WHAT THE WORDS MEAN

Also called standard sentence

The term inside each felony level's range that the statute names as the guide point, three years for a Level 5 felony within its range of one to six.

Also called repo without a fight

The line a secured lender may not cross when taking collateral back without going to court; past it, the lender has to use judicial process.

Also called unauthorized use

Knowingly or intentionally exerting unauthorized control over another's property, a Class A misdemeanor.

Also called red flag

Presenting an imminent risk of personal injury to oneself or another, or a probable future risk together with an unmedicated mental illness or documented evidence of a propensity for violent or suicidal conduct.

Also called unfair practice, scam

An unfair, abusive or deceptive act, omission or practice by a supplier in connection with a consumer transaction, which a consumer may sue over for the greater of actual damages or $500.

Also called fired for cause

A firing for reasons the unemployment law lists, such as knowingly breaking a reasonable and uniformly enforced rule, refusing instructions, or a breach of a duty reasonably owed the employer.

Also called take home pay

The part of a person's earnings left after the amounts the law requires to be withheld, which is what the garnishment limits are measured against.

Also called emergency protective order

An order for protection issued without notice to the respondent or a hearing, where the petition shows domestic or family violence.

Also called sealing a record, clearing a record

An order after which a person is treated as never convicted of the offense, with the right to vote, hold office and serve on a jury restored, and discrimination over the record unlawful.

Also called domestic relationship

A current or former spouse, someone dated or in a sexual relationship with the person, a relative by blood, adoption or marriage, a guardian, ward, custodian or foster parent, someone with a child in common, and a minor child of any of them.

Also called car insurance, proof of insurance

Insurance, a bond or self insurance covering liability for a vehicle in at least the minimum amounts: $25,000 for one person's injury, $50,000 for two or more, and $25,000 for property.

Also called HTV

A person with enough driving judgments within a ten year period, counted by offense date: two of the gravest, three of a longer list that includes operating while intoxicated, or ten of any reportable kind with one from those lists.

Also called identity theft

Obtaining, possessing, transferring or using another person's identifying information to pass as that person, meaning to harm or defraud, a Level 6 felony.

Also called breath test law

The rule that everyone who drives in Indiana consents, as a condition of driving, to the chemical tests of the implied consent chapter, and complies only by taking every test an officer offers.

Also called ticket, citation

A civil violation brought in the state's name and proved by a preponderance of the evidence, carrying a judgment of money rather than jail, up to $10,000 for a Class A and $25 for a Class D.

Also called no will

Dying without a will, so the estate passes by the statute's shares: to a spouse one half, three fourths or all of it, depending on who else survives.

Also called violating a protective order

Knowingly or intentionally violating a protective order, a no contact order or a similar order, a Class A misdemeanor.

Also called no fault divorce

The first of the four grounds on which a dissolution of marriage may be decreed, alongside a felony conviction after the marriage, impotence at the time of it, and incurable insanity for at least two years.

Also called lowest felony, wobbler

The lowest felony level for crimes committed after June 30, 2014, a fixed term of six months to two and one-half years with an advisory sentence of one year, and a fine of not more than $10,000.

Also called double damages

An amount set by the statute on top of unpaid wages, two times the wages due where the court finds the employer did not act in good faith.

Also called CBD

A substance derived from hemp with not more than 0.3 percent total delta-9 THC by weight and no other controlled substance.

Also called drunk driving, DUI

Driving a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor, or in a manner that endangers a person, a Class A misdemeanor. Driving with an alcohol concentration of at least 0.08 is a separate offense that needs no proof of intoxication.

Also called records ombudsman

The state office whose informal inquiry response or advisory opinion a person denied records generally seeks before suing, to be eligible for attorney's fees.

Also called alimony

Support for a spouse to get the education or training needed to find suitable work, set by the court for not more than three years from the final decree.

Also called resisting arrest, fleeing

Forcibly resisting, obstructing or interfering with an officer lawfully doing official duties, or fleeing after an officer has identified as one and ordered a stop, a Class A misdemeanor that becomes a felony with a vehicle or an injury.

Also called landlord retaliation

A landlord raising the rent, cutting or interfering with services, or bringing or threatening an eviction, in response to a tenant's protected activity.

Also called damage deposit

Money a landlord holds that may be used only for damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, unpaid rent, rent due from ending early, unpaid utility charges, or, where a written agreement says so, the last period's rent.

Also called SVF

A person convicted of a felony on the statute's list, from murder, robbery and many burglaries to drug dealing, who commits a Level 4 felony by knowingly possessing any firearm.

Also called hardship license, SDP

A court order staying a suspension and letting a person drive on terms the court sets, granted on a verified petition filed in the case that led to the suspension.

Also called trespasser living in a house

Someone occupying another person's property who does not have, and never had, a rental agreement, permission or any other interest authorizing it.

Also called month to month

A rental with no fixed end that may be ended by a one month notice in writing delivered to the tenant.

Also called buffer zone, 25 foot rule

Knowingly or intentionally approaching within 25 feet of an officer lawfully doing official duties after the officer ordered the person to stop approaching, a Class C misdemeanor.