The Honorable Connie Lawson
AGO 2017-3
Official Opinion No. 2017-3
Indiana Attorney General Opinions
State of Indiana Office of the Attorney General
March 22, 2017
The
Honorable Connie Lawson
Secretary
of State
Indiana
State House
Room
201
Indianapolis,
IN 46204
RE:
Sunday Sales of Non-Motorized Trailers
Dear
Secretary Lawson:
As you
are aware, in the State of Indiana, a person can go to jail
for selling cars on Sunday.
1 This is admittedly a
fairly severe application of criminal penalties to what is
essentially a Sunday Law regulating the sale of a commercial
product.
Over
thirty years ago, the Indiana Attorney General issued and
published his opinion
2that it was lawful, despite the ban on
Sunday motor vehicle sales under Ind. Code § 24-4-6-1,
for a person to buy, sell, or trade non-motorized or
non-self-propelled recreational vehicles
("RVs")
3on Sundays.
Considering
amendments and recodifications of Ind. Code § 24-4-6-1
and other related statutes, you have requested us to revisit
our previous opinion regarding the scope of the prohibition
against Sunday motor vehicles sales contained in current Ind.
Code § 24-4-6-1, and specifically whether the ban
applies to non-motorized trailers.
REQUESTOR
STANDING
Ind.
Code § 4-6-2-5 contemplates that a state officer may
request an official advisory opinion from the Attorney
General regarding matters touching upon any question or point
of law concerning the duties of the officer. The question
presented pertains to matters of regulation of automobile
dealers that are clearly within the jurisdiction of the Auto
Dealer Services Division of the Office of the Indiana
Secretary of State, at whose request this opinion is
rendered.
QUESTION
PRESENTED
Does
the Indiana statute prohibiting the sale of motor vehicles on
Sundays (Ind. Code § 24-4-6-1) also bar Sunday sales of
non-motorized and non-self-propelled campers and trailers?
BRIEF
ANSWER
The
correct definition of the term "motor vehicle" as
it is used in Indiana's statute criminalizing Sunday
motor vehicle sales (Ind. Code § 24-4-6-1(b)) is located
in the general definition chapter of the Indiana Criminal
Code (Ind. Code § 35-31.5-2-207). That section makes
specific reference to the phrase "motor vehicle" in
the Indiana Motor Vehicle Code (Ind. Code §
9-13-2-105(a)), as any vehicle that is
"self-propelled," with exclusions for "farm
tractor(s)," "implements of agriculture," and
"electric personal assistive mobility device(s)."
We
therefore conclude that it is lawful to engage in the
business of buying, selling, and trading of
non-self-propelled or non-motorized campers or trailers on
Sundays.
In
addition to the exclusions noted above in the section
defining "motor vehicle," the Sunday prohibition
law itself contains further exclusions for those having
special event permits allowing certain sales, and for the
sale of motorcycles. Ind. Code §§ 24-4-6-1(a)(1)
and (a)(2). Other definitions of "motor vehicle"
referenced in the Indiana Code
4 are intended only for
specific purposes, such as traffic violations (Ind. Code Art.
9-21) and necessary title documents used by the Auto Dealer
Services Division (Ind. Code Art. 9-32), and do not run
contrary to our firm conclusion defining the scope of
prohibited Sunday sales, as stated above.
ANALYSIS
Ind.
Code § 24-4-6-1 currently reads as follows:
(a) This section does not apply to the following:
(1) A person that holds a special event permit issued under
IC 9-32-11-18.
(2) The buying, selling, or trading of a motor vehicle that
is a motorcycle (as defined in IC 9-13-2-108).
(b) A person who engages in the business of buying, selling,
or trading motor vehicles on Sunday commits a Class B
misdemeanor.
Ind. Code § 24-4-6-1 is a penal statute that was...
