Had changes in Indiana’s criminal code been in place when Jordan Buskirk and Randal Crosley abducted and murdered 19-year-old Katelyn Wolfe last summer, the killers would be spending two decades longer in prison than current law mandates.
That’s why prosecutors around the state, including Greene County’s Jarrod Holtsclaw, embrace the revised sentencing guidelines that take effect July 1.
The new law is heralded for lessening penalties for low-level crimes, such as possession of marijuana, while increasing the amount of time violent and repeat offenders spend behind bars.
A key component of the legislation requires Indiana inmates to serve at least 75 percent of the sentence they receive, replacing the current standard of serving just half of the time if a prisoner abides by prison rules.
The state’s “good-time statute” sentence change starts July 1 and will apply to crimes committed after that date. The state’s four divisions of felony offenses are being increased to six, and penalty ranges will be different, offering more discretion for judges.
“A crime committed on June 30 will have different penalties than the same crime committed on July 1,” Holtsclaw said. “And we will be operating under two criminal codes for quite some time into the future.”
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