CHAPTER 2. MERGER OF ADJOINING MUNICIPALITIES
IC 36-4-2
Chapter 2. Merger of Adjoining Municipalities
IC 36-4-2-1
Application of chapter
Sec. 1. This chapter applies to all municipalities.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3.
IC 36-4-2-2
Resolution; election; notice; ballot; result; certified copies ofagreement and result of election
Sec. 2. (a) If the legislative bodies of two (2) or more adjoiningmunicipalities each agree, by resolution, on:
(1) the date of an election to consider the merger of themunicipalities; and
(2) the name by which the municipality formed by the mergerwould be known;
the municipalities shall certify the question to the county electionboard. The board shall conduct an election to consider the merger.The election shall be held in each of the municipalities.
(b) Notice of an election under this section shall be given in eachmunicipality by publication in the manner prescribed by IC 5-3-1.
(c) An election under this section shall be held in eachmunicipality in the manner prescribed by IC 3-10-8-6. The questionshall be placed on the ballot in the form prescribed by IC 3-10-9-4and must state "Shall ______ and _____ merge and become the (Cityor Town) of _____?".
(d) The election board shall report the results of the election toeach legislative body, and a certified copy of the result of theelection in each municipality shall be filed with the legislative bodyof each of the municipalities involved in the election.
(e) If a majority of the votes cast in each of the municipalities isin favor of the merger, the municipalities are merged under the termsprescribed by this section and sections 9 through 17 of this chapter.A certified copy of the agreement, and of the result of the election,shall be filed in the office of the recorder of the county or countiesin which the new municipality is located. The agreement must be:
(1) signed by the municipal executive;
(2) attested by the clerk; and
(3) sealed with the seal;
of each of the constituent municipalities. Copies of the record shallbe received in all courts and places as conclusive of the merger of themunicipality under the name agreed on.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3. Amended by Acts 1981,P.L.45, SEC.13; P.L.5-1986, SEC.44; P.L.3-1987, SEC.554.
IC 36-4-2-3
Petition; contents; affidavit
Sec. 3. (a) If each of the clerks of two (2) or more adjoiningmunicipalities receives a written petition: (1) signed by at least ten percent (10%) of the qualified votersof the municipality, as determined by the vote cast in themunicipality for secretary of state at the most recent generalelection;
(2) requesting that a special election be held to determinewhether the municipalities should be merged into one (1)municipality; and
(3) stating the name by which the proposed municipality will beknown;
he shall deliver a certified copy of the petition to the clerk of everyother municipality involved in the proposed merger, and therespective legislative bodies of the municipalities shall hold anelection in each municipality.
(b) An affidavit of one (1) or more freeholders of themunicipality, stating that the persons who signed the petition arelegal voters of the municipality, must be attached to each petitionfiled under this section. An affidavit filed under this section isconclusive evidence of the facts stated in the affidavit.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3.
IC 36-4-2-4
Election; date; notice
Sec. 4. (a) If petitions are filed under section 3 of this chapter, thelegislative body of each municipality involved in the proposedmerger shall meet and by resolution fix a date for the election. Thedate must be the same in each of the municipalities, and may not bemore than three (3) months after the date of the filing of the petitions.
(b) Notice of an election under section 3 of this chapter must begiven by publication in each municipality in the manner prescribedby IC 5-3-1.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3. Amended by Acts 1980,P.L.73, SEC.4; Acts 1981, P.L.45, SEC.14.
IC 36-4-2-5
Petition proposing name of municipality; submission to electorate
Sec. 5. (a) If, at least thirty (30) days before an election held undersection 3 of this chapter, voters of each municipality involved in theelection file with each of their municipal clerks a petition signed byat least the number of voters required under IC 3-8-6-3 to place acandidate on the ballot in each of the municipalities and proposinga name for the new municipality, the election board shall place thatname on the ballot for the election. The election board shall listnames added to the ballot under this subsection in the order in whichthe petitions proposing them were received, but shall place them afterthe name included on the ballot under section 2 of this chapter.
(b) The names proposed under this section shall be submitted aspublic questions in the form prescribed by IC 3-10-9-4 and must state"Shall the merged municipality be named _________________?".
