Indiana Misdemeanor Classes: A, B, and C Penalties Explained

· Written By Jerry L. Garner

A misdemeanor charge in Indiana is not a felony, but it is still a criminal conviction, one that goes on a permanent record and that can carry real jail time even at its lowest level. If you’ve been charged with a misdemeanor in Evansville, Rockport, Tell City, Boonville, or anywhere in Southern Indiana, the first question that matters is which of Indiana’s three misdemeanor classes the charge falls into, because that class controls everything a court can do to you.

Indiana groups misdemeanors into three classes, A, B, and C, each with its own maximum jail term and maximum fine under state law. The class assigned to a charge is not just a label; it sets the outer boundary of what a judge can impose, and it often shapes how a prosecutor approaches a plea negotiation from the first court date. Knowing where a charge falls, and what pushes a charge above a misdemeanor entirely, is the foundation for understanding what you’re facing.

Indiana’s Three Misdemeanor Classes

Indiana’s misdemeanor classes are set out in IC 35-50-3, and each class carries a fixed statutory ceiling on both jail time and fines, unlike Indiana’s felony levels, which pair a sentencing range with an advisory sentence. The three ceilings, in descending order of severity:

  • Class A misdemeanor (IC 35-50-3-2): a fixed term of imprisonment of not more than one year, along with a fine of not more than $5,000
  • Class B misdemeanor (IC 35-50-3-3): a fixed term of not more than 180 days, with a fine of not more than $1,000
  • Class C misdemeanor (IC 35-50-3-4): a fixed term of not more than 60 days, with a fine of not more than $500

Those three ceilings are what “Class A,” “Class B,” and “Class C” actually mean under Indiana law: the class name tells you the maximum exposure a charge carries, not what any particular defendant will actually receive.

Class A Misdemeanor in Indiana

A Class A misdemeanor in Indiana carries the most exposure of the three classes: up to one year in jail and up to $5,000 in fines under IC 35-50-3-2. It is also the class Indiana uses for a wide range of common charges, including the following:

  • Theft, under IC 35-43-4-2(a), is a Class A misdemeanor at its base level: knowingly or intentionally exerting unauthorized control over someone else’s property with the intent to deprive them of it.
  • Battery becomes a Class A misdemeanor under IC 35-42-2-1(d) once it results in bodily injury to the other person, rather than the lower-level offense that applies when no injury occurs.
  • Resisting law enforcement, under IC 35-44.1-3-1(a), is a Class A misdemeanor at its base level.
  • Criminal recklessness, under IC 35-42-2-2(a), and intimidation, under IC 35-45-2-1(a), are Class A misdemeanors in their base forms as well.
  • An OWI charge can reach Class A misdemeanor level too: under IC 9-30-5-1(b), operating a vehicle with a blood or breath alcohol concentration of at least 0.15 is a Class A misdemeanor, a higher class than the standard OWI range described below.

Class B Misdemeanor in Indiana

A Class B misdemeanor carries a fixed term of up to 180 days and a fine of up to $1,000 under IC 35-50-3-3, a real reduction in exposure from Class A, but still an offense that can put someone in jail. Common Class B misdemeanor charges include the following:

  • Battery shows how the classes interact with each other: under IC 35-42-2-1(c), the base form of battery, intentionally or knowingly touching another person in a rude, insolent, or angry manner, is a Class B misdemeanor, and it only rises to a Class A misdemeanor if it results in bodily injury.
  • Interfering with public safety, under IC 35-44.1-3-1(b), is a Class B misdemeanor when a person enters an area marked off with barrier tape or other physical barriers after being denied entry by a firefighter, an emergency medical services provider, or a law enforcement officer.
  • Criminal mischief, under IC 35-43-1-2(a), recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally damaging or defacing another person’s property without consent, is also a Class B misdemeanor at its base level.

Our property and theft crimes page covers criminal mischief and other property offenses in more detail.

Class C Misdemeanor in Indiana

A Class C misdemeanor is Indiana’s lowest misdemeanor class: up to 60 days in jail and up to $500 in fines under IC 35-50-3-4. In practice, this class is dominated by one offense family: OWI.

  • Under IC 9-30-5-2(a), operating a vehicle while intoxicated, without more, is a Class C misdemeanor.
  • Under IC 9-30-5-1(a), operating a vehicle with a blood or breath alcohol concentration of at least 0.08 but less than 0.15 is also a Class C misdemeanor.
  • Under IC 9-30-5-1(c), operating a vehicle with a schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite in the person’s blood carries that same Class C classification.

