E-Verify requirements in Indiana: public contracts since 2011, and a 2026 law that reaches every employer

As of October 2026, Indiana has two different E-Verify regimes, and most guides only describe the older one. Since 2011, Indiana Code 22-5-1.7 has required state agencies and local governments to use E-Verify for their own hires and to require it from every contractor on a public contract for services, with public works contracts added in 2015. Since July 1, 2026, a new chapter, IC 22-5-9, added by Senate Enrolled Act 76, makes it unlawful for any employer in Indiana, of any size, to knowingly recruit, hire or keep an unauthorized worker, with E-Verify as the clearest defense and the attorney general as the enforcer.

SEA 76 is not a direct E-Verify mandate for private employers. It is, though, the reason many Indiana employers with no government work are now deciding whether to enroll.

The three layers of Indiana law

Public contracts: IC 22-5-1.7

Contracts for services

For any public contract for services entered into or renewed after June 30, 2011, a state agency or political subdivision may not sign unless the contract requires the contractor to enroll in E-Verify and verify the work eligibility of all of its newly hired employees, and the contractor signs an affidavit that it does not knowingly employ an unauthorized alien. "Public contract for services" means any type of written agreement for the procurement of services. The statute sets no dollar threshold and no headcount threshold, though a self-employed person with no employees is not a "business entity" under the chapter.

Note the scope: all newly hired employees of the contractor, not only those assigned to the public contract.

Public works

Section 11.1 applies the same contract term and affidavit to public works contracts entered into or renewed after June 30, 2015. Separately, IC 5-16-13-11 requires every contractor in any tier of a public works project to give the public agency the E-Verify case verification number for each individual who must be verified, before that individual begins work on the project, and bars anyone whose final case result is a final nonconfirmation from working on it. A public agency that suspects an E-Verify violation on a public works project refers it to the Indiana Department of Labor.

Grants

A state agency or political subdivision may not award a grant of more than $1,000 to a business entity unless it swears it is enrolled and participating in E-Verify, provides documentation of that, and swears it does not knowingly employ an unauthorized alien.

Subcontractors

A subcontractor must certify to the contractor that it does not knowingly employ or contract with an unauthorized alien and that it has enrolled and is participating in E-Verify. The contractor keeps that certification on file for the whole subcontract and may terminate a subcontractor that violates the chapter without that counting as a breach.

Enforcement under IC 22-5-1.7

• The public agency notifies the contractor, which has 30 days to remedy the violation.
• If it does not, the agency must terminate the contract for breach, though it may keep the contract running until a replacement is procured if termination would harm the public interest or public property.
• A terminated contractor is liable for the agency's actual damages.
• A contractor can challenge a notice or termination in circuit or superior court within 20 days.
• A contractor that verified an employee through E-Verify gets a rebuttable presumption that it did not knowingly employ that person.

On top of the statute, Governor Braun's Executive Order 25-29 (January 2025) directed the Indiana Department of Administration to change the state's contract boilerplate, by April 1, 2025, so that any party providing services to the state certifies its use of E-Verify as a condition of the contract. A 2026 bill to tighten the public works rules, SB 87, passed the Senate 48-0 but stalled in a House committee.

Senate Enrolled Act 76: the July 2026 employer law

SEA 76 added IC 22-5-9, effective July 1, 2026. Its core is section 7: it is unlawful for an employer to knowingly or intentionally recruit, hire or continue to employ an unauthorized alien in Indiana. "Employer" means a person, including an agent, that employs employees in Indiana, with no size floor. The subsection does not apply to hiring, recruitment or employment that occurred before July 1, 2026; how that carve-out interacts with continuing to employ the same person after that date is a question for counsel.

The reasonable diligence defense

An employer does not violate section 7 if it used reasonable diligence to confirm work eligibility before recruiting, hiring or continuing to employ the person. The statute gives two examples:

1. using a DHS electronic verification program (E-Verify) to verify the employee, unless the circumstances would have put a reasonable person on notice that the result was unreliable; or
2. diligence consistent with industry-standard best practices.

The statute does not define the second option. E-Verify is therefore the more predictable defense, though it has limits: it applies to new hires only, so it does not by itself cover a workforce hired before enrollment.

Enforcement and penalties

The attorney general may sue when there is probable cause of a violation in the preceding three years. An employer never previously found in violation first gets notice and 15 business days to show reasonable diligence or to file an affidavit that it has terminated any unauthorized workers, has used reasonable diligence for all employees, and will not knowingly employ unauthorized aliens. If a court finds a violation by a preponderance of the evidence, it may order:

A court can also impose probation of six months to two years, with quarterly reports to the attorney general that include employees' work eligibility documentation. Employers may not retaliate against an employee who cooperates with the attorney general.

What this means for staffing agencies

• Agency as employer of record: SEA 76 applies to the agency for workers on its payroll, and the word "recruit" in section 7 matters for an agency even before a hire is made.
• Public clients: an agency supplying workers to a state agency, city, county or school corporation is a contractor or subcontractor under IC 22-5-1.7 and needs E-Verify enrollment for all new hires, plus the subcontractor certification.
• Public works: if your workers go onto a public works site, the general contractor will need their case verification numbers before day one. Build that into onboarding.
• For case creation between agency and client, see E-Verify for staffing agencies; for mismatches, see E-Verify tentative nonconfirmation.

A worked example

This is an invented example. An Indianapolis electrical contractor with 30 employees bids a city library renovation in August 2026. Under IC 22-5-1.7-11.1 its contract must require E-Verify for all its new hires, and it signs the no-unauthorized-alien affidavit. Under IC 5-16-13-11 it must hand the city each new worker's case verification number before that worker starts on the job. Its drywall subcontractor must certify E-Verify enrollment to it. And under SEA 76, the same contractor's private residential work is now covered by the knowing-employment rule, where its E-Verify enrollment doubles as its reasonable diligence defense.

An Indiana checklist

• Any public contract, grant over $1,000 or public works job: enroll in E-Verify before signing.
• Collect and keep subcontractor certifications for the full subcontract term.
• Public works: case verification numbers to the public agency before each worker starts.
• Every employer: decide how you will show reasonable diligence under SEA 76, and document it.
• Run E-Verify only after Form I-9 is complete; see I-9 timing in hiring.
• Compare neighboring states in E-Verify requirements by state.