A Level 6 felony in Indiana is the lowest tier of felony under state law, punishable by six months to two and a half years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 35 Criminal Law and Procedure 35-50-2-7 It sits right at the line between misdemeanor and felony conduct, and Indiana law gives courts an option it doesn’t offer at any other felony level: with the agreement of the judge, prosecutor, and defendant, a Level 6 conviction can be entered with a provision that converts it to a Class A misdemeanor once the person meets set conditions.
Sentencing Range and Where Time Is Served
The statutory range runs from six months to two and a half years, with an advisory sentence of one year. The advisory sentence is the starting point a judge uses before adjusting up or down for the facts of the case. A fine of up to $10,000 can be added on top of any jail time.
Full incarceration is far from automatic. Judges often suspend part or all of the jail time and place the person on probation. Probation conditions commonly include regular meetings with a probation officer, drug testing, holding down employment, and avoiding any new legal trouble. A violation can bring the suspended jail time back into play.
Level 6 felony sentences are usually served in a county jail rather than a state prison. That keeps a person closer to family and counsel, and the facility is different in character from the state prisons that house people convicted at higher felony levels.
Specific offenses carry their own add-ons. A drug possession conviction often comes with mandatory substance abuse treatment. An operating while intoxicated (OWI) conviction brings a driver’s license suspension and alcohol education classes. Courts can also order community service or restitution to the victim.
Common Charges at This Level
What pushes an offense across the line from misdemeanor to Level 6 felony is usually one aggravating detail: the value of property taken, a prior conviction, or the degree of injury. The charges that show up most often include:
- Theft of property worth more than $750, or any second theft offense regardless of value.
- Possession of a controlled substance such as methamphetamine or cocaine, with the level depending on substance and quantity.
- Operating while intoxicated with a prior OWI conviction in the past seven years, or with a passenger under 18 in the vehicle.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 9 Motor Vehicles 9-30-5-3
- Battery causing moderate bodily injury.
- Resisting law enforcement in a way that causes bodily injury to an officer.
- Residential entry: breaking into a dwelling without authorization.
- Fraud and auto theft.
The OWI example shows how the tier works. A first-offense OWI is typically a misdemeanor. A prior OWI from the last seven years turns the same conduct into a Level 6 felony.
Converting the Felony to a Class A Misdemeanor
This is the detail that matters most for anyone facing a Level 6 charge. Indiana law allows a court to enter the felony conviction with an express provision that it will be converted to a Class A misdemeanor once the person satisfies certain conditions.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-38-1-1.5 – Converting Level 6 Felony to Class A Misdemeanor
Conversion is not automatic. Three parties have to agree: the judge, the prosecutor, and the defendant. The court sets the conditions, all three sign off, and if the person completes every condition without picking up a new offense, the felony becomes a misdemeanor. Violate a condition or catch a new charge, and the court can leave the felony in place.
The practical difference is large. A Class A misdemeanor doesn’t trigger the federal firearm ban, doesn’t disqualify a person from federal jury service, and is easier to explain to employers. Raising conversion with the prosecutor early in the case is often the single most useful move a defendant can make.
Pretrial Diversion
Some people charged with a Level 6 felony never end up convicted at all. Pretrial diversion programs let eligible defendants complete a set of requirements, usually some mix of community service, treatment, restitution, and regular check-ins, in exchange for having the charges dismissed.
Eligibility varies by county and prosecutor. Diversion generally targets first-time offenders charged with nonviolent crimes, and drug possession is one of the most common Level 6 charges handled this way. Repeat offenders and people charged with violent offenses are usually excluded. The prosecutor has broad discretion over who gets offered diversion, and the defendant has to waive certain rights, including the right to a speedy trial, while in the program.
Complete the program and the prosecutor recommends dismissal. Fail it, and the case picks up where it left off with the original felony charge intact.
What a Level 6 Felony Conviction Costs Beyond the Sentence
The jail time and fine are only part of the picture. Even the lowest felony tier triggers federal and state consequences that outlast the sentence by years.
Firearms
Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year of imprisonment from possessing a firearm or ammunition.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 922 – Unlawful Acts A Level 6 felony crosses that threshold because it carries up to two and a half years. The ban applies whether the person served jail time or received probation. It is federal, so it applies in every state, and a violation is itself a federal felony.
Employment
A felony record creates immediate friction in the job market. Background checks are routine, and a felony conviction can disqualify a person from positions in healthcare, education, finance, law enforcement, and any role requiring a professional license. “Ban the box” rules in Indiana and most other states primarily apply to public-sector hiring, so private employers can still ask about a conviction, and it tends to surface somewhere in the process.5NCSL. Federal Ban the Box Policies
Voting
Indiana restores voting rights automatically once a sentence is complete. You cannot vote while incarcerated or on probation, but a Level 6 felony is not a permanent bar to the ballot box in this state.
Federal Jury Service
A felony conviction disqualifies a person from serving on a federal grand or petit jury unless civil rights have been restored. Federal law treats anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year as unqualified.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 US Code 1865 – Qualifications for Jury Service
Housing
Landlords routinely run criminal background checks during tenant screening, and a felony record can lead to denial. HUD guidance has said that blanket bans on tenants with criminal records can violate the Fair Housing Act, but enforcement has moved around under different administrations. Many private landlords still screen for felony convictions in practice.
Federal Student Aid
A drug-related felony conviction can suspend federal student aid eligibility if the offense happened while the person was enrolled and receiving aid. A first possession conviction brings a one-year suspension; a first conviction for selling drugs brings two years. A third possession offense or a second sale offense ends eligibility indefinitely, though completing a qualified rehabilitation program can restore it.
Expungement After a Conviction
Indiana allows a person convicted of a Level 6 felony to petition for expungement, but the clock is long. The waiting period is at least eight years from the date of conviction, unless the prosecutor agrees in writing to a shorter timeline.7Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 35-38-9 Chapter 9 – Sealing and Expunging Conviction Records
Four conditions have to be met to qualify: the waiting period has passed, no charges are pending, all fines, fees, court costs, and restitution have been paid, and there has been no conviction for any crime in the previous five years. If the court finds the conditions satisfied, it orders the records expunged.
Some convictions can never be expunged no matter how much time passes. Sex offenses, violent offenses causing bodily injury, perjury, official misconduct, and offenses committed by elected officials while in office are off the list. A Level 6 felony that involved violence causing bodily injury falls into that excluded category.
Expungement does not erase a record entirely. Law enforcement and certain government agencies can still see sealed records. What it does is remove the conviction from standard background checks, which is the barrier that matters most for jobs and housing. For a Level 6 conviction that won’t qualify for expungement, the misdemeanor conversion route is the alternative worth raising with counsel as early in the case as possible.