Plea of guilty; informing defendant of rights; record of
proceedings; destruction of documents; liability of court officers
Sec. 11. (a) Before accepting a plea of guilty to a misdemeanor
traffic offense, the court shall inform the defendant of the defendant's
rights, including the right to:
(1) engage counsel;
(2) a reasonable continuance to engage counsel to subpoena
witnesses;
(3) have process issued by the court, without expense to the
defendant, to compel the attendance of witnesses in the
defendant's behalf;
(4) testify or not to testify in the defendant's own behalf;
(5) a trial by jury; and
(6) appeal.
(b) The court shall inform each defendant charged with a traffic
offense other than a nonmoving traffic offense, if the defendant is
convicted or judgment is entered against the defendant, that a record
of the conviction or judgment will be sent to the bureau or the motor
vehicle bureau of the state where the defendant received a license to
drive to become a part of the defendant's driving record.
(c) The court shall keep a full record of every case in which a
person is charged with a traffic offense other than a nonmoving
traffic offense. Within ten (10) days after the conviction, judgment,
or forfeiture of security deposit of a person, the court shall forward
a copy of the judgment or an abstract as prescribed by IC 9-25-6-8.
The abstract comprises the original copy of the traffic information
and summons or complaint and summons if the conviction,
judgment, or forfeiture of security deposit has been entered on that
copy. However, instead of the original copy, the court may, subject
to the approval of the bureau, send the information in the form of a
chemical based, magnetic, or machine readable media. Records of
nonmoving traffic offenses are not required to be forwarded to the
bureau.
(d) One (1) year after the abstract has been forwarded, the court
may destroy the remaining court copies of the information and
summons or complaint and summons and related pleadings if an
order book entry of the copy has been made and the original copy has
been sent to the bureau of motor vehicles.
(e) Upon the failure of a court officer to comply with subsection
(c), the officer is liable on the officer's official bond for a civil
penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) accruing to the state, which
may be recovered, together with the costs of the suit, in a civil action
brought by the attorney general in the name of the state on relation
of the attorney general. Each failure by an officer constitutes a
separate cause of action.
As added by P.L.2-1991, SEC.18.
Last modified: May 27, 2006