« Ind. Gov't. - "The irony is that while many sunset provisions were unnecessary, a thorough review of the FSSA would have truly been in order this year – exactly as the original proponents of sunset legislation envisioned" | Main | Ind. Law - More on “Today’s headline is tomorrow’s legislation” »

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Ind. Law - Expired FSSA provisions now added back to online Indiana Code

For background, start with this ILB entry from July 10th, headed "More on: General Assembly mistakenly repeals FSSA, effective June 30, 2011."

As I wrote in this ILB entry from July 9th:

What was in those expired chapters?

That is not so easy to find out, because each year the General Assembly updates the online Indiana Code, leaving no trace of what was in effect before. This has occurred year after year, despite years of urging by myself and others to keep older versions of the Indiana Code online, particularly since they are not readily available to the public in printed sets.

The ILB has located the language of the chapters as they existed before their repeal on June 30, 2011. Here is an outline:

Title 12. Human Services

Article 8. Administering Family and Social Services

Chapter 1. Office of Secretary of Family and Social Services (contains 15 sections, with Sec. 1 beginning ...)

Sec. 1. (a) The office of the secretary of family and social services is established.
(b) The office of the secretary includes the following:
(1) The secretary.
(2) Each office.
As added by P.L.2-1992, SEC.2.
Chapter 2. Family and Social Services Bodies

Chapter 6. Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning

Chapter 8. Divisions and Directors

The entire content of each of these chapters has been been eliminated from the statutes.

Now they are back! When I checked the online Indiana Code this morning, I found that the expired provisions are back. Here, e.g., is IC 12-8-1.

Each section is preceeded by this caveat:

Revisor's Note: IC 12-8-1-10 provides for the expiration of this chapter on June 30, 2011. P.L.153-2011, SECTION 20 repealed IC 12-8-1-10 effective July 1, 2011. The Governor's Executive Order 11-08 provides for the continued operation of FSSA and its various offices and divisions.
I am of mixed minds about this. Yes, the text of the expired law should be made available somewhere. As I pointed out in the earlier entry, there is no way for the public to locate any expired or repealed Code provisions online, because the General Assembly only posts the current copy of the Indiana Code.

Furthermore, the online Indiana Code is not official, and one should rely on it with that caveat.

But still, putting the expired provisions back online in the Indiana Code, based on a Governor's Executive Order?

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 12, 2011 09:49 AM
Posted to Indiana Government | Indiana Law