Signal-jammer bill prompted by arrest in Vanderburgh County heads to Gov. Mike Braun

Senate Bill 26 was written in response to a Vanderburgh County arrest where an individual allegedly used a signal jammer as a part of a robbery.

Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, authored the Senate version of the bill which would levy a Level 6 felony "for a person to intentionally operate, use, manufacture, buy, sell or distribute radio frequency jamming devices, unless authorized by federal law." If Braun signs the bill, the new law would go into effect July 1.

Jammers work by overpowering other area devices that use Wi-Fi, rendering them useless. Those include Ring doorbells, alarm sensors and the cellular backup that can notify police of a break-in.

In Sept. 2024, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Noah Robinson testified at the Statehouse on the need for new legislation to address the devices.

"We were frustrated by the fact we could charge these individuals with burglary," he said, "but there really wasn't any statute on the books, including the state's terrorism statutes, which addressed in any way the specter of these signal jammers."

The bill also includes language bumping up the charge to a Level 5 felony if the signal jammer is used to disrupt the communications of a public safety agency. When the bill went to the House, this portion was initially removed.

But Tomes dissented on those changes when the bill was sent back to the Senate for final approval. A conference committee took place this week where that portion was placed back into the bill. It's since been approved by both the House and Senate.

Where does the case in Vanderburgh County stand?

The man arrested in Vanderburgh County in connection to the local case was Jaime Yovany Riquelme Riveras.

He now faces charges of level 4 felony burglary of a dwelling, level 6 felony offense against a computer user and three misdemeanor offenses.

His next court appearance is set for 10 a.m. May 23 for a review hearing.