State Representative Tom Dermody (R-LaPorte) has co-authored a bill that changes the requirements for an imprisoned person to earn a reduction in their sentence time. House Bill 1416 would require that the Department of Corrections approve any correspondence courses an imprisoned person wishes to take to earn a high school diploma.

Current law allows an imprisoned person to take correspondence courses to earn a high school diploma and thereby reduce the amount of time they must serve, but it does not provide any oversight as to what courses they take or where the diploma comes from. The bill would require that any courses the person would like to take must first be approved by the IDOC before they can earn a diploma to reduce their sentence time.

The bill now goes to the Senate for further consideration.