JOINT RULES FOR CONDUCTING BUSINESS
IN THE TWO HOUSES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE STATE OF INDIANA
112th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1. After a bill or resolution has passed one house and before it shall be transmitted to the
other house for further action, it shall be the duty of the author to furnish to the clerk of the house
of origin a card bearing the name of the party selected as sponsor in the other house, which card
shall be attached to the bill and transmitted therewith.
2. (a) After a bill or joint resolution shall have passed both houses it shall be duly enrolled
on paper, and the clerk of the house where it originated shall certify over his or her signature
upon the back thereof the house in which it originated, the dates upon which it passed the House
and Senate, respectively, and the number of votes cast for and against it in each house.
(b) Every enrolled bill or joint resolution shall be printed in enrolled act form. The
session of the General Assembly shall be indicated on the face of such printed enrollment. In the
case of enrolled bills proposing to amend any then existing Indiana statute, the text shall reflect
any change from the text of the then existing statute. This shall be accomplished by the use of
bold face type to indicate the addition of new material to the text of the then existing statute, and
canceled type to indicate the deletion of existing material.
3. Every bill or joint resolution, after having been enrolled, shall be examined by the
Committee on Rules and Legislative Procedures of the house in which it originated, which shall
compare the enrolled copy with the engrossed copy, or cause the author thereof to do so, taking
special care that the engrossed amendments adopted by either house, if any there be, shall have
been properly incorporated in said enrolled copy and shall report in writing to said house any
errors therein. In addition to the three official copies of each enrolled bill, there shall be printed
on writing paper one hundred copies, excepting, however, the general appropriation bill, which
shall be delivered to the Public Law Division of the Legislative Services Agency for the use of
the public.
4. (a) Every bill or joint resolution reported to have been duly enrolled shall be signed
first by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall send the same to the Senate; then
by the President of the Senate after which it shall be presented by the Secretary of the Senate or
the Clerk of the House of Representatives to the Governor for his signature.
(b) Except as provided in this rule, all bills and joint resolutions shall be signed by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate in their houses
respectively, when in session.
(c) During a recess period, the Speaker, and the President of the Senate may sign bills and
resolutions in their respective offices. A list of the bills and resolutions signed during any recess
shall be read immediately upon the reconvening of each house.
5. A record of all bills and resolutions signed, whether in session or during a recess, shall
be kept in the Journals of each house.
6. When any paper or papers, proper to be acted upon by both houses, shall come before
either, the house before which such paper or papers are laid shall, after acting thereupon, lay it or
them before the other house.
7. (a) In every case of an amendment of a bill agreed to in one house, and dissented to in
the other, either house may request a conference and appoint a committee for that purpose; the
other house may also appoint a committee. A conference committee shall consist of two
members from each house; one member from the house in which the bill or resolution originated
shall be named as chairman by the appointing authority of the house of origination.
(b) Conferees shall state to each other verbally or in writing, as either shall choose, the
reason of their respective houses for and against the amendment, and confer freely thereon and
report to each house their proceedings thereon. Meetings of conference committees shall be held
at a convenient hour agreed upon by the conferees and shall be open to the public, whenever
feasible, in which event, notice shall be posted before such meeting in accordance with the rules
of the house in which the bill originated. It is the intent of this joint rule to provide public access
to the legislative process without hindering, intimidating or disrupting that process.
8. In all cases where the Doorkeeper of one house shall, by reason of official engagement,
or other causes, be unable to execute the commands or process of the house of which he is an
officer, it shall be the duty of the Doorkeeper of the other house to execute such commands,
together with such process as may be directed to him by the presiding officer thereof.
9. A joint standing committee to be called the Committee on Joint Rules shall be
appointed, to consist of four Senators, not more than two of whom shall be from the same
political party, four Representatives, not more than two of whom shall be from the same political
party, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the
Senate, which last two officers shall be ex officio members of the Committee.
10. All joint conventions shall be held in the hall of the House of Representatives unless a
different place shall be designated in the resolution by which such joint convention is convened.
All such joint conventions shall be presided over by the President of the Senate, or if for any
reason the President of the Senate be absent or decline to preside, then the President Pro
Tempore of the Senate shall preside.
11. In all joint conventions and joint meetings of the two houses no business shall be
transacted other than that for which they were assembled.
12. When a message is sent to the Senate or to the House of Representatives, it shall be
delivered in writing to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House, who shall deliver
such message to the Chair.
13. Messages shall be sent by such persons as the President Pro Tempore of the Senate or
Speaker of the House may designate for that purpose.
14. When bills which have passed one house are ordered to be printed in the other, a
greater number of copies shall not be printed than may be necessary for the use of the house
making the order.
15. When the Governor has informed either house of the General Assembly that he has
signed a bill or joint resolution, or taken any other action affecting both houses of the General
Assembly, the house to which his action is reported shall inform the other house of the General
Assembly of the Governor's report.
16. Any proposed amendments to these rules shall be referred to the Committee on Joint
Rules.
17. The Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives shall at the
time of delivery of the enrolled acts and resolutions for the signature of the presiding officer
leave with the minute clerk a copy of a written message setting out the numbers of the enrolled
acts or resolutions so submitted.
18. A motion to recess for more than three days shall be deemed to have failed unless
approved by a majority of the members elected in each house. Such majority shall be established
by roll call vote.
19. The joint rules, upon adoption, shall govern the General Assembly for the term of that
General Assembly unless suspended or amended.
20. If:
(1) two bills amending the same section of the Indiana Code are approved in the
same session of the General Assembly, and neither bill recognizes the existence of the other;
(2) one bill amends a section of the Indiana Code and another bill repeals that
section with an effective date preceding the effective date of the amendment; or
(3) two bills each add a new provision to the Indiana Code at the same code
citation without either bill recognizing the addition made by the other and both bills are approved
in the same session of the General Assembly;
one of the two bills may be corrected at enrollment to recognize the existence of the other by the
Committee on Rules and Legislative Procedures of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Rules and Legislative Procedure of the Senate. However, a correction under this
rule is limited to the extent necessary to resolve the technical conflict and may not be made
unless the report of each of the two committees includes the written consent of the respective
committee's ranking minority member. In addition, the committee report in each house must
include the written consent of the corrected bill's author or sponsor, as the case may be, in that
house.
21. If a bill is passed which clearly expresses the intent that a SECTION thereof becomes
effective on a date other than the standard statutory effective date set forth in the Indiana Code,
but does not use the technical emergency provision for such effective date, then the Rules and
Legislative Procedures Committee of the House of Representatives and the Rules and Legislative
Procedure Committee of the Senate may correct the bill at enrollment to include the technical
emergency provision for the expressed effective date. For the correction to be made, each House
must adopt a committee report setting forth the correction and containing the written consent of
the Chairperson and ranking minority member of the Rules Committee of that House and the
author or sponsor of the bill in that House.
