Daniel Repay, Executive Director
AGO 2017-5
Official Opinion 2017-5
Indiana Attorney General Opinions
State of Indiana Office of the Attorney General
August 17, 2017
Daniel
Repay, Executive Director
Little
Calumet River Basin Development Commission
900
Ridge Road, Suite H
Munster,
IN 46321
RE:
Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission on
Disposition of Real Property
Dear
Mr. Repay:
YOUR
REQUEST
I am in
receipt of your letter dated August 10, 2017, requesting my
interpretation of certain statutes, and my guidance "as
to the appropriate method of disposing real property owned by
the [Little Calumet River Basin Development]
Commission."
FACTUAL
BACKGROUND
Created
by Indiana's General Assembly in 1980, the Little Calumet
River Basin Development Commission (the
"Commission") is a "body corporate and
politic" which acts as the principal state participant
in collaborative efforts to curtail or eliminate flooding
along the Little Calumet River in northwestern Indiana. See
IC 14-13-2-4(4); Frum v. Little Calumet River
Basin Development Comm'n, 518 N.E.2d 809
(Ind.Ct.App.1988). "Little Cal" construction
projects related to flood control are planned and monitored
by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and rely largely on
federal funding.
Although
the Commission is semi-autonomous, when it is engaged in
supporting the design, construction and maintenance of levees
and other assets for preventing breaches in the area's
flood-plain defenses, its actions are clothed with a public
interest, and lie at the epicenter of the state's police
powers. In order to discharge its role effectively, the
Commission has broad powers to acquire property, to lease it,
or to acquire it by means of eminent domain. See IC
14-13-2-12 & 13.
When
purchasing land the Commission is required to
"follow procedures for acquisition of land by the
Indiana Department of Transportation" IC
14-13-2-12(d) (emphasis supplied). Of course, the Commission
may sell real property as well. IC 14-13-2-18(8),
but the statutory instructions are not the same.
Interestingly, when it comes to property disposition, the
statute is silent on what set of procedures the Commission
should use.
BRIEF
ANSWER
A set
of statutes beginning at IC 4-20.5-1 et seq,
describe a process for disposing of surplus property under
the authority of the Indiana Department of...