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3. Amended by Acts 1980,P.L.73, SEC.5; P.L.3-1987, SEC.555; P.L.12-1995, SEC.128.
IC 36-4-2-6
Place of election; manner; expense; voting
Sec. 6. (a) An election held under section 3 of this chapter shallbe held in each municipality in the manner prescribed byIC 3-10-8-6. Each municipality is responsible for the expense of theelection within its own corporate boundaries.
(b) A voter in an election held under section 3 of this chapter may:
(1) vote "Yes" or "No" on the proposed merger; and
(2) vote in favor of one (1) proposed name listed on the ballotunder section 5 of this chapter.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3. Amended by P.L.5-1986,SEC.45.
IC 36-4-2-7
Filing of returns of election; effect
Sec. 7. (a) After an election held under section 3 of this chapter,the election board shall file with the clerk of each municipality thereturns of the election in each voting precinct in the mannerprescribed by IC 3-12-4.
(b) Within ten (10) days after an election held under section 3 ofthis chapter, the election board shall certify and file with:
(1) the legislative bodies of the municipalities; and
(2) the county auditor;
a copy of the result of the election in each municipality. The countyauditor shall enter the copy he receives in the records of the countyexecutive.
(c) If, in an election held under section 3 of this chapter, amajority of the votes cast in each of the municipalities is in favor ofthe merger, the municipalities are merged under the terms prescribedby sections 9 through 17 of this chapter. After the merger becomeseffective, the name of the new municipality is the name receiving thehighest number of votes at the election.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3. Amended by P.L.5-1986,SEC.46.
IC 36-4-2-8
Election year under this chapter
Sec. 8. An election held under section 2 or 3 of this chapter maynot be held in a calendar year in which a general municipal electionis to be held.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3.
IC 36-4-2-9
Effective date of merger; effect of merger
Sec. 9. (a) Except as provided in subsection (c), a mergerapproved under this chapter takes effect when:
(1) the officers of the new municipality are elected andqualified, as prescribed by section 13 of this chapter; and
(2) a copy of the agreement under section 2 of this chapter orthe certified election results under section 7 of this chapter are
filed with:
(A) the office of the secretary of state; and
(B) the circuit court clerk of each county in which themunicipality is located.
(b) On the effective date of the merger, the merging municipalitiescease to exist and are merged into a single municipality of the classcreated by the combined population of the merging municipalities.The new municipality shall be governed by the laws applicable tothat class.
(c) A merger approved under this chapter may not take effectduring the year preceding a year in which a federal decennial censusis conducted. A merger that would otherwise take effect during theyear preceding a year in which a federal decennial census isconducted takes effect January 1 of the year in which a federaldecennial census is conducted.
(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c) as that subsection existed onDecember 31, 2009, a merger that took effect January 2, 2010,because of the application of subsection (c), as that subsectionexisted on December 31, 2009, is instead considered to take effectJanuary 1, 2010, without any additional action being required.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3. Amended by P.L.5-1989,SEC.90; P.L.3-1997, SEC.454; P.L.123-2000, SEC.4; P.L.113-2010,SEC.115.
IC 36-4-2-10
Election of officers at large and by district
Sec. 10. At the next general municipal election after a vote infavor of a merger at an election held under section 2 or 3 of thischapter, one (1) set of officers for a municipality having thecombined population of the merging municipalities shall be electedby the voters of the merging municipalities as prescribed by statute,except that:
(1) one (1) member of the municipal legislative body shall beelected from each district established under section 12 of thischapter; and
(2) the total number of at large members prescribed by statutefor the municipal legislative body shall be elected.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3.
IC 36-4-2-11
Joint election board; members; powers and duties
Sec. 11. (a) The election prescribed by section 10 of this chaptershall be conducted in the manner prescribed by the applicableelection statutes, except that there must be a joint election board forthe new municipality in place of separate boards for each of themerging municipalities. The joint election board consists of:
(1) the clerks of each of the merging municipalities; and
(2) three (3) persons appointed by the executive of the countyin which the merging municipalities are located, not more thantwo (2) of whom are resident voters of one (1) of the merging
municipalities.
