CHAPTER 1. DIVISION OF STATE INTO COUNTIES
IC 36-2
ARTICLE 2. GOVERNMENT OF COUNTIES
GENERALLY
IC 36-2-1
Chapter 1. Division of State Into Counties
IC 36-2-1-1
Names of counties
Sec. 1. Indiana is divided into the ninety-two (92) counties named
in this section. The boundaries of these counties existing on August
31, 1981, remain in effect until changed in the manner prescribed by
section 2 of this chapter. The counties are:
(1) Adams County.
(2) Allen County.
(3) Bartholomew County.
(4) Benton County.
(5) Blackford County.
(6) Boone County.
(7) Brown County.
(8) Carroll County.
(9) Cass County.
(10) Clark County.
(11) Clay County.
(12) Clinton County.
(13) Crawford County.
(14) Daviess County.
(15) Dearborn County.
(16) Decatur County.
(17) Dekalb County.
(18) Delaware County.
(19) Dubois County.
(20) Elkhart County.
(21) Fayette County.
(22) Floyd County.
(23) Fountain County.
(24) Franklin County.
(25) Fulton County.
(26) Gibson County.
(27) Grant County.
(28) Greene County.
(29) Hamilton County.
(30) Hancock County.
(31) Harrison County.
(32) Hendricks County.
(33) Henry County.
(34) Howard County.
(35) Huntington County.
(36) Jackson County.
(37) Jasper County.
(38) Jay County.
(39) Jefferson County.
(40) Jennings County.
(41) Johnson County.
(42) Knox County.
(43) Kosciusko County.
(44) LaGrange County.
(45) Lake County.
(46) LaPorte County.
(47) Lawrence County.
(48) Madison County.
(49) Marion County.
(50) Marshall County.
(51) Martin County.
(52) Miami County.
(53) Monroe County.
(54) Montgomery County.
(55) Morgan County.
(56) Newton County.
(57) Noble County.
(58) Ohio County.
(59) Orange County.
(60) Owen County.
(61) Parke County.
(62) Perry County.
(63) Pike County.
(64) Porter County.
(65) Posey County.
(66) Pulaski County.
(67) Putnam County.
(68) Randolph County.
(69) Ripley County.
(70) Rush County.
(71) St. Joseph County.
(72) Scott County.
(73) Shelby County.
(74) Spencer County.
(75) Starke County.
(76) Steuben County.
(77) Sullivan County.
(78) Switzerland County.
(79) Tippecanoe County.
(80) Tipton County.
(81) Union County.
(82) Vanderburgh County.
(83) Vermillion County.
(84) Vigo County.
(85) Wabash County.
(86) Warren County.
(87) Warrick County.
(88) Washington County.
(89) Wayne County.
(90) Wells County.
(91) White County.
(92) Whitley County.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.1.
IC 36-2-1-2
Changing boundaries; transfer of territory; petition; signatures;
election; order
Sec. 2. (a) If the resident voters in a specified territory in two (2)
or more contiguous counties desire to change the boundaries of their
respective counties, they may file a petition with the executives of
their respective counties requesting that the territory be transferred.
The petition must:
(1) be signed by at least the number of voters resident in the
territory requested to be transferred required to place a
candidate on the ballot under IC 3-8-6-3;
(2) contain a clear, distinct description of the requested
boundary change; and
(3) not propose to decrease the area of any county below four
hundred (400) square miles in compliance with Article 15,
Section 7 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana.
(b) Whenever a petition under subsection (a) is filed with a county
executive, the executive shall determine, at its first meeting after the
petition is filed:
(1) whether the signatures on the petition are genuine; and
(2) whether the petition complies with subsection (a).
(c) If the determinations under subsection (b) are affirmative, the
executive shall certify the question to the county election board of
each affected county. The county election boards shall jointly order
a special election to be held, scheduling the election so that the
election is held on the same date in each county interested in the
change, but not later than thirty (30) days and not on the same date
as a general election. The election shall be conducted under
IC 3-10-8-6. All voters of each interested county are entitled to vote
on the question. The question shall be placed on the ballot in the
form prescribed by IC 3-10-9-4 and must state "Shall the boundaries
of __________ County and ____________ County change?".
(d) After an election under subsection (c), the clerk of each county
shall make a certified copy of the election returns and not later than
five (5) days after the election file the copy with the auditor of the
county. The auditor shall, not later than five (5) days after the filing
of the returns in the auditor's office, make a true and complete copy
of the returns, certified under the auditor's hand and seal, and deposit
the copy with the auditor of every other county interested in the
change.
(e) After copies have been filed under subsection (d), the auditor
of each county shall call a meeting of the executive of the county,
which shall examine the returns. If a majority of the voters of each
interested county voted in favor of change, the executive shall:
(1) enter an order declaring their boundaries to be changed as
described in the petition; and
(2) if the county has received territory from the transfer, adopt
revised descriptions of:
(A) county commissioner districts under IC 36-2-2-4; and
(B) county council districts under IC 36-2-3-4;
so that the transferred territory is assigned to at least one (1) county
commissioner district and at least one (1) county council district.
