Sentence Modification in Indiana: How IC 35-38-1-17 Works

Someone you love is serving a sentence, and you keep coming back to the same question: is there any way to get that sentence shortened? Maybe they've finished programs the prison offered. Maybe they've changed. Maybe the original sentence felt heavier than the situation called for. Before you assume the only paths are an appeal or a lengthy post-conviction case, it's worth understanding a separate, often-overlooked option in Indiana law — asking the sentencing court to modify the sentence itself.

Sentence modification is one of the most misunderstood tools in Indiana criminal law. People confuse it with an appeal. They confuse it with post-conviction relief. They assume the old "one-year rule" still controls, when in fact Indiana repealed that rule years ago. This article walks through what sentence modification actually is, who can ask for it, what the court can and cannot do, and how it fits alongside the other ways of challenging a conviction or sentence.

What Sentence Modification Is

Sentence modification is a request asking the same court that sentenced you to reduce or suspend part of the sentence it already imposed. It is governed by Ind. Code § 35-38-1-17, a statute sometimes titled "Reduction or Suspension of Sentence."

The key idea is narrow but powerful: you are not arguing that anything went wrong at trial or at sentencing. You are asking the court to look at the sentence again — often in light of what has happened since — and decide whether a lesser sentence is now appropriate. The court can reduce the sentence or suspend a portion of it. Under the statute, the court may impose any sentence it was authorized to impose at the time of the original sentencing.

How It Differs From an Appeal and From PCR

This is the distinction that trips up most families, so it's worth being precise.

• An appeal argues that a legal error occurred — that the trial court got something wrong on the law or the procedure. Appeals have strict, short deadlines (generally measured from the judgment) and are decided by the Indiana Court of Appeals, not the trial judge.
• Post-conviction relief (PCR) under Indiana Post-Conviction Rule 1 is a separate civil proceeding that raises issues like ineffective assistance of counsel, newly discovered evidence, or constitutional violations. It also goes back to the trial-level court but follows its own rules and burdens.
• Sentence modification is neither of those. It does not require you to prove an error. It is simply a request to the sentencing court to reconsider the sentence going forward.

Because they are separate tools, they can sometimes be pursued in parallel. Modification does not generally use up your right to file for PCR, and PCR does not replace the ability to ask for modification. An attorney can help you sequence these so one does not undercut another.

Who Can Ask — and the Violent vs. Non-Violent Divide

Indiana's statute splits people into two groups, and the rules differ significantly between them.

Non-violent offenders. If you are not classified as a "violent criminal" under the statute and are not a credit restricted felon, you can petition for modification at essentially any point while serving your sentence. The old rule that locked most requests into the first 365 days has been repealed. There are limits on how often you can file: under Ind. Code § 35-38-1-17(j), a non-violent person may file no more than once in any 365-day period, and no more than twice total during any consecutive period of incarceration.

Violent offenders. The statute defines a "violent criminal" by pointing to a specific list of offenses — serious crimes such as robbery, burglary, sexual misconduct with a minor, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, among others. For someone in this category, the timing is tighter: under subsection (k), a violent criminal may file one petition within 365 days of sentencing without the prosecuting attorney's consent. After that 365-day window closes, a violent criminal generally cannot file for modification without the prosecutor agreeing to it.

Credit restricted felons are excluded from modification under this statute altogether.

Whether a particular offense places someone in the "violent criminal" category is a statutory question with real consequences, and it is exactly the kind of thing to confirm with an attorney rather than assume.

The Role of the Sentencing Court

Modification must be filed in the court that imposed the sentence. You cannot shop it to a different judge or a different county. The judge who handled the original case — or that judge's successor on the bench — is the one who decides.

If the court sets the matter for a hearing, it must notify the prosecuting attorney, and the prosecutor in turn must notify the victim of the offense. In some situations the court is not required to hold a hearing at all — for example, where the prosecutor has filed an agreement to the reduction and the person has waived the right to be present.

What the Court Considers

The statute does not hand the judge a tidy checklist of factors the way some other Indiana statutes do. The court has broad discretion. In practice, the kinds of things that tend to matter to a sentencing judge include:

• Conduct and rehabilitation while incarcerated — completed programs, education, vocational training, clean disciplinary records
• Changed circumstances since the original sentence
• The original sentence in context, including how it compares to what the case warranted
• The position of the prosecutor and any input from the victim

None of these guarantee a result. A judge can deny a request even when someone has done everything right. The point of presenting this evidence is to give the court a complete and accurate picture.

What the Court Cannot Do

This is important and often reassuring: a modification cannot make things worse. The court's power under this statute runs in one direction — it can reduce or suspend, not increase, the sentence. Filing a petition does not expose someone to a longer sentence.

There is also a specific limit tied to plea agreements. If the original sentence came from a plea agreement, the court generally cannot impose a sentence that the plea agreement did not authorize without the prosecuting attorney's consent. That said, Indiana law (subsection (l)) makes clear that a person cannot be forced to waive the right to seek sentence modification as part of a plea agreement — any such waiver is invalid and unenforceable as against public policy.

Modification vs. Suspension

People sometimes use these terms interchangeably, but they describe different things. A reduction lowers the actual term of the sentence. A suspension converts part of the sentence so that it is not served in incarceration — often shifting it to probation. Whether suspension is even available depends on other Indiana sentencing rules, including Ind. Code § 35-50-2-2.2, which governs when felony sentences may be suspended. A court considering modification works within those limits.

Practical Steps

If you are considering this route, a few practical points tend to apply across cases:

• Gather documentation. Certificates of completed programs, work records, disciplinary history, and any evidence of rehabilitation tell the story far better than assertions do.
• Understand the timing rules that apply to your situation. The non-violent and violent timelines are very different, and the prosecutor's consent may be the deciding factor.
• Expect a hearing in many cases. Be prepared for the prosecutor to be notified and for the victim to have a voice.
• Think about sequencing. If an appeal or PCR is also on the table, the order in which you pursue these can matter.

Sentence modification is available in every Indiana county — it is a matter of state law applied by whatever court imposed the sentence. It is genuinely a separate door from appeal and post-conviction relief, and for some people it is the most realistic one.

If you have questions about sentence modification in Indiana, speaking with an attorney early gives you the clearest picture of your options. You can reach Hammond Legal at 317-284-9944 or info@hammond.legal.

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