CROWN POINT — Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. wants a handgun back on his hip.
The county's chief law enforcement officer filed a lawsuit Wednesday asking a judge to declare unconstitutional a portion of a new Indiana statute barring individuals under indictment from carrying a handgun in public.
House Enrolled Act 1296, which eliminated the need for Hoosiers 18 and older to obtain a state permit to carry a handgun in public beginning July 1, prohibits Martinez from doing the same because Martinez was indicted in January on a felony charge of resisting law enforcement and misdemeanor reckless driving.
Martinez is accused of failing to stop while driving an unmarked, county-owned Jeep TrackHawk at 96 mph in a 45-mph zone in what police described as a "completely reckless" manner on Main Street in Crown Point and Taft Street and U.S. 30 in Merrillville in September 2021 as two Crown Point police officers chased him with their lights and sirens activated.
According to court records, the officers terminated their pursuit when Martinez allegedly flashed the red-and-blue law enforcement light bar at the back of his vehicle to indicate that the vehicle was in use for law enforcement purposes, even though there were no emergency calls for the Lake County Sheriff's Department at that time.
Police later located Martinez's vehicle around midnight in a handicapped-parking spot at Karma Cigar. The Merrillville bar usually closes to the public at 11 p.m. on weekends, records show.
The Democratic sheriff has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which carry a potential punishment of up to 2.5 years behind bars. Martinez also automatically would lose his elected post as sheriff immediately upon conviction.
Records show that Martinez's trial is delayed while the Indiana Court of Appeals considers Martinez's request to toss the criminal indictment.
Indiana's permitless-carry law denies the right to carry a handgun in public to individuals under indictment; felons; fugitives; some noncitizens; a person convicted of domestic violence, domestic battery or criminal stalking; a person under a restraining order; a person formally deemed dangerous or mentally defective; or a person dishonorably discharged from the military.
Previously, county sheriffs and other law enforcement personnel automatically were exempt from the state's handgun-permit requirement. But that exemption was deleted from the Indiana Code by the Republican-controlled General Assembly in March because no Hoosier adult now needs a permit to carry a handgun in public.
In his lawsuit, Martinez says the statute infringes on his right to bear arms as guaranteed by the Indiana Constitution and the U.S. Constitution because he's not been convicted of a crime and remains a law-abiding citizen entitled to the presumption of innocence.
He claims that the histories and legal traditions of Indiana and the United States do not support a blanket prohibition on carrying handguns by individuals who merely are under indictment, and he should not face the threat of Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, or a special prosecutor, filing misdemeanor or felony charges against him for doing so.
"Sheriff Martinez’s rights, status or other legal relationships are affected by unconstitutional statutes to be enforced by the defendants," the lawsuit says. "Sheriff Martinez has a substantial present interest in the relief sought insofar as he seeks to exercise a constitutional right without criminal prosecution for the same."
According to the statute, the restriction on Martinez and other prohibited people only applies to carrying a handgun in public.
Before and after the permitless-carry law was enacted, any person in Indiana legally entitled to own a long gun or rifle, including the AR-15 and other rifles previously classified as assault weapons, may carry it in public with few restrictions.
Records show that Martinez's constitutional challenge to the law has been preliminarily assigned to Lake Superior Judge John Sedia.
A hearing date has not been set.
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