(f) The executive of each county shall file a copy of the order
described in subsection (e)(1) with:
(1) the office of the secretary of state; and
(2) the circuit court clerk of the county.
Except as provided in subsection (g), the transfer of territory
becomes effective when the last county order is filed under this
subsection.
(g) An order declaring county boundaries to be changed may not
take effect during the year preceding a year in which a federal
decennial census is conducted. An order that would otherwise take
effect during the year preceding a year in which a federal decennial
census is conducted takes effect January 1 of the year in which a
federal decennial census is conducted.
(h) An election under this section may be held only once every
three (3) years.
(i) Notwithstanding subsection (g) as that subsection existed on
December 31, 2009, a boundary change that took effect January 2,
2010, because of the application of subsection (g), as that subsection
existed on December 31, 2009, is instead considered to take effect
January 1, 2010, without an amended order or any other additional
action being required.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.5-1986,
SEC.32; P.L.3-1987, SEC.541; P.L.5-1989, SEC.85; P.L.12-1995,
SEC.126; P.L.3-1997, SEC.450; P.L.2-1998, SEC.82; P.L.123-2000,
SEC.1; P.L.113-2010, SEC.113.
IC 36-2-1-3
Order declaring boundaries to be changed; effect
Sec. 3. An order made under section 2(e) of this chapter operates
to transfer the detached territory, and all persons and property in that
territory, to the jurisdiction of the county to which it is attached for
all judicial purposes, either civil or criminal.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.1.
IC 36-2-1-4
Taxation; indebtedness existing in interested counties
Sec. 4. If any indebtedness exists in either, both, or all of the
interested counties, the fiscal body of the county shall levy, from
year to year, a tax upon the detached territory, by such a rate on all
the taxable property in the detached district as is necessary to
liquidate and pay the indebtedness of the county from which the
territory was detached until the indebtedness is fully paid. The rate
may not exceed that levied on the county so indebted. The auditor of
each of the affected counties shall certify the rate so levied to the
auditor of the county to which the territory was attached, which
auditor shall place that rate on the tax duplicate of his county, and
the treasurer of that county shall collect the tax, and, on demand of
the treasurer of the proper county, shall pay over the revenue as other
monies are paid out.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.1.
IC 36-2-1-5
Tax list; detached territory
Sec. 5. The executives of the affected counties shall order the
auditors of their respective counties to make out a true and complete
copy of all the property listed for taxation, either real, personal, or
mixed, and all the names that appear upon the tax duplicates of their
respective counties embraced within the detached territory, and to
transmit the copy to the auditor of the county to which the territory
is attached, for the purpose of taxation.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.1.
IC 36-2-1-6
Deeds and mortgages of real property in detached territory;
copies; filing; evidence
Sec. 6. (a) The executive of a county from which territory is
detached shall procure a suitable book and order the recorder of the
county to copy in it, from the records in his office, all deeds and
mortgages of real property in the detached territory that have been
recorded.
(b) The copies made under subsection (a) shall be filed with the
recorder of the county to which the territory is attached. If a copy
made under subsection (a) is certified by the recorder who copied it
as a true and complete copy of the instrument recorded in his office,
it shall be admitted as evidence with the same force as the original
record.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.1.
IC 36-2-1-7
Effect of change in boundaries; officers in office; pending actions
in court; taxes due; court orders
Sec. 7. (a) All officers within the detached territory continue in
office until replaced by qualified successors.
(b) A change in county boundaries does not affect any action
pending in any court. All taxes due the state or county at the time of
a boundary change shall be collected in the same manner as if the
affected territory had not been detached.
(c) All court orders and judgments entered before a change in
county boundaries remain in force until finally satisfied or settled.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.1.
IC 36-2-1-8
Revised descriptions of changed boundaries; filing
Sec. 8. (a) Whenever the boundaries of a county are changed, the
surveyor shall file a revised description of the boundaries of the
county with the office of the secretary of state not later than thirty
(30) days after the change takes effect.
(b) The office of the secretary of state shall maintain an accurate
file of the boundary descriptions filed under this section.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.125, SEC.12. Amended by P.L.5-1989,
SEC.86; P.L.3-1997, SEC.451; P.L.123-2000, SEC.2.
IC 36-2-1-9
Territory not included in any county
Sec. 9. If any territory in Indiana is not included in one (1) of the
counties established under this chapter, the territory is included in
the county that:
(1) is contiguous to that territory; and
(2) contains the least population of all counties contiguous to
that territory.
As added by P.L.3-1993, SEC.254.
IC 36-2-1-10
Territory included in more than one county
Sec. 10. If any territory in Indiana is included in more than one (1)
of the counties established under this chapter, the territory is
included in the county that:
(1) is one (1) of the counties in which the territory is described
under section 1 of this chapter;
(2) is contiguous to that territory; and
(3) contains the least population of all counties contiguous to
that territory.
As added by P.L.3-1993, SEC.255.