Case Title: In Re: The Carroll County 2012 Tax Sale:  Twin Lakes Regional Sewer District v. Steven E. Hruska, Virginia Hanna, et. al.

Citation: 

Docket Number: 08S02-1402-MI-78

State: indiana

Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Date: 2014-12-04T00:00:00Z

Document:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES 
ATTORNEYS FOR AMICUS CURIAE 
Donald J. Tribbett 
 
Dale W. Arnett 
 
 
Indiana Regional Sewer District Association 
Tribbett Law Office 
 
Winchester, Indiana 
 
Anne H. Poindexter 
 
 
Logansport, Indiana 
 
 
 
 
 
Stephenie K. Gookins 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Campbell Kyle Proffitt LLP 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Carmel, Indiana 
____________________________________________________________________________ 
 
In the 
Indiana Supreme Court  
_________________________________ 
 
No. 08S02-1402-MI-78   
 
IN RE: THE CARROLL COUNTY 2012 TAX SALE 
_________________________________ 
 
 
TWIN LAKES REGIONAL SEWER DISTRICT, 
 
Appellant (Intervenor Below), 
 
v. 
 
 
STEVEN E. HRUSKA,  
 
VIRGINIA HANNA,  
 
 
 
 
Appellees (Petitioners below) 
 
EQUITY TRUST COMPANY FBO #80677,1  
 
(Petitioner below),  
AND 
 
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA, BY AND THROUGH 
 
THE CARROLL COUNTY AUDITOR 
  
Appellee (Respondent below). 
_________________________________ 
 
Appeal from the Carroll Circuit Court, No. 08C01-1208-MI-15 
The Honorable Benjamin A. Diener, Judge  
_________________________________ 
 
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 08A02-1303-MI-220 
_________________________________ 
 
December 4, 2014 
 
Dickson, Justice. 
                                                 
1 Equity Trust Company FBO #80677, was listed as a party by the Appellant District, but has not 
participated in this appeal.  As noted by the Court of Appeals, these proceedings as to Equity Trust Com-
pany were procedurally different from those involving landowners Hruska and Hanna, and did not result 
in final action.  Twin Lakes Regional Sewer District v. Hruska, 993 N.E.2d 635, 637–38 (Ind. Ct. App. 
2013).  The last trial court entry with respect to Equity Trust ordered its hearing "continued indefinitely."  
Appellant's App'x at 3.      
Dec 4 2014, 9:44 am
2 
 
 
 
The facts in this case parallel those of Twin Lakes v. Ray, 08S04-1402-MI-97, __ N.E.3d 
__ (Ind. 2014), which we contemporaneously issue today.  In both cases, the same trial court 
granted landowners' requests to remove their properties from the list of properties subject to tax 
sale, and Twin Lakes Regional Sewer District appealed, challenging the trial court's interpreta-
tion of Indiana Code section 13-26-14-4.  For the same reasons expressed today in Ray, we also 
reverse the judgment of the trial court in the present case.     
 
As we hold today in Ray, the lien foreclosure prohibition of Indiana Code section 
13-26-14-4, governing the collection of regional sewer district sewer liens, does not apply to col-
lection by tax sale.  Here, because the District employed the tax sale method rather than seeking 
collection of the landowners' unpaid sewer bills and penalties through foreclosure, the lien fore-
closure prohibition clause does not apply.  The judgment of the trial court removing the land-
owners' properties from the tax sale list is reversed, and this cause is remanded for further pro-
ceedings consistent with this opinion.    
 
 
Rush, C.J., Rucker, David, and Massa, JJ., concur.