Indiana HB 1265: Condemnation of Hoosier homestead property.

Bill Text

Introduced Version
HOUSE BILL No. 1265
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DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
Citations Affected: IC 6-1.1-5.5; IC 15-11-16; IC 32-24.
Synopsis: Condemnation of Hoosier homestead property. Establishes
the Hoosier homestead program administered by the Indiana state
department of agriculture to commemorate and maintain a registry of
farms owned by the same family for at least 100 years. Provides that if
a condemnation action involves the taking of a fee simple interest in a
Hoosier homestead: (1) the property owner is entitled to testify at a
hearing conducted by the appropriate municipal or county legislative
body; and (2) the legislative body must approve the condemnation for
the condemnation to proceed.
Effective: July 1, 2025.
Greene, Culp
January 9, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Agriculture and Rural
Development.
2025 IN 1265—LS 7157/DI 87

Introduced
First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
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Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
HOUSE BILL No. 1265
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
property.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 6-1.1-5.5-3, AS AMENDED BY P.L.26-2022,
2 SECTION 2, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
3 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 3. (a) For purposes of this section, "party"
4 includes:
5 (1) a seller of property that is exempt under the seller's ownership;
6 or
7 (2) a purchaser of property that is exempt under the purchaser's
8 ownership;
9 from property taxes under IC 6-1.1-10.
10 (b) Subject to subsections (g) and (h), (h) and (i), before filing a
11 conveyance document with the county auditor under IC 6-1.1-5-4, all
12 the parties to the conveyance must do the following:
13 (1) Complete and sign a sales disclosure form as prescribed by the
14 department of local government finance under section 5 of this
15 chapter. All the parties may sign one (1) form, or if all the parties
16 do not agree on the information to be included on the completed
17 form, each party may sign and file a separate form. For
2025 IN 1265—LS 7157/DI 87

2
1 conveyance transactions involving more than two (2) parties, one
2 (1) transferor and one (1) transferee signing the sales disclosure
3 form is sufficient.
4 (2) Before filing a sales disclosure form with the county auditor,
5 submit the sales disclosure form to the county assessor. The
6 county assessor must review the accuracy and completeness of
7 each sales disclosure form submitted immediately upon receipt of
8 the form and, if the form is accurate and complete, stamp or
9 otherwise approve the form as eligible for filing with the county
10 auditor and return the form to the appropriate party for filing with
11 the county auditor. If multiple forms are filed in a short period,
12 the county assessor shall process the forms as quickly as possible.
13 For purposes of this subdivision, a sales disclosure form is
14 considered to be accurate and complete if:
15 (A) the county assessor does not have substantial evidence
16 when the form is reviewed under this subdivision that
17 information in the form is inaccurate; and
18 (B) both of the following conditions are satisfied:
19 (i) The form contains the information required by section
20 5(a)(1) through 5(a)(16) 5(a)(17) of this chapter as that
21 section applies to the conveyance transaction, subject to the
22 obligation of a party to furnish or correct that information in
23 the manner required by and subject to the penalty provisions
24 of section 12 of this chapter. The form may not be rejected
25 for failure to contain information other than that required by
26 section 5(a)(1) through 5(a)(16) 5(a)(17) of this chapter.
27 (ii) The form is submitted to the county assessor in a format
28 usable to the county assessor.
29 (3) File the sales disclosure form with the county auditor.
30 (4) After December 31, 2023, a county assessor or county auditor
31 may not refuse to accept a sales disclosure form for filing because
32 the sales disclosure form is an electronic document.
33 (c) The auditor shall review each sales disclosure form and process
34 any deduction for which the form serves as an application under
35 IC 6-1.1-12-44. The auditor shall forward each sales disclosure form
3