Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure

Rule 80. Supreme Court Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure

Effective May 19, 2017

(A) Creation, members, terms of office, and removal.

There is hereby created a committee to be known as the “Supreme Court Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure” (“Rules Committee”). The Rules Committee shall consist of thirteen members appointed by the Supreme Court. All members of the Committee shall be members of the bar of the state of Indiana.

The term of each member shall be for five years, except that a member appointed to fill the vacancy of an unexpired term shall be appointed only for the remainder of the unexpired term. Any member may be removed by the Supreme Court.

(B) Officers, meetings, quorum, and compensation.

Annually, the Rules Committee shall elect from among its members a chairperson who shall preside at all meetings, and a vice-chairperson who shall preside at meetings in the absence of the chairperson. The Court, shall assign such staff as it deems necessary for the Rules Committee to conduct its work, including preparing meeting agendas, taking the minutes of meetings, and maintaining the records of the Rules Committee.

The Rules Committee shall meet monthly at a time and place designated by the chairperson, and the chairperson may call special meetings of the Rules Committee. Seven members shall constitute a quorum at any regular or special meeting. The Rules Committee shall act by a vote of a majority of the members present at any regular or special meeting.

The members of the Rules Committee shall be allowed their necessary expenses and such reasonable compensation as the Supreme Court shall fix from time to time.

(C) Duties of the Rules Committee.

The Rules Committee shall conduct a study of any Indiana Rules of Court assigned to them by the Supreme Court and shall submit to the Supreme Court from time to time recommendations in order to promote the just determination of litigation, simplicity in procedure, and the elimination of unjustified expense and delay. The Rules Committee shall also serve as the Evidence Rules Review Committee as set forth in Rule 1101 of the Indiana Rules of Evidence.

The Supreme Court shall consider all recommendations and proposed amendments received from the Rules Committee.

(D) Procedure for amending rules.

Except in case of an emergency or as otherwise directed by the Supreme Court, the procedure in this section shall be followed in amending the Indiana Rules of Court.

(1) Submission of proposed rule amendments.

Proposed rule amendments shall be presented to the Supreme Court’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in a WORD compatible format, clearly indicating added or deleted language and must be accompanied by the Form available on the Supreme Court’s website. The CAO shall provide regular reports to the Chief Justice regarding proposed rule amendments and shall be responsible for referring the proposed amendment to the appropriate committee or other entity for further study.

(2) Publication of proposed rule amendments.

The Rules Committee shall publish proposed rule amendments on or before January 2, April 1, July 1, and October 1 of each year and at such other times are necessary.

(3) Comments of the bench, bar, and public.

All comments on proposed amendments from the bench, bar, and public of this state to the Rules Committee shall be delivered in writing to the Rules Committee. Comments received by the Rules Committee shall be confidential unless otherwise ordered by the Supreme Court. The Rules Committee shall accept comments on the proposed amendment for a period of thirty (30) days after publication, and may extend the period for comments. Thereafter, the Rules Committee shall study all comments received and shall submit the proposed final draft of each rule amendment, together with the associated comments, to the Supreme Court for its consideration.

(4) Publication of amended rules.

The Supreme Court shall act on each proposed rule amendment received from the Rules Committee and shall publish each rule amendment adopted by the Supreme Court. On January 1 of the following year, each rule amendment shall take effect unless the Supreme Court orders otherwise.