2023 Indiana Code › Title 25. Professions and Occupations › Article 36.5. Timber Buyers › Chapter 1. Regulation of Timber Buyers by Department of Natural Resources › 25-36.5-1-3.2. Adjudicative Proceeding Against Timber Buyer or Cutter

Sec. 3.2. (a) This section refers to an adjudicative proceeding against:
(1) a timber buyer; or
(2) a person who cuts timber but is not a timber buyer (referred to as a "timber cutter" in this section).
(b) The department may under IC 4-21.5-3-8 commence a proceeding against a timber buyer or a timber cutter if there is reason to believe that:
(1) the timber buyer or timber cutter has acquired timber from a timber grower under a written contract for the sale of the timber without payment having been made to the timber grower as specified in the contract; or
(2) if:
(A) there is no written contract for the sale of the timber; or
(B) there is a written contract for the sale of the timber but the contract does not set forth the purchase price for the timber;
the timber buyer or timber cutter has cut timber or acquired timber from the timber grower without payment having been made to the timber grower equal to the value of the timber as determined under IC 26-1-2.
(c) A proceeding may be commenced under this section at the request of a timber grower.
(d) The necessary parties to a proceeding initiated under this section are:
(1) the timber grower; and
(2) the timber buyer or timber cutter.
(e) After the commencement of a proceeding under this section through the service of a complaint under IC 4-21.5-3-8, a party to the proceeding may move for the joinder of any of the following persons having a relationship to the site or subject of the complaint:
(1) The surety of the timber buyer.
(2) A timber buyer.
(3) A timber cutter.
(4) A landowner.
(5) An owner of land adjacent to the land from which the timber was cut.
(6) A consultant receiving a fee for services related to the timber.
(7) A professional surveyor performing an American Land Title Association and American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ALTA/ACSM) land title survey.
(8) The department of natural resources, if the department has a relationship to the site or subject of the complaint as a landowner or owner of adjacent land.
(f) The complaint served under IC 4-21.5-3-8 to commence a proceeding under this section may seek the following:
(1) Damages in compensation for damage actually resulting from the wrongful activities of a timber buyer or timber cutter.
(2) Damages equal to three (3) times the stumpage value of any timber that is wrongfully cut or appropriated without payment.
(3) Damages for costs associated with a claim or action, including attorney's fees.
(4) Damages specified by a contract between a timber grower and a timber buyer.
(g) Notwithstanding subsection (f), the liability on the surety bond of a timber cutter is limited to the value of any timber wrongfully cut or appropriated.
(h) A proceeding under this section is governed by IC 4-21.5. Before a hearing is convened in the proceeding, a prehearing conference shall be conducted to provide the parties with an opportunity for settlement, including an opportunity for mediation.
(i) In determining the site for a hearing in a proceeding under this section, the administrative law judge shall consider the convenience of the parties.
(j) A final agency action in a proceeding under this section must address all issues of damage and responsibility and, after the completion of the opportunity for judicial review, may be enforced in a civil proceeding as a judgment.
As added by P.L.220-1993, SEC.3. Amended by P.L.57-2013, SEC.86; P.L.141-2022, SEC.50.