Pelath, 120812 INAGO, AGO 2012-5

• Case Date: December 08, 2012
• Court: Indiana

The Honorable Scott Pelath AGO 2012-5 Official Opinion No. 2012-5 State of Indiana Office of the Attorney General December 8, 2012          The Honorable Scott Pelath          Indiana House of Representatives          200 West Washington St.          Indianapolis, IN 46204          RE: Inclusion or exclusion of Indiana State Prison inmates when calculating population for purposes of city council districts          Dear Representative Pelath:          You requested an opinion from our office regarding the apportionment of Michigan City common council districts. Specifically, you asked whether Indiana law permits Michigan City to exclude individuals incarcerated in the Indiana State Prison from the city’s population for the purpose of geographic ward reapportionment. We have reviewed the applicable statutes and authorities in this regard and have concluded that such exclusion is not permitted.          BRIEF ANSWER          Currently applicable state statutes and federal census rules require prison inmates to be counted in the geographic location where they are incarcerated. Ind. Code § 36-4-6-3 requires that members of the legislative bodies or common councils for second-class cities must be selected from districts that “contain, as nearly as possible, equal population.” Ind. Code § 1-1-3.5-3 provides in this context that for purposes of statutes relating to drawing boundaries for political subdivision districts, population references are determined based on the most recent federal decennial census. The U.S. Census Bureau has adopted a Residence Rule and Residence Situations for the 2010 Census to determine where individuals residing or placed in various situations and contexts will be counted for census purposes, and the rule provides that individuals in correctional residential facilities, local jails, and other municipal confinement facilities were counted at those prisons, jails and facilities. Therefore, under current law Michigan City cannot exclude inmates from population totals when determining equally populated common council districts.          ANALYSIS ...