The Indiana Constitution is the supreme law of the state, adopted in 1851 to replace the original 1816 charter, and it has been amended 46 times since ratification.1Indiana State Government. The 1851 Indiana Constitution Its 16 articles guarantee individual rights, divide state government into three branches, set the terms of voting and elections, require free public schools, restrict how the state and its local governments can borrow, and lay out a deliberately slow process for making changes to the document itself.
Rights Guaranteed by Article 1
Article 1 is Indiana’s Bill of Rights. It opens with the declaration that all people are created equal and endowed with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, then works through specific protections that parallel federal rights but sometimes reach further.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Constitution
Religion, Speech, and Arms
Three sections handle religious freedom together. Section 2 secures the right to worship according to conscience, Section 3 bars any law that would interfere with religious belief, and Section 4 prevents the government from favoring any creed or forcing anyone to attend, build, or financially support a place of worship. The effect is a broad separation of church and state at the state level, independent of the First Amendment.
Section 9 protects the right to speak, write, and publish freely on any subject, though you remain accountable for abusing the privilege; Section 10 makes truth a defense in libel cases. Section 32 protects the right to bear arms “for the defense of themselves and the State,” language Indiana courts have read as an individual right on its own state-law footing.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Constitution
Criminal Justice and Victim Rights
Sections 13 through 19 build a detailed framework for anyone facing criminal charges. You have the right to a public trial before an impartial jury in the county where the offense occurred, the right to be heard personally and through counsel, and the right to confront witnesses face-to-face. Section 14 prohibits double jeopardy and compelled self-incrimination. Section 16 bans excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel or unusual punishment, and requires that penalties stay proportionate to the offense.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Constitution
One feature stands apart from most other states: Section 19 gives criminal juries the right to determine both the law and the facts, a power that has largely disappeared elsewhere.
Section 13(b) gives crime victims their own constitutional standing. They have the right to be treated with fairness and dignity, to be informed of and present at public hearings, and to confer with prosecutors. Those rights cannot override the constitutional rights of the accused.
Property and Eminent Domain
Section 21 protects against the government taking private property without just compensation. A 2006 amendment tightened those protections in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo decision. Eminent domain is now limited to specific public purposes such as highways, public transportation, railways, utilities, government buildings, and public facilities for general citizen use. The government cannot take property simply to increase tax revenue, and property taken by eminent domain cannot be transferred to a private party for economic development.3Indiana General Assembly. Joint Resolution 4
How State Government Is Structured
Article 3 splits state government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, and prohibits anyone with official duties in one branch from exercising the functions of another unless the constitution specifically allows it.4Indiana State Government. Constitution of 1851 – Article 3 Distribution of Powers This is a stronger separation-of-powers clause than most states have, and Indiana courts have used it to strike down legislative delegations that blurred the lines.
The Legislative Branch
Article 4 vests all legislative authority in the General Assembly, made up of the Senate and House of Representatives. Every law is enacted by bill, and each statute formally begins “Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana.”5Justia. Indiana Constitution – Article 4 Section 23 forbids the General Assembly from passing “special laws” across a long list of subjects where general laws can apply, a rule the 1851 convention added because lawmakers under the earlier constitution had passed statutes tailored to individual people or specific localities.
The Executive Branch
Article 5 places executive power in the Governor, who serves a four-year term and cannot hold the office for more than eight years in any twelve-year period. Both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor must be at least 30 years old, must have been U.S. citizens for five years, and must have lived in Indiana for the five years before the election.6Justia. Indiana Constitution – Article 5
The Lieutenant Governor runs on a joint ticket with the Governor, and every vote for a gubernatorial candidate counts for both. If the Governor dies, resigns, or is removed, the Lieutenant Governor becomes Governor for the rest of the term. A temporary disability makes the Lieutenant Governor acting Governor until it ends. A vacancy in the Lieutenant Governor’s office is filled by gubernatorial nomination confirmed by a majority of each legislative chamber.
