Opinion ID: 852959
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Limitations on the City's Authority to Obtain Injunctive Relief

Text: The trial court also found Indiana Code section 36-1-6-4 to bar the City's claim. That section authorizes a municipal corporation to enjoin persons from violating an ordinance regulating the use of property or engaging in conduct without a required license. The trial court accepted the defendant's contention that this section contained an exhaustive list of the circumstances under which the City may seek injunctive relief. We do not agree. First, this section is a part of the chapter entitled enforcement of ordinances. Here, the City does not seek to enforce an ordinance. Rather the City seeks relief from alleged harm under tort theories. Second, the language of the statute grants a municipal corporation the power to seek injunctive relief when either of these two events occurs but does not purport to limit a city's injunctive power under other circumstances. Third, if there were any doubt, the public nuisance statute expressly authorizes the City to bring such a claim. I.C. § 32-30-6-7. A statute specifically addressing a subject controls over a generally worded one. Ross v. State, 729 N.E.2d 113, 116 (Ind.2000).