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Saturday, October 16, 2004

Indiana Law - There are four public questions or referendums on Indiana's election ballot this year

"There are four public questions or referendums on Indiana's election ballot this year." is how this editorial today in the Elkhart Truth begins. It covers both the three amendments to the state Constitution posed to the voters (also covered in this entry last week, quoting a Gary Post-Tribune editorial), and the question of whether Judge John T. Sharpnack shall be retained in office. Some quotes from the Truth:

They aren't the most talked about issues, but at least one could have a profound impact on your property taxes. * * *

Public Question 1 is the most far-reaching of the referendums. It asks whether the state Constitution should be amended "to allow the General Assembly to make certain property exempt from property taxes, including (1) a homeowner's primary residence; (2) personal property used to produce income; and (3) inventory?"

Apparently members of the Legislature were told by attorneys that the exemptions they currently allow for property taxes, including the homestead credit and some business personal property exemptions, as well as the elimination of the inventory tax, could be constitutionally challenged.

So what does that mean? If someone is angry they didn't get a property tax exemption, they could go to court and eventually have all of the exemptions overturned.

The exemptions are designed to ease the property tax burden. Without them, your property taxes would skyrocket and there would be no relief.

Answering "yes," or voting in favor of Public Question 1, will give the Legislature the constitutional authority to give exemptions. That's a good thing and we urge voters to approve the question.

The two other questions have no significant impact on the average person: one establishes a uniform date for the beginning of terms of office of the county clerk, auditor, recorder, treasurer, sheriff, coroner and surveyor. The second sets up the line of succession if the governor and lieutenant governor cannot fulfill their terms and sets a deadline for the General Assembly to meet in such cases. The line of succession would be the speaker of the House, the president pro tem of the Senate, the state treasurer, state auditor, secretary of state and the state school superintendent.

Finally, there is one question about retention of judges: "Shall Judge John T. Sharpnack be retained in office?" Sharpnack represents the Fifth District on the Indiana Court of Appeals. The district includes Elkhart, LaGrange and St. Joseph counties.

It's difficult to make a recommendation on judicial retention questions because judges can't campaign for the seat. All we can tell you his Sharpnack's background.

He is from Columbus and has been a member of the court since 1991. He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the law review. Sharpnack was in the U.S. Army, Order of the Coif., from 1955 to 1957. He worked in the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1960-1963. He was in private practice in Columbus from 1963-1990. He served as chief judge from 1992-2001.

One way to look at some of the opinions Judge Sharpnack has written in 2004 would be to put the following, in quotes, in the search box in the right-hand column: "Sharpnack, Judge". For statistics, see this "Annual Report of the Indiana Court of Appeals, 2003."

[Update 10/17/04] An alert reader has pointed out the following:

[I]t seems to me odd to say, although technically true, that Sharpnack's district, the fifth, "includes Elkhart, LaGrange and St. Joseph counties." (Emphasis added.) I understand that's where most of the paper's readership is, but the Fifth District "includes" the entire state.
The reader cites to IC 33-25-1-2(5), which indeed reads:
Sec. 2. Indiana is divided into five (5) geographic districts, which shall be designated as the "court of appeals - First District; Second District; Third District; Fourth District; and Fifth District" as follows:
(1) First District: Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Decatur, Dubois, Fayette, Floyd, Fountain, Franklin, Gibson, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Hendricks, Henry, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Ohio, Orange, Owen, Parke, Perry, Pike, Posey, Putnam, Randolph, Ripley, Rush, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Sullivan, Switzerland, Union, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, Vigo, Warrick, Washington, and Wayne.
(2) Second District: Adams, Blackford, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Delaware, Grant, Hamilton, Howard, Huntington, Jay, Madison, Marion, Miami, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Wabash, Wells, and White.
(3) Third District: Allen, Benton, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fulton, Jasper, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, LaPorte, Marshall, Newton, Noble, Porter, Pulaski, St. Joseph, Starke, Steuben, Warren, and Whitley.
(4) The entire state constitutes the Fourth District.
(5) The entire state constitutes the Fifth District.
As added by P.L.98-2004, SEC.4.
Thanks to reader Michael K. Ausbrook.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 16, 2004 04:35 PM
Posted to Indiana Law