Porter and LaPorte counties are one step closer to joining the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force after it passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday.
Senate Bill 148, authored by State Senators Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton, and Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, would add Porter and LaPorte counties to the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force.
The task force was created during the 2021 legislative session and there are currently 10 counties on the task force. Lake County was added to the task force during the 2025 legislative session.
The bill was amended in the appropriations committee to state that both counties would be added to the task force July 1, 2027.
“This would help our agencies take part in what has been a fantastic public safety measure that we’ve been able to establish here in the state of Indiana,” Pol said.
State Sen. Michael Crider, R-Greenfield, asked why the legislature has been adding one or two counties to the task force each year instead of opening it statewide.
“They’re doing tremendous work,” Crider said. “You look at the quarterly reports that come out, they are pulling guns off the street and they’re arresting bad guys.”
Pol said the task force would like to encompass as much of the state as possible, and as more counties are added, create subcommittees of the task force.
“What we’re doing is essentially building the groundwork for that statewide approach,” Pol said.
When the bill was heard in the Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee Jan. 13, Porter County Sheriff Jeffrey Balon testified that the department supports the bill.
“Porter County is 100% in favor of joining the task force. I think it makes sense. It’s going to help keep our communities safe,” Balon said.
Balon said LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd couldn’t make it to the statehouse, but Balon said Boyd told him to share with the committee that Boyd “is on board as well.”
Fishers Police Department Chief Ed Gebhart testified that Fishers was one of the founding members of the task force. In 2025, the task force seized 349 illegal guns in Marion County, which led to 293 state charges and 28 federal charges, Gebhart said.
In Fishers, 555 illegal guns have been seized since the task force was established in 2021, Gebhart said.
“The success kind of speaks for itself,” Gebhart said.
Gebhart said he supports Senate Bill 148 because when the task force was established, it was with the notion that it would expand throughout the state. But, it’s important that the state fund the addition of two more counties, he said.
“We, as a task force, cannot support bringing on these agencies with the current budget that’s set forth now,” Gebhart said.
The bill passed 13-0 from the Senate Appropriations Committee. It moves forward for consideration by the Senate.
akukulka@post-trib.com
