Opinion ID: 2218768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evolution of Indiana Annexation Law

Text: The framework of Indiana's annexation law has long featured three basic stages: (1) legislative adoption of an ordinance annexing of certain territory and pledging to deliver certain services within a fixed period, (2) an opportunity for remonstrance by affected landowners, and (3) judicial review. Earlier versions of the statute did not require the city to set out in writing its plan for providing services; it was sufficient that the city present evidence at the trial court's hearing on remonstrance to show that the statutory preconditions to annexation (sometimes called the primary determinants) had been met. See, e.g., Burns' Ind. Stat. Ann. § 48-702 (1963) [2] ; Burns' Ind. Stat. Ann. § 48-722 (Supp. 1974), Ind. Code § 18-5-10-25. [3] The courts which were hearing annexation remonstrances, however, began to feel the need for a more tangible description showing what measures the annexing city intended to initiate to provide the required services. In Harris v. City of Muncie (1975), 163 Ind. App. 522, 325 N.E.2d 208, the Court of Appeals considered whether a city must adopt a written plan. Not quite willing to say that the statute so required, the Court held that the city should have some observable and reviewable program for providing the required services. Id. 325 N.E.2d at 213. To satisfy this requirement, evidence showing the adequacy of the city's fiscal plan (of factor (c), the predecessor of present (d)(4) and (5)), must be sufficiently specific to enable court to determine whether the proposed schedule is reasonable and whether it would enable the city to provide services as required. Id. at 214. In 1979, the General Assembly amended the statute by adding a requirement that the city develop a written fiscal plan showing that the primary determinants were met. Ind. Code Ann. § 18-5-10-25 (Burns Supp. 1980). That same year the Court of Appeals finally held that the former statute required city to offer into evidence at the remonstrance hearing written records reflecting its fiscal plan. Stallard v. Town of St. John (1979), Ind. App., 397 N.E.2d 648. Although the annexation statutes have gone through many changes over the years, certain general propositions of law continue to apply. The statutes invest exclusive authority to annex territory in the governing body of a municipality. City of Aurora v. Bryant (1960), 240 Ind. 492, 165 N.E.2d 141. Annexation is a legislative function and becomes a question subject to judicial cognizance only upon review as provided by statute. City of Indianapolis v. Wynn (1959) 239 Ind. 567, 157 N.E.2d 828. Indeed, to the extent annexation statutes have seemed to require courts to make determinations of a non-judicial nature, courts have refused, finding themselves to be without the power to do so under the separation of powers clause of the Indiana Constitution, Art. 3, § 1. See, e.g., In re City of Mishawaka (1972), 259 Ind. 530, 289 N.E.2d 510. The court is not authorized to act unless a remonstrance is filed; if a remonstrance is not filed, the annexation becomes effective. Wynn, 239 Ind. 567, 157 N.E.2d 828. The effect of filing a remonstrance is to abate the culmination of the annexation pending review in the courts, where the burden is on the municipality to sustain the annexation by showing that it has complied with the requirements of the statute. Id. Because the city's authority to annex territory is limited by statute, the court's duty is to determine whether the city has exceeded its authority and met the conditions imposed by the statute. King v. City of Bloomington (1959), 239 Ind. 548, 159 N.E.2d 563; Bryant, 165 N.E.2d at 147.