The Judicial Branch
Article 7 places judicial power in one Supreme Court, one Court of Appeals, circuit courts, and any other courts the General Assembly creates.7Justia. Indiana Constitution – Article 7 The original 1851 text named only the Supreme Court and circuit courts; the Court of Appeals was added by amendment in 1970 as caseloads outgrew the existing structure.8Indiana State Government. Article 7 – Judicial
Indiana uses merit-based selection for its appellate courts. Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges are appointed through a nominating commission rather than partisan election, then face periodic retention votes where the public decides whether they stay on the bench.
Who Can Vote
Article 2 governs voter eligibility. The original 1851 text limited suffrage to white males at least 21 years old, but federal amendments and later state amendments have transformed those provisions.9Indiana State Government. Article 2 – Suffrage and Election Today, every U.S. citizen at least 18 years old who meets Indiana’s residency requirement is eligible. Registration follows the statutory deadlines set by the General Assembly.
Section 8 authorizes the General Assembly to strip voting rights from anyone convicted of an “infamous crime,” which Indiana law treats as a felony. In practice, that means you lose the vote only while physically incarcerated. Once released, your voting rights return automatically, though you still need to re-register through the standard process before casting a ballot.10National Conference of State Legislatures. Restoration of Voting Rights for Felons
Public Education
Article 8 puts a constitutional duty on the General Assembly to provide free public schools. Section 1 requires “a general and uniform system of Common Schools” where tuition is free and enrollment is open to everyone, and charges the legislature with encouraging moral, intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement.11Indiana State Government. Indiana Constitution Article 8 – Education Indiana courts have used this language to evaluate whether education funding meets constitutional standards.
The article also creates the Common School Fund, a permanent endowment built from criminal fines, forfeited property, land sale proceeds, and certain corporate taxes. Section 3 locks the fund’s principal in place: it can grow but can never be reduced, and only the income it generates may be spent on schools. Counties that hold portions of the fund are personally liable for preserving them and paying the annual interest.
Limits on State and Local Debt
The fiscal collapse that helped end the 1816 constitution shaped Article 10. No money leaves the treasury except through a legislative appropriation, and the state must publish a full accounting of receipts and expenditures after every regular session.12Justia. Indiana Constitution – Article 10
Section 5 confines state borrowing to three narrow situations: covering temporary revenue shortfalls, paying interest on existing state debt, and defending against invasion or insurrection. Outside those, the state effectively cannot take on new debt. Section 6 extends that discipline to counties, which cannot subscribe for corporate stock unless paid in full at purchase and cannot lend their credit to any corporation. The General Assembly is likewise forbidden from assuming the debts of any county, city, town, township, or corporation.
Article 13 sets a hard cap for local government debt. No political or municipal corporation may become indebted beyond two percent of the total assessed value of taxable property inside its borders, and any bonds or obligations exceeding that limit are void. The only exception is during wartime or other public emergencies, and even then a petition from a majority of property owners (by both number and value) is required before the government may borrow above the cap.13Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Constitution
How the Constitution Is Amended
Article 16 makes changing the Indiana Constitution deliberately slow. A proposed amendment must first pass both chambers of the General Assembly by a majority of all elected members. It then waits for the next general election, after which the newly elected legislature must pass it again by the same majority. Only then does the amendment go to the voters, where a majority of those voting on the question must approve it.14Justia. Indiana Constitution – Amendments
Section 2 tightens the process further. If multiple amendments are submitted at the same election, voters must vote on each one separately, and while an amendment is working its way through the two-legislature cycle, no additional amendments may be proposed.15Indiana State Government. Indiana Constitution – Article 16 Amendments Unlike roughly a dozen other states, Indiana has no provision for calling a constitutional convention and no mechanism for citizen-initiated amendments through ballot petitions. Every change must originate in the General Assembly, which is why the document has picked up only 46 amendments in more than 170 years.