PUBLIC LAW MONITOR BY JOSHUA CLAYBOURN

Justices Told Mayor Lacked Authority To Fire Utilities Superintendent

A divided Indiana Supreme Court held that the mayor of Lawrence, Indiana, did not have statutory authority to terminate his city’s utilities superintendent, writing that such authority rests with the utility board. Justice Mark Massa, writing for four of the five justices, first noted that although Lawrence Utilities is municipally owned, it is overseen by a utilities board and operated by a board-appointed superintendent. The board was created under Indiana Code to control the city’s municipal utilities, so a “department of utilities” does not exist in Lawrence, Massa wrote. The lack of such a department removes the mayor’s statutory power to appoint or remove the superintendent. Further, Indiana Code holds that “the superintendent may be removed by the board for cause at any time after notice and hearing.” Such clear and unambiguous statutory language means that only the board could have removed the superintendent from his position, and its members could only do so after notice and hearing. Click here for a copy of the opinion.

Posting Of Roll Call Votes

House Bill 1622 would require clerk-treasurers to post all council roll call votes to the city or town’s website within 24 hours after the vote is taken. The information must then be maintained on the website for four years. This requirement would only apply to municipalities with websites; there is not a mandate for municipalities to create websites if they do not already have one. Twenty-four hours is an unworkable deadline for many municipalities because, in many cases, clerk-treasurers contract their website work out and therefore would have to pay an outside company for this increased work. Accelerate Indiana Municipalities (AIM) have shared these concerns with the bill’s author and is working to narrow the legislation in a way that will not negatively impact municipalities who are not prepared to take on this requirement.

Indy Tax Hike Approved As Indy Revs Up For Transit Boost

More than three months after Marion County voters approved it, the Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday night gave the green light for an income tax hike to fund game-changing improvements to the city’s bus service. Now comes the hard part. IBJ’s Susan Orr has info on the next few stops on mass transit’s journey, including when the tax increase will kick in, how much it will run, what it will cover and what it won’t.

Judge Affirms Dead Candidate Winner In Allen County Election

An Allen Superior judge decided Wednesday that the Republican candidate for an at-large seat on the Allen County Council who died four days before the General Election was properly left on the ballot and certified as a winner. The judge noted that Indiana Code doesn’t specifically address this unique situation. Click here for more from Indiana Lawyer.

FOOTNOTE:  This article was submitted by 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.