CHAPTER 4. CONSTRUCTION OF STATUTES
IC 1-1-4
Chapter 4. Construction of Statutes
IC 1-1-4-1
Rules
Sec. 1. The construction of all statutes of this state shall be by thefollowing rules, unless the construction is plainly repugnant to theintent of the legislature or of the context of the statute:
(1) Words and phrases shall be taken in their plain, or ordinaryand usual, sense. Technical words and phrases having a peculiarand appropriate meaning in law shall be understood accordingto their technical import.
(2) Words importing joint authority to three (3) or more personsshall be construed as authority to a majority of the persons,unless otherwise declared in the statute giving authority.
(3) Words importing the singular number only may be alsoapplied to the plural of persons and things.
(4) Words importing the masculine gender only may beextended to females also.
(5) When a statute requires an act to be done which, by law, anagent or deputy as well may do as the principal, the requisitionis satisfied by the performance of the act by an authorized agentor deputy.
(6) When a person is required to be disinterested or indifferentin acting on any question or matter affecting other parties,consanguinity or affinity within the sixth degree, inclusive, bythe civil law rules, or within the degree of second cousin,inclusive, disqualifies the person from acting, except by consentof parties.
(Formerly: Acts 1852, 2 RS PART II, c.17, s.1.) As amended by Acts1978, P.L.2, SEC.102; Acts 1982, P.L.1, SEC.1; P.L.1-1988, SEC.4;P.L.1-1990, SEC.2; P.L.1-1991, SEC.3.
IC 1-1-4-2
Repealed
(Repealed by P.L.1-1990, SEC.3.)
IC 1-1-4-3
Uniform Determination of Death Act
Sec. 3. (a) Only an individual who has sustained either:
(1) irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratoryfunctions; or
(2) irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain,including the brain stem;
is dead. A determination of death must be made in accordance withaccepted medical standards.
(b) This section shall be applied and construed to effectuate itsgeneral purpose to make uniform the law with respect to the subjectof this section among states enacting it.
(c) This section may be cited as the Uniform Determination of
Death Act.
As added by P.L.1-1986, SEC.1.
IC 1-1-4-4
Internal Revenue Code definition; applicability
Sec. 4. Except as otherwise provided, the definition of InternalRevenue Code set forth in IC 6-3-1-11 applies to all statutes referringto the Internal Revenue Code.
As added by P.L.2-1987, SEC.1.
IC 1-1-4-5
Definitions applicable to construction of all Indiana statutes
Sec. 5. The following definitions apply to the construction of allIndiana statutes, unless the construction is plainly repugnant to theintent of the general assembly or of the context of the statute:
(1) "Adult", "of full age", and "person in his majority" mean aperson at least eighteen (18) years of age.
(2) "Attorney" includes a counselor or other person authorizedto appear and represent a party in an action or specialproceeding.
(3) "Autism" means a neurological condition as described in themost recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ofMental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association.
(4) "Bond" does not necessarily imply a seal.
(5) "Clerk" means the clerk of the court or a person authorizedto perform the clerk's duties.
(6) "Health record", "hospital record", or "medical record"means written or printed information possessed by a provider(as defined in IC 16-18-2-295) concerning any diagnosis,treatment, or prognosis of the patient, unless otherwise defined.Except as otherwise provided, the terms include mental healthrecords and drug and alcohol abuse records.
(7) "Highway" includes county bridges and state and countyroads, unless otherwise expressly provided.
(8) "Infant" or "minor" means a person less than eighteen (18)years of age.
(9) "Inhabitant" may be construed to mean a resident in anyplace.
(10) "Judgment" means all final orders, decrees, anddeterminations in an action and all orders upon whichexecutions may issue.
(11) "Land", "real estate", and "real property" include lands,tenements, and hereditaments.
(12) "Mentally incompetent" means of unsound mind.
(13) "Money demands on contract", when used in reference toan action, means an action arising out of contract when therelief demanded is a recovery of money.
(14) "Month" means a calendar month, unless otherwiseexpressed.
(15) "Noncode statute" means a statute that is not codified as
part of the Indiana Code.
(16) "Oath" includes "affirmation", and "to swear" includes toaffirm.
(17) "Person" extends to bodies politic and corporate.
(18) "Personal property" includes goods, chattels, evidences ofdebt, and things in action.
(19) "Population" has the meaning set forth in IC 1-1-3.5-3.
(20) "Preceding" and "following", referring to sections instatutes, mean the sections next preceding or next following thatin which the words occur, unless some other section isdesignated.
(21) "Property" includes personal and real property.
(22) "Sheriff" means the sheriff of the county or another personauthorized to perform sheriff's duties.
(23) "State", applied to any one of the United States, includesthe District of Columbia and the commonwealths, possessions,states in free association with the United States, and theterritories. "United States" includes the District of Columbiaand the commonwealths, possessions, states in free associationwith the United States, and the territories.
(24) "Under legal disabilities" includes persons less thaneighteen (18) years of age, mentally incompetent, or out of theUnited States.
(25) "Verified", when applied to pleadings, means supported byoath or affirmation in writing.
(26) "Will" includes a testament and codicil.
(27) "Without relief" in any judgment, contract, execution, orother instrument of writing or record, means without the benefitof valuation laws.
(28) "Written" and "in writing" include printing, lithographing,or other mode of representing words and letters. If the writtensignature of a person is required, the terms mean the properhandwriting of the person or the person's mark.
(29) "Year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed.
(30) The definitions in IC 35-41-1 apply to all statutes relatingto penal offenses.
As added by P.L.1-1990, SEC.4. Amended by P.L.2-1990, SEC.5;P.L.4-1997, SEC.1; P.L.76-2001, SEC.1; P.L.170-2002, SEC.2.
IC 1-1-4-6
Attorney's fees as including paralegal's fees
Sec. 6. (a) As used in this section, "paralegal" means a personwho is:
(1) qualified through education, training, or work experience;and
(2) employed by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency, orother entity;
to work under the direction of an attorney in a capacity that involvesthe performance of substantive legal work that usually requires asufficient knowledge of legal concepts and would be performed by
the attorney in the absence of the paralegal.
(b) A reference in the Indiana Code to attorney's fees includesparalegal's fees.
As added by P.L.6-1993, SEC.1.
IC 1-1-4-7
State educational institution; applicability
Sec. 7. A reference in the Indiana Code to a state educationalinstitution refers to a state educational institution (as defined inIC 21-7-13-32).
As added by P.L.2-2007, SEC.2.