bill-watch pages, by title and signing date. 2023: SEA 71 (parole) and HEA 1287 (home detention), April 20, 2023; HEA 1087 (transportation for a released offender), May 4, 2023. 2024: HEA 1422 (trafficking of harmful substances in jails) and SEA 182 (drones near correctional facilities), March 11, 2024. 2025: SEA 95 (law enforcement training cost reimbursement), April 3; HEA 1208 (sheriff’s commissary fund), April 10; HEA 1687 (probation transfers for sex or violent offenders), April 16; SEA 420 (transfer of high-risk persons from county jail), April 24; SEA 231 (various corrections matters), May 6. 2026: HEA 1044 (insurance coverage for public safety employees), February 26; SEA 92 (community corrections trust funds), March 5. Their content and effective dates were not checked.
- IDOC Policy 01-05-102 (training) took effect January 1, 2026 and replaces a version effective July 1, 2025. The prior text was not available, so no change is credited.