CHAPTER 10. PUBLIC PROPERTY AND MILITARY EQUIPMENT
IC 10-16-10
Chapter 10. Public Property and Military Equipment
IC 10-16-10-1
Security of property; pecuniary liability of officers and enlisted
personnel
Sec. 1. (a) The officer in permanent or temporary command of a
station is responsible for the security of all public property of the
command, whether in use or in store. Although for purposes of
periodical accountability to proper authorities, the public property
has been officially accepted and receipted for by any subordinate
officers, the commanding officer is responsible and pecuniarily liable
for the strict observance of the regulations in regard to its
preservation, use, and issue. The officer shall take care that:
(1) all storehouses are properly guarded;
(2) only reliable agents are employed; and
(3) only trustworthy enlisted persons are detailed for duty in
storehouses or in connection with the property.
(b) If an officer, a soldier, or an airman responsible for state and
federal property:
(1) resigns;
(2) is promoted;
(3) is dismissed; or
(4) is discharged;
the officer, soldier, or airman shall deliver all arms, accoutrements,
or stores only to the officer appointed to receive the arms,
accoutrements, or stores and take duplicate receipts for the arms,
accoutrements, or stores and file a duplicate receipt with the adjutant
general. In case of the death of an officer, a soldier, or an airman
responsible for state and federal property, the next in command shall
immediately take charge of the arms, accoutrements, or stores and
deliver them to the person appointed to receive the arms,
accoutrements, or stores. However, if the officer, soldier, or airman
is commissioned in place of the deceased, the officer, soldier, or
airman shall execute and file duplicate receipts for the arms,
accoutrements, and stores with the adjutant general.
(c) An officer responsible for state and federal property shall be
charged for any damage to or loss or destruction of the property
unless the officer shows to the satisfaction of the adjutant general, by
proper evidence, that the damage, loss, or destruction was caused by
unavoidable causes and without fault or neglect on the officer's part.
(d) If an article of state or federal property is lost or damaged by
the neglect or fault of an officer, a soldier, or an airman, the officer,
soldier, or airman shall pay for the value of the property or the cost
of repairs, in a sum to be determined by the proper authority, upon
the demand of the adjutant general.
(e) The amount charged against an enlisted solider or airman on
the muster and payrolls for loss of or damage or repairs to military
property may not exceed the value of the article or cost of repairs.
The charge may only be made:
(1) on conclusive proof; and
(2) with an inquiry if the soldier or airman demands it.
(f) The adjutant general may pay from the funds appropriated to
the military department for operating expenses the expenses
necessary for the apprehension and prosecution of any person
absconding with property belonging to the state or United States if
the person is not in Indiana.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.
IC 10-16-10-2
Board of survey; collection of damages or losses
Sec. 2. (a) If an officer, a soldier, or an airman or a former officer,
soldier, or airman responsible for any national guard, state or federal
equipment, property, or military stores has:
(1) failed to return the property or any part of the property on
demand of proper authority;
(2) damaged the property beyond the injury resulting from the
necessary use of the arms or other issues; or
(3) caused a deficiency in the number or quantity of the state
and federal arms, property, or military stores;
the amount of the unnecessary damages or losses shall be determined
by a board of survey appointed in accordance with appropriate
national guard regulations.
(b) The amounts due under subsection (a) shall be collected by
law in the name of the state of Indiana and paid into the state military
fund.
(c) The attorney general shall bring the suit in the name of the
state of Indiana and cause the amounts collected to be paid into the
state military fund.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.
IC 10-16-10-3
Items exempt from execution for debt
Sec. 3. The uniforms, arms, and equipment of a member of the
national guard, together with any military property of any
detachment company, battery, battalion, regiment, division, air
squadron, or group, are exempt from execution for debt.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.
IC 10-16-10-4
Property no longer of value to national guard
Sec. 4. If property owned by the state for the use of the Indiana
national guard is determined by the governor or the adjutant general
to not be of value to the Indiana national guard, the governor or the
adjutant general may enter in the records of the military department
an entry to the effect that the property is not valuable to the Indiana
national guard.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.
IC 10-16-10-5
Sales of property no longer of value to national guard
Sec. 5. (a) If an entry under section 4 of this chapter is made, the
governor or adjutant general may order the property sold at public or
private sale as in their judgment will be for the best interests of the
state.
(b) Payment for a sale of property under subsection (a) shall be
made in cash to the adjutant general who shall:
(1) enter of record the receipt of the money;
(2) turn the property over to the purchaser; and
(3) pay the money to the treasurer of the state.
The money becomes and remains a part of the military fund to be
used for the benefit of the Indiana national guard.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.
IC 10-16-10-6
Loan companies or pawnbrokers; reports
Sec. 6. A loan company or pawnbroker that possesses a license
issued by the state or by a municipal corporation shall make a report,
in writing, to the adjutant general, on a form prescribed and
furnished by the adjutant general, showing, by item and serial
number, all property of the United States government:
(1) received as security for a loan or loans of money; or
(2) purchased or otherwise obtained without the advancement
of a loan;
and which is marked with the words "Property of the United States
Government" or is stamped as to indicate that it is the property of
one (1) of the military branches of the United States government.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.
IC 10-16-10-7
Loan companies or pawnbrokers; permits to sell government
property
Sec. 7. A loan company or pawnbroker may not sell or otherwise
dispose of any property described in section 6 of this chapter, unless
the loan company or pawnbroker has obtained a written permit from
the adjutant general authorizing the sale or disposition of the
property and that states that the property:
(1) cannot be identified as being the property of the United
States government or of any of its military branches; and
(2) may be lawfully sold or otherwise disposed of according to
the laws of Indiana and the United States.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.
IC 10-16-10-8
Seizure of military property
Sec. 8. (a) An officer shall report illegal disposition of property.
(b) All law enforcement officers and all commissioned and
noncommissioned officers of the national guard shall seize
immediately all military property:
(1) found in the possession of any person who is not the legal
custodian or owner of the property; or
(2) from a person who may secrete, sell, dispose of, offer for
sale, purchase, or retain the military property;
after a demand has been made upon the person or the person's legal
representative for the return of the military property.
(c) A law enforcement officer, commissioned officer, or
noncommissioned officer of the national guard shall report the
officer's action to the adjutant general.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.
IC 10-16-10-9
Payment of bills or accounts
Sec. 9. (a) A bill or an account may not be made by an officer or
enlisted person with a view of the bill or account being paid by the
state unless the expenditure is expressly authorized by the laws of
Indiana or the adjutant general.
(b) An account may not be paid unless it is accompanied by
vouchers or receipts showing by whomever paid or are to be paid, to
whom paid, date of service, authority for, and amount of the
expenditure, and for what purpose the expenditure was made.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.
IC 10-16-10-10
Failure to account for money or property
Sec. 10. A personal payment may not be made under this article
to the accountable officer of an organization or unit who does not
fully and satisfactorily account to the adjutant general for all money
paid or property issued to the accountable officer under this article.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.
IC 10-16-10-11
Accounting of state and federal property; use of public property
for personal benefit prohibited
Sec. 11. (a) Federal property loaned to the state for use by the
Indiana national guard or other purposes shall be issued and
accounted for in the manner prescribed by national guard regulations
or other pertinent federal directives.
(b) State property shall be issued and accounted for in the manner
prescribed by the governor or state laws.
(c) All public property:
(1) shall be used in the manner and for the purposes intended in
the public service; and
(2) may not be used by an individual for the individual's
personal benefit, pleasure, or gain.
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.7.