Indiana Doesn't Have "Sentencing Guidelines." Here's What It Actually Has.
By: H. Faith Welch
If you or someone you love is facing criminal charges in Indiana, one of the first things you probably did was search for the "Indiana sentencing guidelines." It's a reasonable search. It's also, technically, a search for something that doesn't exist.
Indiana has no sentencing guidelines, at least not in the way the federal courts do, and not in the way states like Minnesota or Pennsylvania do. There is no grid. There is no worksheet where you plug in your offense and your criminal history and read off a number. What Indiana has instead is a set of statutory sentencing ranges with an advisory sentence attached to each one.
That distinction sounds academic. It isn't. It's the difference between a system where the number is largely predetermined and a system where the judge in front of you has enormous discretion and where what your attorney puts in front of that judge genuinely matters.
THE RANGES:
Indiana Code § 35-50-2 sorts felonies into six numbered levels, plus murder. Each carries a minimum, a maximum, and an advisory sentence in the middle:
| Offense | Range | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Murder | 45–65 years | 55 years |
| Level 1 felony | 20–40 years | 30 years |
| Level 2 felony | 10–30 years | 17.5 years |
| Level 3 felony | 3–16 years | 9 years |
| Level 4 felony | 2–12 years | 6 years |
| Level 5 felony | 1–6 years | 3 years |
| Level 6 felony | 6 months–2.5 years | 1 year |
Any felony can also carry a fine of up to $10,000.
Misdemeanors are handled separately under § 35-50-3: a Class A misdemeanor carries up to one year and a $5,000 fine; a Class B, up to 180 days and $1,000 fine; a Class C, up to 60 days and $500 fine.
Look at the Level 3 row for a moment. Three years to sixteen years. That is not a guideline. That is a canyon. And where a defendant lands in it is not decided by a formula.
“ADVISORY”
The Indiana Code defines an advisory sentence as one "the court may voluntarily consider." Note the word may.
Indiana used to use presumptive sentences, which functioned as a mandatory starting point. That changed in 2005, after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Blakely v. Washington upended sentencing schemes that let judges increase punishment based on facts a jury never found. Indiana's response was to swap "presumptive" for "advisory" and in doing so, it handed judges far more latitude.
The Indiana Supreme Court confirmed just how much in Anglemyer v. State (2007). A trial court may impose any sentence within the statutory range, and it isn't required to start at the advisory number or even to find aggravating or mitigating circumstances at all. So long as the sentence lands somewhere between the floor and the ceiling, the judge has not abused her discretion.
So what actually drives the number?
Discretion isn't the same as randomness. Judges are persuaded, and Indiana Code § 35-38-1-7.1 lists the factors they may weigh.
On the aggravating side: harm to the victim, the victim's age or vulnerability, a defendant's criminal history, violation of a protective order, abuse of a position of trust.
On the mitigating side: that the crime neither caused nor threatened serious harm, that it arose from circumstances unlikely to recur, that the defendant has no meaningful history of criminal conduct, that incarceration would impose undue hardship on dependents.
Critically, that list is not exhaustive. A court may consider factors the statute never mentions, including: treatment already completed, stable employment, military service, restitution paid before anyone asked. This is the space where sentencing advocacy actually happens, and it is why the work done before the sentencing hearing so often determines what happens at it.
How must time will you actually serve?
Here is a misconception we correct constantly. You may have heard that in Indiana you serve half your sentence. That rule of thumb has been out of date since 2014.
Under Indiana Code § 35-50-6-3.1, credit time now works like this:
- Class A: one day of credit for each day served (the "half time" rule). This applies to Level 6 felonies and misdemeanors.
- Class B: one day of credit for every three days served. This is the default for murder and Level 1 through Level 5 felonies — meaning roughly 75% of the sentence, not 50%.
- Class C: one day for every six days served, for credit-restricted felons.
- Class D: no good time credit; a disciplinary designation.
Time spent in jail awaiting trial generally counts. Credit can also be lost through disciplinary violations, and additional educational credit time may be available.
The practical takeaway: on any felony above a Level 6, assume you are looking at three-quarters of the number the judge says out loud, not half.
What else to know:
Alternative misdemeanor sentencing. Under § 35-50-2-7, a court may enter judgment on a Level 6 felony as a Class A misdemeanor instead. For a first-time offender, this can be the whole ballgame — the difference between carrying a felony conviction and not.
Suspended sentences and probation. Most sentences can be suspended in whole or in part, though § 35-50-2-2.2 restricts this for Level 2 and Level 3 felonies where the defendant has a prior unrelated felony.
Habitual offender enhancement. Under § 35-50-2-8, prior unrelated felony convictions can add a substantial fixed term on top of the underlying sentence, up to 20 additional years on the most serious offenses.
Plea agreements. Most Indiana cases resolve by plea. A court is not bound to accept an agreement, but it must accept or reject it as a whole, it cannot rewrite the terms.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
The absence of guidelines cuts both ways. It means there is no chart that guarantees you a good outcome. It also means there is no chart standing between you and one.
If you're facing charges in Allen County or elsewhere in northeast Indiana, the range in the statute is the beginning of the conversation, not the end of it.
Tagged attorney: H. Faith Welch