Bill Text: IN HB1274 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Service of warrants for unsafe buildings.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-01-22 - Representative Moseley added as coauthor [HB1274 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2013-HB1274-Introduced.html
Citations Affected: IC 36-7-9.
Synopsis: Service of warrants for unsafe buildings. Allows an
inspection warrant issued under the unsafe building law to be served
by one of the following methods: (1) Registered or certified mail,
return receipt requested to the residence or place of business or
employment of the person served. (2) Personal service. (3) Leaving a
copy of the warrant at the person's dwelling and mailing a copy to the
person's last known address. (4) Mailing a copy by first class mail to
the person's last known address. (Current law allows only personal
service of inspection warrants.)
Effective: July 1, 2013.
January 14, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary.
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A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local
government.
(1) The person seeking the warrant must establish that the building to be searched or inspected is to be searched or inspected as part of a legally authorized program of inspection that naturally includes the building, or that there is probable cause for believing that a condition, object, activity, or circumstance legally justifies a search or inspection of that building.
(2) An affidavit establishing one (1) of the grounds described in subdivision (1) must be signed under oath or affirmation by the affiant.
(3) The court must examine the affiant under oath or affirmation
to verify the accuracy of the affidavit.
(b) The warrant is valid only if it:
(1) is signed by the judge of the court and bears the date and hour
of its issuance above that signature, with a notation that the
warrant is valid for only forty-eight (48) hours after its issuance;
(2) describes (either directly or by reference to the affidavit) the
building where the search or inspection is to occur so that the
executor of the warrant and owner or the possessor of the building
can reasonably determine what property the warrant authorizes an
inspection of;
(3) indicates the conditions, objects, activities, or circumstances
that the inspection is intended to check or reveal; and
(4) is attached to the affidavit required to be made in order to
obtain the warrant.
(c) A warrant issued under this section is valid for only forty-eight
(48) hours after its issuance, must be personally served upon the owner
or possessor of the building in accordance with section 25 of this
chapter, and must be returned within seventy-two (72) hours.
(1) Notice of Orders.
(2) Notice of continued hearings without a specified date.
(3) Notice of a statement that public bids are to be let.
(4) Notice of claims for payment.
(5) Inspection warrants.
(b) Service must be given by:
(1) sending by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested, a copy of the order,
(2) delivering a copy of the order,
(3) leaving a copy of the order,
(4) sending a copy of the order,
served.
If a notice described in service of a notice or warrant under
subdivision (1) is returned undelivered, a copy of the order, or
statement, or warrant must be given in accordance with subdivision
(2), (3), or (4).
(b) (c) If service is not obtained by a means described in subsection
(a) and the hearing authority concludes that a reasonable effort has
been made to obtain service, service may be made by publishing a
notice of the order, or statement, or warrant in accordance with
IC 5-3-1 in the county where the unsafe premises are located. However,
publication may be made on consecutive days. If service of an order is
made by publication, the publication must include the information
required by subdivisions (1), (2), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (9) of section
5(b) of this chapter, and must also include a statement indicating
generally what action is required by the order and that the exact terms
of the order may be obtained from the enforcement authority. The
hearing authority may make a determination about whether a
reasonable effort has been made to obtain service by the means
described in subsection (a) on the basis of information provided by the
department (or, in the case of a consolidated city, the enforcement
authority). The hearing authority is not required to make the
determination at a hearing. The hearing authority must make the
determination in writing.
(c) (d) When service is made by any of the means described in this
section, except by mailing or by publication, the person making service
must make an affidavit stating that the person has made the service, the
manner in which service was made, to whom the order, or statement,
or warrant was issued, the nature of the order, or statement, or
warrant, and the date of service. The affidavit must be placed on file
with the enforcement authority.
(d) (e) The date when notice of the order, or statement, or service
of the warrant is considered given is as follows:
(1) If the order, or statement, or warrant is delivered personally
or left at the dwelling or usual place of abode, notice service is
considered given on the day when the order, or statement, or
warrant is delivered to the person or left at the person's dwelling
or usual place of abode.
(2) If the order, or statement, or warrant is mailed, notice service
is considered given on the date shown on the return receipt, or, if
no date is shown, on the date when the return receipt is received
by the enforcement authority.
(3) Notice Service by publication is considered given on the date
of the second day that publication was made.
(e) (f) A person with a property interest in an unsafe premises who
does not:
(1) record an instrument reflecting the interest in the recorder's
office of the county where the unsafe premises is located; or
(2) if an instrument reflecting the interest is not recorded, provide
to the department (or, in the case of a consolidated city, the
enforcement authority) in writing the person's name and address
and the location of the unsafe premises;
is considered to consent to reasonable action taken under this chapter
for which notice would be required and relinquish a claim to notice
under this chapter.
(f) (g) The department (or, in the case of a consolidated city, the
enforcement authority) may, for the sake of administrative
convenience, publish notice make service by publication under
subsection (b) (c) at the same time notice service is attempted under
subsection (a). If published notice service by publication is given as
described in subsection (b), (c), the hearing authority shall
subsequently make a determination about whether a reasonable effort
has been made to obtain service by the means described in subsection
(a).
