WHAT TIME IS IT IN INDIANA? WHO KNOWS! (1-2003)

Indiana is one of only three states that do not observe 
Daylight Saving Time. And almost every year there is a push 
in the Indiana General Assembly to change that. 

Should Indiana observe Daylight Saving Time?

Take a look at the current picture. The state is divided 
into five regions which individually observe three 
different time configurations. When it comes to time, it is 
the most messed-up state in the Union.

In Northwest Indiana, Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, and 
Porter counties are in the Central Time Zone and observe 
Daily Saving Time. In Southwest Indiana, Gibson, Posey, 
Spencer, Vanderburgh, and Warrick counties are also in the 
Central Time Zone and also observe Daylight Saving Time. 

Near Louisville, Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties are in 
the Eastern Time Zone but still observe Daylight Saving 
Time; the same is true of Dearborn and Ohio counties in 
Southeast Indiana. The rest of the state is in the Eastern 
Time Zone but does not observe Daylight Saving Time.

So, relative to the state capital, counties in the 
southeast part of the state and near Louisville are an hour 
ahead in the summer months and on the same time as 
Indianapolis in winter. In the northwest and southwest 
parts of the state, counties are on the same time as 
Indianapolis in the summer, but are one hour behind in 
winter.

To make matters worse, consider Chicago and New York. 
Hoosiers do business with both these cities on a large 
scale basis. But they are in different time zones. That 
wouldn’t matter if Indiana stayed with one or the other, 
but most of the state does not. 

In the winter, Indiana is on New York time. In the summer, 
it is on Chicago time. But that’s only if you do not live 
in one of the 15 counties listed above, in which case you 
will either be with Chicago or with New York all year. 
Could it get any more confusing?

To a person who stays home all the time, does not watch 
television, and doesn’t do business out of state, there is 
no compelling reason to switch to Daylight Saving Time. But 
if you’re confused as to why your favorite cable TV shows 
change times every spring and fall, but local and network 
programming does not, or if you are a business person who 
engages in interstate commerce, you have to wonder why our 
state is so messed up when it comes to what time it is.

The simplest solution is for Indiana to catch up with the 
rest of the civilized world and begin observing Daylight 
Saving Time in every county. The hard part is to convince 
the Indiana General Assembly.