Sec. 20. (a) This section does not apply if the person elected to the office of prosecuting attorney has purchased a crime insurance policy to which all of the following apply:
(1) The crime insurance policy:
(A) provides coverage for criminal acts or omissions committed by:
(i) the prosecuting attorney; and
(ii) any employees of the prosecuting attorney, including investigators, who are covered under an endorsement described in clause (D);
(B) includes aggregate coverage sufficient to provide coverage amounts specified for:
(i) the prosecuting attorney; and
(ii) any employees of the prosecuting attorney, including investigators, who are covered under an endorsement described in clause (D);
(C) is endorsed to cover the faithful performance of the duties of the prosecuting attorney; and
(D) may be endorsed to cover the faithful performance of the duties of employees of the prosecuting attorney, including investigators.
(2) The cost of the crime insurance policy is paid by:
(A) the county; or
(B) if the judicial circuit is composed of more than one (1) county, each county in the judicial circuit in the manner provided by IC 33-38-5-3.
(3) The state is, for the sole purpose of recovering public funds on behalf of a local government unit, named on the crime insurance policy and any endorsements as a named insured.
(b) A person elected to the office of prosecuting attorney shall execute an individual surety bond for the faithful performance of the duties of the office. The amount of the bond must be at least eight thousand five hundred dollars ($8,500).
(c) A person elected to the office of prosecuting attorney may not take office until that person has filed a bond:
(1) in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the person resides; and
(2) within ten (10) days after the bond is issued.
(d) The cost of a bond shall be paid by the county. For multiple county judicial circuits, the cost shall be paid by each county in the judicial circuit in the manner provided by IC 33-38-5-3.
(e) A bond must be:
(1) executed by the person elected prosecuting attorney and one (1) or more freehold sureties; and
(2) payable to the state as provided in section 10 of this chapter.
(f) A bond is not void on first recovery, and suits may be brought on the bond until the penalty is exhausted.
(g) If a bond has been legally certified, any of the following have the same effect in evidence as the bond:
(1) A copy of the bond.
(2) A record of the bond.
(3) A copy of a record of the bond.
(h) The county recorder of the county in which the person elected prosecuting attorney resides shall record the bond in an official bond register.
As added by P.L.49-1989, SEC.6. Amended by P.L.98-2004, SEC.58; P.L.55-2022, SEC.2.
Structure Indiana Code
Title 5. State and Local Administration
Article 4. Officers' Bonds and Oaths
Chapter 1. Filing, Recording, and Terms of Bonds and Oaths
5-4-1-1. Oaths; Officers and Deputies; Prosecuting Attorneys and Deputies
5-4-1-3. Legislators; Governor and Lieutenant Governor
5-4-1-4. Copy of Oath; Deposit
5-4-1-5.1. Political Subdivision Officer, Employee, and Contractor Bond Filing; Data Base
5-4-1-6. Secretary of State; Filing Official Bond
5-4-1-7. Preservation of Certified Copy; Fees
5-4-1-9. Time Limitation for Bond; Failure to Comply
5-4-1-10. Bonds Payable to State
5-4-1-11. First Recovery; Exhaustion of Penalty
5-4-1-12. Defects in Form and Substance
5-4-1-15.1. Deputies or Employees; Bonds and Insurance Policies
5-4-1-20. Crime Insurance Policies and Individual Surety Bonds for Prosecuting Attorneys