§ 9-30-3-11 — Plea of guilty; informing defendant of rights; record of proceedings; destruction of documents; liability of court officers

Indiana § 9-30-3-11

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Title 9: MOTOR VEHICLES
• Art. 30: GENERAL PENALTY PROVISIONS
• Ch. 3: Court Procedures

Text

(a) Before accepting a plea of guilty to a
misdemeanor traffic offense, the court shall inform the defendant of the
defendant's rights, including the right to:
(1) engage counsel;
(2) a reasonable continuance to engage counsel to subpoena
witnesses;
(3) have process issued by the court, without expense to the
defendant, to compel the attendance of witnesses in the
defendant's behalf;
(4) testify or not to testify in the defendant's own behalf;
(5) a trial by jury; and
(6) appeal.
(b) The court shall inform each defendant charged with a traffic
offense other than a nonmoving traffic offense, if the defendant is
convicted or judgment is entered against the defendant, that a record of
the conviction or judgment will be sent to the bureau or the motor
vehicle bureau of the state where the defendant received a license to
drive to become a part of the defendant's driving record.
(c) The court shall keep a full record of every case in which a person
is charged with a traffic offense other than a nonmoving traffic offense.
Within ten (10) days after the conviction, judgment, or forfeiture of
security deposit of a person, the court shall forward a copy of the
judgment in an electronic format or an abstract as prescribed by IC 9-30-13-0.5. The abstract comprises the original copy of the traffic
information and summons or complaint and summons if the conviction,
judgment, or forfeiture of security deposit has been entered on that
copy. However, instead of the original copy, the court may, subject to
the approval of the bureau, send the information in an electronic format
or in the form of a chemical based, magnetic, or machine readable
media. Records of nonmoving traffic offenses are not required to be
forwarded to the bureau.
(d) One (1) year after the abstract has been forwarded, the court may
destroy the remaining court copies of the information and summons or
complaint and summons and related pleadings if an order book entry
of the copy has been made and the original copy has been sent to the
bureau.
(e) Upon the failure of a court officer to comply with subsection (c),
the officer is liable on the officer's official bond for a civil penalty of
one hundred dollars ($100) accruing to the state, which may be
recovered, together with the costs of the suit, in a civil action brought
by the attorney general in the name of the state on relation of the
attorney general. Each failure by an officer constitutes a separate cause
of action.
[Pre-1991 Recodification Citation: 9-4-7-9.]

Legislative History

As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.18. Amended by P.L.184-2007, SEC.61; P.L.206-2007, SEC.9; P.L.125-2012, SEC.325.