Text of IN HB 1316 (2026)

Introduced Version HOUSE BILL No. 1316 _____ DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL Citations Affected: IC 31-9-2; IC 31-10-3.5; IC 34-11-2-17. Synopsis: Child welfare provider protections. Prohibits a governmental entity from discriminating against a person in adoption and foster care matters based on the person's sincerely held religious belief. Allows a person to sue a governmental entity for discriminating against the person and allows for certain remedies. Provides that there is a two year statute of limitation for a discrimination claim. Effective: July 1, 2026. Heaton, DeVon January 6, 2026, read first time and referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs. 2026 IN 1316—LS 6642/DI 148 Introduced Second Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2026) PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type, additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type. Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution. Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts between statutes enacted by the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly. HOUSE BILL No. 1316 A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning family law and juvenile law. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana: 1 SECTION 1. IC 31-9-2-5.2 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE 2 AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 3 1, 2026]: Sec. 5.2. "Adoption or foster care service", for purposes 4 of IC 31-10-3.5, refers to any one (1) or more of the following: 5 (1) Promoting foster parenting. 6 (2) Coordinating placement of a child in a home or facility 7 licensed under IC 31-27. 8 (3) Recruiting a foster parent or an adoptive parent. 9 (4) Licensing or certifying a foster family home. 10 (5) Promoting adoption. 11 (6) Assisting with an adoption or supporting an adoptive 12 parent. 13 (7) Performing or assisting with a home study. 14 (8) Assisting with a kinship guardianship or a kinship 15 caregiver. 16 (9) Providing any family preservation service. 17 (10) Providing any family support service or temporary 2026 IN 1316—LS 6642/DI 148 2 1 family reunification service. 2 SECTION 2. IC 31-9-2-40.9 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE 3 AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 4 1, 2026]: Sec. 40.9. "Discriminate", for purposes of IC 31-10-3.5, 5 includes any one (1) or more of the following acts when done solely 6 based on a person's sincerely held religious belief: 7 (1) Denying or otherwise making unavailable any funding to 8 the person, including: 9 (A) a state grant; 10 (B) a loan; 11 (C) a scholarship; 12 (D) a guarantee; or 13 (E) an entitlement or a state benefit. 14 (2) Terminating, altering the terms of, or refusing to enter 15 into a contract with the person, including a subcontract or 16 cooperative agreement. 17 (3) Refusing to recognize or taking any adverse action against 18 a person's: 19 (A) license; 20 (B) certificate; 21 (C) custody award or agreement; or 22 (D) any other similar status. 23 (4) Refusing to place a child with the person. 24 (5) Altering in any way the person's tax treatment, including: 25 (A) imposing a tax penalty; 26 (B) denying or otherwise making unavailable an exemption 27 from taxation; or 28 (C) disallowing or otherwise making unavailable a 29 deduction for state tax purposes of any charitable donation 30 made by or to the person. 31 (6) Imposing on the person any of the following: 32 (A) A monetary fine. 33 (B) A fee. 34 (C) A penalty. 35 (D) A damages award. 36 (E) An injunction. 37 SECTION 3. IC 31-9-2-89, AS AMENDED BY P.L.3-2016, 38 SECTION 2, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE 39 JULY 1, 2026]: Sec. 89. (a) "Person", for purposes of IC 31-19-19, 40 IC 31-19-25, and the juvenile law, means: 41 (1) a human being; 42 (2) a corporation; 2026 IN 1316—LS 6642/DI 148 3 1 (3) a limited liability company; 2 (4) a partnership; 3 (5) an unincorporated association; or 4 (6) a governmental entity. 5 (b) "Person", for purposes of section 44.5 of this chapter, means an 6 adult or a minor. 7 (c) "Person", for purposes of IC 31-27, means an individual who is 8 at least twenty-one (21) years of age, a corporation, a partnership, a 9 voluntary association, or other entity. 10 (d) "Person", for purposes of the Uniform Child Custody 11 Jurisdiction Act under IC 31-21, has the meaning set forth in 12 IC 31-21-2-13. 13 (e) "Person", for purposes of the Uniform Interstate Family Support 14 Act under IC 31-18.5, has the meaning set forth in IC 31-18.5-1-2. 15 (f) "Person", for purposes of IC 31-10-3.5, means: 16 (1) an individual; or 17 (2) a legal entity, including a religious organization. 18 SECTION 4. IC 31-9-2-107.2 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA 19 CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS 20 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026]: Sec. 107.2. "Religious organization", 21 for purposes of section 89 of this chapter, refers to any of the 22 following: 23 (1) A house of worship, including a church, synagogue, shrine, 24 mosque, or temple. 25 (2) A religious: 26 (A) group; 27 (B) corporation; 28 (C) association; 29 (D) school or educational institution; 30 (E) ministry; 31 (F) order; 32 (G) society; or 33 (H) entity, regardless of whether the entity is integrated or 34 affiliated with a house of worship. 35 (3) Any officer, owner, employee, manager, religious leader, 36 clergy, or minister of an entity described in this section. 37 SECTION 5. IC 31-9-2-119.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA 38 CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS 39 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2026]: Sec. 119.5. "State benefit", for 40 purposes of section 40.9 of this chapter, means any program 41 administered, controlled, or funded by the state that provides any 42 one (1) or more of the following: 2026 IN 1316—LS 6642/DI 148 4 1 (1) Cash. 2 (2) Payments. 3 (3) Grants. 4 (4) Contracts. 5 (5) Loans. 6 (6) In-kind assistance. 7 SECTION 6. IC 31-10-3.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE 8 AS A NEW CHAPTER TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE 9 JULY 1, 2026]: 10 Chapter 3.5. Antidiscrimination in Adoption and Foster 11 Proceedings 12 Sec. 1. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a governmental 13 entity may not discriminate against any of the following: 14 (1) A person that provides, or declines to provide, an adoption 15 or foster care service in a manner consistent with the person's 16 sincerely held religious belief. 17 (2) An adoptive parent (as defined in IC 31-9-2-6) who raises, 18 or intends to raise, a child in a manner consistent with the 19 adoptive parent's sincerely held religious belief. 20 (3) A foster parent (as defined in IC 31-9-2-47) who raises, or 21 intends to raise, a child in a manner consistent with the foster 22 parent's sincerely held religious belief. 23 (4) A person that in a matter concerning adoption or foster 24 care service: 25 (A) maintains any policy and procedure; or 26 (B) otherwise acts; 27 consistent with the person's sincerely held religious belief. 28 (b) A governmental entity may consider whether a person 29 described in subsection (a) shares the same religion or faith 30 tradition as a child when considering placement of the child to 31 prioritize the child's placement with a person of the same religion 32 or faith tradition. 33 Sec. 2. (a) Notwithstanding IC 34-13-3-3 and subject to 34 subsection (b), a person may bring a cause of action against a 35 governmental entity for a violation of section 1 of this chapter. 36 (b) A person may not bring a cause of action against any court 37 under this section. 38 (c) A person does not need to exhaust any administrative 39 remedy before commencing an action under this section. 40 Sec. 3. Relief against the governmental entity may include any 41 of the following: 42 (1) Declaratory relief. 2026 IN 1316—LS 6642/DI 148 5 1 (2) Injunctive relief. 2 (3) Compensatory damages. 3 (4) Reasonable attorney's fees and costs. 4 SECTION 7. IC 34-11-2-17 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE 5 AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 6 1, 2026]: Sec. 17. An action against a governmental entity for 7 discrimination under IC 31-10-3.5-2 must be commenced not more 8 than two (2) years after the date of the act complained of. 2026 IN 1316—LS 6642/DI 148