(b) In order to conduct the election prescribed by section 10 ofthis chapter, the joint election board shall meet and organize in themanner prescribed by IC 3-6 for election boards and has the samepowers and duties as those boards. All subsequent primary andgeneral elections in the new municipality shall be held in the mannerprescribed by statute.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3. Amended by P.L.7-1983,SEC.36; P.L.5-1986, SEC.47.
IC 36-4-2-12
Joint session of legislative bodies of merging municipalities;resolution to fix boundaries of districts; exclusion of territory inany territory or inclusion of territory in more than one district;certification, attestation, and filing of resolution
Sec. 12. (a) The legislative bodies of municipalities that vote tomerge under this chapter shall meet in joint session at the hall of themunicipality having the largest population at 8 p.m. on the secondMonday of January of the next year in which a general municipalelection is to be held. At the joint meeting, the legislative bodiesshall:
(1) elect a presiding officer and clerk; and
(2) fix, by joint resolution, the boundaries of the districts fromwhich members will be elected to the legislative body of thenew municipality.
The legislative bodies shall fix the district boundaries so that, asnearly as is possible, all parts of the merging municipalities haveequal representation in the legislative body of the new municipality.The district boundaries fixed under this subsection constitute thedistrict boundaries for the new municipality until they are altered bythe legislative body of the new municipality.
(b) If any territory in the municipality is not included in one (1)of the districts established under subsection (a), the territory isincluded in the district that:
(1) is contiguous to that territory; and
(2) contains the least population of all districts contiguous tothat territory.
(c) If any territory in the municipality is included in more than one(1) of the districts established under subsection (a), the territory isincluded in the district that:
(1) is one (1) of the districts in which the territory is describedin the joint resolution adopted under subsection (a);
(2) is contiguous to that territory; and
(3) contains the least population of all districts contiguous tothat territory.
(d) A copy of the joint resolution passed under subsection (a)shall be:
(1) certified by the presiding officer;
(2) attested by the clerk; and
(3) filed with the legislative body of each of the merging
municipalities and the circuit court clerk of each county inwhich the municipalities are located.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3. Amended by P.L.3-1993,SEC.261.
IC 36-4-2-13
Elected officers; date of taking office
Sec. 13. Officers elected under section 10 of this chapter shallqualify and take office at noon on the first Monday of January aftertheir election.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3.
IC 36-4-2-14
Elected officers; delivery of money, property, and records byofficers of merging municipalities to successors
Sec. 14. Officers elected under section 10 of this chapter are thesuccessors in office of the officers of municipalities merging underthis chapter. When the officers elected under section 10 take office,each officer of the merging municipalities shall deliver to hissuccessor in office all money, property, and records pertaining to hisoffice.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3.
IC 36-4-2-15
Terms of office of elective and appointed officers of mergingmunicipalities
Sec. 15. The terms of office of elective and appointive officers ofmunicipalities merging under this chapter are not shortened by themerger. The officers shall serve out the respective terms of office towhich they have been elected or appointed at the time of the electionon the proposed merger.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3.
IC 36-4-2-16
Effect of merger; rights, powers, and liabilities; pending actions
Sec. 16. (a) After a merger under this chapter takes effect, the newmunicipality:
(1) has all the rights, powers, privileges, immunities, andobligations of the merging municipalities;
(2) is liable for all the debts, contracts, and liabilities of themerging municipalities;
(3) is entitled to all the rights, credits, monies, and properties ofthe merging municipalities; and
(4) may, in the name adopted in the merger, sue and be sued inrelation to the debts, contracts, liabilities, rights, credits,monies, and properties of the merging municipality.
(b) After a merger under this chapter takes effect, pending actionsthat involve municipalities taking part in the merger shall beprosecuted to final judgment and execution, and judgments renderedin those actions may be executed and enforced against the new
municipality without any change of the name of the plaintiff ordefendant.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3.
IC 36-4-2-17
Effect of merger; ordinances, rules, and resolutions; continuation
Sec. 17. After a merger under this chapter takes effect, theordinances, rules, resolutions, bylaws, and regulations of each of themerging municipalities remain in force within the territory to whichthey applied before the merger, and continue in force until amendedor repealed by the legislative body or an administrative body of thenew municipality.
As added by Acts 1980, P.L.212, SEC.3.