That range matters for anyone facing an OWI charge, because whether a case lands at Class C, climbs to Class A, or turns into something far more serious can turn on a specific blood-alcohol number or on whether anyone was hurt, which is exactly the kind of detail that deserves a close look before assuming the worst about a charge. Our DUI and OWI defense page covers how this evidence is built and challenged.

When a Misdemeanor Becomes a Felony

None of Indiana’s three misdemeanor classes is the ceiling on what a charge can become. Several of Indiana’s most common misdemeanor offenses are written with built-in escalators that turn the same underlying conduct into a felony once a specific factor is present:

  • Battery is the clearest example: the base offense under IC 35-42-2-1(c) is a Class B misdemeanor, it becomes a Class A misdemeanor under IC 35-42-2-1(d) once bodily injury results, and it becomes a Level 6 felony under IC 35-42-2-1(e) once the injury rises to moderate bodily injury or the victim is a public safety official acting in an official capacity.
  • Criminal recklessness, ordinarily a Class A misdemeanor under IC 35-42-2-2(a), becomes a Level 6 felony under IC 35-42-2-2(b)(1) when it is committed while armed with a deadly weapon, and a Level 5 felony under IC 35-42-2-2(b)(2) when it involves shooting a firearm into an occupied vehicle, dwelling, or other building where people are likely to be present.
  • Intimidation, ordinarily a Class A misdemeanor under IC 35-45-2-1(a), becomes a Level 6 felony under IC 35-45-2-1(b)(1) when the threat is to commit a forcible felony or targets a witness, and a Level 5 felony under IC 35-45-2-1(b)(2) when the person draws or uses a deadly weapon while making the threat or the threat targets a judicial officer or a prosecuting attorney.
  • Theft crosses the same line under IC 35-43-4-2(a)(1) once the property is worth at least $750 and less than $50,000, is a motor vehicle or a component of one, or the person has a prior unrelated conviction for theft, criminal conversion, robbery, or burglary.
  • OWI, ordinarily a misdemeanor, becomes a Level 4 felony under IC 9-30-5-5(a) when it causes the death or catastrophic injury of another person.
  • Domestic battery, under IC 35-42-2-1.3(f), can escalate to a Level 2 felony when it results in the death of a child under fourteen and the person charged is at least eighteen, or of an endangered adult.

Our complete guide to Indiana’s felony levels walks through the full ladder these escalations move a charge onto, from Level 6 up to murder.

Indiana also runs a version of this process in reverse. A Level 6 felony, the lowest felony level on Indiana’s ladder, can under certain circumstances be entered or later converted into a Class A misdemeanor conviction instead. Our guide to a Level 6 felony reduced to a misdemeanor in Indiana walks through how that alternative misdemeanor sentencing process works and who can qualify for it.

Why a Misdemeanor Charge Still Needs a Defense Lawyer

It’s easy to look at a Class C misdemeanor’s 60-day maximum and assume the stakes are too low to justify a lawyer. That assumption misses what a misdemeanor conviction actually does once it’s on a record: background checks flag it, employers and landlords see it, and a first conviction can become the prior conviction that pushes a later charge, even a low-level theft or interfering charge, into felony territory under statutes like the theft escalator above.

The class assigned to a charge is not fixed the moment police write a citation; it depends on facts a defense attorney can challenge, from whether an injury actually meets a statute’s threshold to whether the state can prove every element of the offense as charged.

Jerry L. Garner spent years as an FBI Special Agent before turning to criminal defense, and he brings that investigative background to misdemeanor cases the same way he does to felony cases, reading the evidence the way the state built it rather than just the way it was charged. Our misdemeanor defense page covers how we approach these charges, including how a case can sometimes be resolved at a lower class than the one originally filed.

Contact Us for Help

He represents clients facing misdemeanor charges throughout Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, and Perry counties, from the Evansville area to Rockport, Tell City, and Boonville. If you’re facing a misdemeanor charge in Southern Indiana, call our office at (812) 301-6221 or contact us online to discuss your case.

Remember: a misdemeanor’s class caps the penalty, but the conviction itself is what follows you, and a first conviction can become the prior that turns a later charge into a felony. Even a Class C charge is worth defending.

This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is unique, and outcomes depend on specific circumstances. Contact our office to discuss your particular situation.