Welcome to the Indiana General Assembly website. As one of three co-equal branches of state government, the General Assembly is responsible for enacting the laws by which the state of Indiana is governed. The intent behind this website is to afford you the opportunity to better understand the operation of the General Assembly and its impact on your life and well being.

The two houses of the General Assembly (House and Senate) were created at the time Indiana became a state in 1816. The current makeup of the General Assembly, consisting of 100 Representatives serving 2-year terms and 50 Senators serving 4-year terms, was established in the Constitution of 1851. The General Assembly met in alternate years until 1972, when it began meeting annually.

Mailing Address

House of Representatives

Indiana House of Representatives
200 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2786
(317) 232-9600
(800) 382-9842

Senate

Indiana State Senate
200 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2785
(317) 232-9400
(800) 382-9467

Your Indiana General Assembly

Constitutional Requirements

Creation
"The powers of the Government are divided into three separate departments; the Legislative, the Executive including the Administrative, and the Judicial" Article 3, Section 1

Authority
"The Legislative authority of the State shall be vested in a General Assembly, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives" Article 4, Section 1

"Each House shall have all powers, necessary for a branch of the Legislative department of a free and independent State" Article 4, Section 16

Membership
"The General Assembly elected during the year in which a federal decennial census is taken shall fix by law the number of Senators and Representatives" Article 4, Section 5

"The Senate shall not exceed fifty, nor the House of Representatives one hundred members; and they shall be chosen by the electors of the respective districts into which the State may, from time to time, be divided" Article 4, Section 2

Term of Office
"Senators shall be elected for the term of four years, and Representatives for the term of two years, from the day next after their general election" Article 4, Section 3

Qualifications
"No person shall be a Senator or a Representative, who, at the time of his election, is not a citizen of the United States; nor any one who has not been for two years next preceding his election, an inhabitant of this State, and, for one year next preceding his election, an inhabitant of the district whence he may be chosen. Senators shall be at least twenty-five, and Representatives at least twenty-one years of age" Article 4, Section 7

Sessions
"The sessions of the General Assembly shall be held at the capitol of the State, commencing on the Tuesday next after the second Monday in January of each year in which the General Assembly meets unless a different day or place shall have been appointed by law. But if, in the opinion of the Governor, the public welfare shall require it, he may, at any time by proclamation, call a special session. The length and frequency of the sessions of the General Assembly shall be fixed by law" Article 4, Section 9

Rules
"Each House, when assembled, shall choose its own officers, the President of the Senate excepted; judge the elections, qualifications, and returns of its own members; determine its rules of proceeding, and sit upon its own adjournment" Article 4, Section 10