INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has signed a bill into law limiting how the state’s public access counselor can interpret public records and open meetings laws.

House Bill 1338 places new restrictions on the counselor’s interpretations when issuing opinions, with the legislation meaning the counselor can only rely upon public access law and court opinions and rulings.

The legislation has received criticism for its perceived narrowing of governmental transparency since the public access counselor oversees how the public and governmental agencies comply with Indiana’s Open Door laws and has served for years as an invaluable resource that is not politically bound.

The counselor is also responsible for providing written opinions when members of the media or the public file a complaint or determine if a document in question is a public record.

The new law means that counselors will no longer serve as part of a fixed four-year term, instead serving at the “pleasure of the governor.” This means counselors must be appointed or dismissed by the governor. The office was created in 1999.

In a statement released shortly after signing the bill, Holcomb said he supports the state’s authority to control public meetings to curb “unruly, disruptive and disorderly behavior.”

The legislation also includes language permitting local government agencies to ask “disruptive” attendees to leave a meeting after a third warning or to have law enforcement forcibly remove them for repeated offenses provided that the rules are clearly labeled at the meeting entrance or announced before a meeting begins.

“Today, I signed HEA 1338 to provide local government entities across our state with the ability to better control public meetings when faced with unruly, disruptive and disorderly behavior,” Holcomb said in a statement Monday afternoon. “Concerns raised regarding the provisions affecting the Office of Public Access Counselor were taken into account but ultimately, in my opinion, muted by the fact that judicial review of the office’s decisions is left untouched and that the governor retains the ability to appoint the position in the future.”