Indiana enacted HB 1447, barring 'obscene' materials from school libraries and stripping educators' 'harmful to minors' defense

On May 4, 2023, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed House Enrolled Act 1447 into law, creating IC 20-26-5.5 to bar public school and charter school libraries from making available materials deemed "obscene" or "harmful to minors." The statute requires schools to publicly post their library catalogs and to establish procedures allowing parents and community members to challenge and seek removal of books they consider inappropriate. It also amended IC 35-49-3-4 to strip the "legitimate educational purpose" affirmative defense that had shielded schools and their employees from Level 6 felony prosecution for disseminating material "harmful to minors." The law took effect January 1, 2024.

The library-restriction language did not originate in HB 1447, whose underlying text addressed third-party surveys of K-12 students. It began as a separate, stalled standalone bill carried by state Sen. Jim Tomes and was revived in the final hours of the session, cobbled together behind closed doors and inserted into HB 1447 through a conference committee without public testimony. The House adopted the conference report 70-27 and the Senate 39-10, largely along party lines. Librarians, educators, and civil-liberties advocates warned that exposing school employees to criminal charges based on book content, combined with the new challenge process, would drive broad self-censorship and removals, disproportionately affecting LGBTQ+ titles. Supporters framed the measure as giving parents transparency and control over materials available to children in schools.