§ 36-7-9-16 — Inspection warrants

Indiana § 36-7-9-16

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Title 36: LOCAL GOVERNMENT
• Art. 7: PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
• Ch. 9: Unsafe Building Law

Text

(a) If the owners or those in possession of a
building refuse inspection, an inspection officer of the enforcement
authority may obtain an inspection warrant from any court of record in
the county in which the building is located in order to determine if the
building is an unsafe building. The court shall issue the warrant subject
to the following conditions:
(1) The person seeking the warrant must establish that the
building to be searched or inspected is to be searched or inspected
as part of a legally authorized program of inspection that naturally
includes the building, or that there is probable cause for believing
that a condition, object, activity, or circumstance legally justifies
a search or inspection of that building.
(2) An affidavit establishing one (1) of the grounds described in
subdivision (1) must be signed under oath or affirmation by the
affiant.
(3) The court must examine the affiant under oath or affirmation
to verify the accuracy of the affidavit.
(b) The warrant is valid only if it:
(1) is signed by the judge of the court and bears the date and hour
of its issuance above that signature, with a notation that the
warrant is valid for only forty-eight (48) hours after its issuance;
(2) describes (either directly or by reference to the affidavit) the
building where the search or inspection is to occur so that the
executor of the warrant and owner or the possessor of the building
can reasonably determine what property the warrant authorizes an
inspection of;
(3) indicates the conditions, objects, activities, or circumstances
that the inspection is intended to check or reveal; and
(4) is attached to the affidavit required to be made in order to
obtain the warrant.
(c) A warrant issued under this section is valid for only forty-eight
(48) hours after its issuance, must be personally served upon the owner
or possessor of the building, and must be returned within seventy-two
(72) hours.
[Pre-Local Government Recodification Citation:
18-5-5.5-17 part.]
As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.28.