Bailey, J.
On July 11, 2014, Moore petitioned the trial court to modify his sentence in FB-7118.1 The sentence modification statute under which Moore sought relief provides:
(c) If more than three hundred sixty-five (365) days have elapsed since the convicted person began serving the sentence, the court may reduce or suspend the sentence and impose a sentence that the court was authorized to impose at the time of sentencing. The court must incorporate its reasons in the record.
Ind. Code § 35-38-1-17(c) (2014) (the “revised statute”). The revised statute became effective July 1, 2014.
On July 16, 2014, the court denied Moore’s petition, citing a prior version of Indiana Code section 35-38-1-17, which provides, in relevant part:
(b) If more than three hundred sixty-five (365) days have elapsed since the convicted person began serving the sentence and after a hearing at which the convicted person is present, the court may reduce or suspend the sentence, subject to the approval of the prosecuting attorney. [. . . .]
I.C. § 35-38-1-17(b) (Supp. 2006). The court found that it lacked authority to entertain Moore’s petition because the prosecuting attorney had not consented to a modification. The court also noted that Moore’s crime and sentence occurred prior to 2014 and “[t]he new statutes, effective on July 1, 2014, do not have retroactive application.” (App. at 31.)
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In this case, when the General Assembly revised the statute to remove the need for prosecutorial consent, it lifted a procedural barrier that prevented petitions from reaching the trial court for review on their merits and “did not make any changes in the sentencing court’s power over the sentence.” Willis, 567 N.E.2d at 1172. Thus, the recent revision to the sentence modification statute implemented a procedural change to a procedural statute. Accordingly, Moore is not barred from bringing his petition under the revised statute simply because he was convicted and sentenced before the revised statute’s effective date.
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The State also argues also that a savings clause enacted in 2014 bars any person who was convicted or sentenced before July 1, 2014 from petitioning under the revised statute. Indiana Code section 1-1-5.5-21 states:
(a) A SECTION of P.L.158-2013 or HEA 1006-2014 does not affect:
(1) penalties incurred;
(2) crimes committed; or
(3) proceedings begun;
before the effective date of that SECTION of P.L.158-2013 or HEA 1006-2014. Those penalties, crimes, and proceedings continue and shall be imposed and enforced under prior law as if that SECTION of P.L.158-2013 or HEA 1006-2014 had not been enacted.
(b) The general assembly does not intend the doctrine of amelioration (see Vicory v. State, 400 N.E.2d 1380 (Ind. 1980)) to apply to any SECTION of P.L.158-2013 or HEA 1006-2014.
I.C. § 1-1-5.5-21 (Supp. 2014) (the “savings clause”). The revisions to Indiana Code Section 35-38-1-17 occurred pursuant to Public Law 158-2013 and House Enrolled Act 1006-2014.5 See Pub. L. No. 158-2013, § 396 (2013); Pub. L. No. 168-2014, § 58 (2014).
The State argues that because Moore’s crimes were committed and his penalty was imposed before July 1, 2014, subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) of the savings clause bar the revised statute from affecting his case. The State also argues that Moore’s petition was not a “proceeding begun” after July 1, 2014, but “a continuation of a ‘proceeding’ begun earlier, namely the criminal case filed under lower court cause number [FB-7118.]” (Appellee’s Br. at 15.) Therefore, the State argues that subsection (a)(3) of the savings clause also bars Moore’s petition.
Moore’s sentence modification proceeding began when he filed his petition on July 11, 2014, after the effective date of the statute. Moore’s petition therefore is not barred by subsection (a)(3) of the savings clause. As for subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2), the plain language prevents any section of the new code from “affecting” penalties incurred or crimes committed before July 1, 2014. I.C. §§ 1-1-5.5-21(a)(1)-(a)(2) (Supp. 2014). However, as discussed above, the revised statute regulates the procedure by which a person may request a sentence modification and the conditions under which the trial court may exercise its sentencing power. In this way, the revised statute certainly “affects” the sentence modification process. But the revised statute does not “affect” a penalty imposed or crime committed simply because it changes the process by which a person seeks sentence modification. Subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) of the savings clause thus do not bar persons convicted or sentenced prior to July 1, 2014 from filing petitions for sentence modification under the new statutory terms.
Furthermore, we think the language of subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2) of the savings clause evinces the legislature’s intent that those defendants who committed offenses prior to July 1, 2014 may not take advantage of any ameliorative effects the new classification and sentencing scheme may have on their crimes or sentences. Indeed, subsection (b) of the savings clause clearly states: “The general assembly does not intend the doctrine of amelioration (see Vicory v. State, 400 N.E.2d 1380 (Ind. 1980)) to apply to any SECTION of P.L.158-2013 or HEA 1006-2014.” I.C. § 1-1-5.5-21 (Supp. 2014).
An ameliorative amendment is one in which the maximum penalty for a crime is reduced. Palmer v. State, 679 N.E.2d 887, 892 n.4 (Ind. 1997) (“The test to determine whether the legislature has enacted an ameliorative statute, where they have not expressly so stated, is whether the maximum penalty under the new statute is lower than the maximum penalty under the old.”). Here, however, the revised statute explicitly provides that when modifying a convicted person’s sentence, the court may only impose a sentence “that the court was authorized to impose at the time of sentencing.” I.C. § 35-38-1-17(c) (2014). The revised statute thus has no ameliorative effect because it does not reduce the maximum penalty available and only permits the court to impose a sentence that was permissible at the time of sentencing. And because the revised statute has no ameliorative effect, the savings clause does not bar the revised statute’s application to petitions made by persons convicted or sentenced prior to July 1, 2014. [Footnote omitted.]
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Moore’s appeal is not moot. The trial court erred in finding that it did not have authority to entertain Moore’s petition for sentence modification on its merits. However, the trial court’s order also stated that the court would deny Moore’s petition due to the seriousness of his crimes and his criminal history; therefore, we affirm the decision of the trial court to deny Moore’s petition for sentence modification.
Brown, J., concurs.
Robb, J., dissents in part and concurs in part with opinion:
I agree with the trial court that the 2014 amendments to Indiana Code section 35-38-1-17 are not retroactive and that, absent the prosecutor’s approval, the trial court had no authority to entertain Moore’s petition for sentence modification. Therefore, I respectfully dissent from that part of the majority’s decision holding otherwise.
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Moreover, even for procedural amendments, “retroactive application is the exception, and such laws are normally to be applied prospectively absent strong and compelling reasons.” Hurst v. State, 890 N.E.2d 88, 94 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008), trans. denied. It is important to note that section 35-38-1-17 was not amended in isolation. The revised statute was amended as part of a broad overhaul of the entire criminal code, an overhaul which included a savings clause, Ind. Code § 1-1-5.5-21, through which the legislature has clearly and unambiguously made it clear that it did not intend for the new criminal code to have any effect on proceedings for offenses committed before July 1, 2014. Marley v. State, 17 N.E.2d 335, 340 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014). There are no strong and compelling reasons to retroactively apply this one statute among the dozens that were simultaneously amended in the face of the legislature’s clear direction expressed through the savings clause regardless of the date Moore filed his petition. Moore’s crimes were committed and his penalty was incurred before the effective date of the new statute. Thus the savings clause rules out applying the revised statute to his petition for modification.
I would hold that Moore’s petition for modification was subject to the terms of the modification statute in effect at the time he was sentenced. According to those terms, prosecutorial consent was required, it was not given, and the trial court properly declined to entertain Moore’s petition.