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Man Ordered To Stop Harassing Lawmaker Fort Wayne Rep. Christopher Judy won a protective order against a constituent who contacted him more than 50 times in one day, asked for his home address, and sent a letter to his wife. An Allen County judge held a hearing last week and determined that stalking had occurred and that Erick Mackey posed a credible threat to state Rep. Judy and his family. He barred Mackey from harassing, annoying, telephoning, contacting, or directly or indirectly communicating with Judy or his family. Mackey was also ordered to stay away from Judy’s home, school, or work. The move for a public official to get a protective order appears rare. In 2014, a Democratic state representative alleged that her campaign opponent was stalking her, but he was found not guilty during a bench trial last year. |
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Municipal Securities At Stake In infrastructure Debate Municipal bonds—the debt issued by states, cities, and nonfederal public authorities—provide a critical source of cheap funds to help spur infrastructure projects. Because municipal bonds are tax-exempt at the federal, state, and local level, cities and towns and generally borrow at lower-than-market rates. Municipal bonds are the fourth-biggest class of debt behind federal debt, mortgages, and corporate debt. Last year, some $445 billion in municipal bonds were issued, and there were some $3.8 trillion in municipal bonds outstanding. President Trump’s push to slash corporate and individual income-tax rates would appear to pose risks to the municipal bond market, but the brief outline released by administration officials had little impact on the price of state and local government securities — and could even lead some segments of the market to outperform, considering that Trump’s proposal to phase out deductions could boost demand in high-tax states. |
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AIM Releases Budget Bulletin Accelerate Indiana Municipalities (AIM) released its 2018 City and Town Budget Bulletin, designed to assist city and town officials with developing and adopting a budget. |
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Evansville’s Gun-In-Park Appeal Rejected Again A man who sued the City of Evansville after he was forced to leave a zoo for carrying a firearm may proceed with a lawsuit seeking damages and treble attorney fees under a statute that bars municipalities from regulating firearms. The most recent decision in Evansville v. Magenheimer largely concerned whether Magenheimer had a tort claim, but it serves as a broader reminder that Indiana’s Firearms Preemption Act passed in 2011 denies local governments the power to regulate firearms and grants individuals a private right of action to enforce that provision. Magenheimer was openly carrying a firearm at the Mesker Park Zoo in 2011 not long after the legislature passed the Firearms Preemption Act. He was licensed to carry this firearm and had a copy of the license in his possession. At the time, the Evansville municipal code contained a provision prohibiting firearms in city parks. The police arrived and ordered Magenheimer to leave the park, prompting the litigation. |
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