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Coal mining regulations spark disputePlans for a new coal mine to serve Alcoa near Boonville, Indiana, prompted that city to pass an ordinance that bans mining for coal, gas, oil, or other minerals within the city or areas within 3 miles of the city. The Evansville Courier & Pressoffers a story here. The Indiana Supreme Court decision in City of Carmel v. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., as well as other case law, supports a municipality’s ability to ban mining within municipal limits, and Indiana’s zoning and planning laws also allow a city to regulate some contiguous unincorporated areas. However, the extent of those regulatory powers outside municipal limits remains uncertain and untested in some respects. Moreover, Indiana’s “home rule” approach generally forbids localities from regulations granted to another state entity, and numerous state agencies are already empowered regulate mining. Three shuttered smelter lines at Alcoa Warrick Operations planning to use the new coal are expected to return online in the second quarter of 2018. |
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| How much autonomy does a clerk-treasurer have?
The Sellersburg clerk-treasurer who sought to make the town board give her funds for a second deputy clerk lost her appeal after the Indiana Court of Appeals determined state statute gives the legislative body oversight over the number of deputy clerks. The court found state law clearly provides that the clerk-treasurer’s appointment of deputies and employees requires approval of the town legislative body. Click here for the court’s decision in Michelle Miller, Town of Sellersburg Clerk-Treasurer v. Town Board of Sellersburg, Indiana. |
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| Gov. Holcomb files appeal in Bloomington annexation dispute
Gov. Eric Holcomb appealed to the Indiana Court of Appeals after the Monroe Circuit Court denied the governor’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the city of Bloomington over an annexation dispute. Bloomington filed a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief against Holcomb in May, claiming a provision inserted into the state budget specifically targeting the city’s attempts to annex nearly 10,000 acres (including portions of the Cook Medical campus) is unconstitutional. The city pointed out Section 161, which was introduced less than 24 hours before the Legislature approved it, terminates the planned expansion of the municipality’s boundaries and prohibits any future annexation of that area until July 1, 2022. In October, the governor’s motion to dismiss was denied. |
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| Can the Indiana legislature bind future legislatures?
In 1938 the United States Supreme Court ruled in Indiana ex rel. Anderson v. Brand that a state can enter into contracts that must be honored under the U.S. constitution, even if that means restricting future legislative options of the state. The issue arose again this month in Elliott v. Board of School Trustees, wherein the 7th Circuit concluded that Indiana could not amend its law that affected tenured teachers because the new law violates the Contract Clause rights of a teacher who had tenure before the law took effect. The holding remains a controversial one because of its practical effect that a legislative body can bind future legislative bodies for close to 100 years and legislation creates a contract that cannot be impaired under the Constitution. |
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Joshua Claybourn
Joshua is Counsel in Jackson Kelly’s Evansville office. He advises clients in matters of business and corporate law, governmental services, and public finance. Learn more here. |
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