The Commission shall have the following powers and duties:
(A) To establish and maintain in the town a permanent office to be provided by the Town Council;
(B) To appoint staff as it may deem necessary and prescribe their duties;
(C) To adopt, promulgate, amend, and rescind rules and regulations, procedural and substantive, as are consistent with the provisions of this chapter or its intent and purpose as the Commission may deem necessary. These rules and regulations shall be adopted, amended, or rescinded by the Commission only after a public hearing thereon, notice of which shall be given by two publications in the two newspapers of general circulation printed in the county, these publications to be one week apart. The first publication is to be not more than 30 days nor less than 15 days before the date of the hearings;
(D) (1) To receive and investigate the merits, allegations, and factual basis of complaints of discriminatory practices under this chapter, and to hold hearings on the complaints. All investigations of complaints shall be investigated by staff members or Commission members. The investigations shall be impartial and shall be limited in each instance to the discriminatory practices alleged in the complaint. At the end of each investigation, the Commission or a staff member of the Commission will prepare a final investigative report. The investigative report will contain:
(a) The names and dates of contacts with witnesses, except that the report will not disclose the names of witnesses that request anonymity. The Commission, however, may be required to disclose the names of those witnesses in the course of an administrative hearing under this chapter or a civil action under the Federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3601, et seq.) or the State Fair Housing Act (I.C. 22-9.5-1-1, et seq.);
(b) A summary and the dates of correspondence and other contacts with the aggrieved person and the respondent;
(c) A summary description of other records;
(d) A summary of witness statements; and
(e) Answers to interrogatories.
(2) A final investigative report may be amended at any time, if additional evidence is discovered. Notwithstanding the prohibitions and requirements with respect to disclosure of information contained in division (J)(9) of this section, the Commission will make information derived from an investigation, including the final report, available to the aggrieved person and the respondent. Following the completion of investigation, the Commission shall notify the aggrieved person and the respondent that the final investigative report is complete and will be provided upon request.
(E) To initiate complaints, except that no member of the Commission who initiates a complaint or is a respondent of a complaint may participate as a member of the Commission in the hearing or disposition of the complaint;
(F) To prevent any person from discriminating or retaliating against any other person because he or she filed a complaint with the Commission, has testified in any hearing before the Commission, or has in any way assisted the Commission in any matter under investigation;
(G) To seek prompt judicial action. If the Commission concludes at any time following the filing of a complaint that prompt judicial action is necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the Commission may file a civil action for appropriate temporary or preliminary relief pending final disposition of the complaint in a circuit or superior court that is located in the county in which the alleged discriminatory housing practice has occurred.
(1) A temporary restraining order or other order granting preliminary or temporary relief under this subsection is governed by the State Rules of Trial Procedure.
(2) The filing of a civil action under this division does not affect the initiation or continuation of administrative proceedings under this chapter.
(H) To hold hearings, subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take the testimony of any such person under oath, and require the production for examination of any books and papers relating to any matter under investigation or in question before the Commission. All hearings shall be held within the town at a location determined by the Commission. The Commission shall have the authority to institute actions for appropriate legal or equitable relief in a circuit or superior court to obtain enforcement of any Commission order or subpoena. All subpoenas and orders emanating from the Commission shall be served pursuant to the State Rules of Civil Procedure applicable to service in civil actions;
(I) To appoint hearing officers, other than Commissioners, when an appointment is deemed necessary by a majority of the Commission. The hearing officers shall be members in good standing before the state bar and shall be appointed by the chairperson of the Commission. A hearing officer appointed under this division shall have the same powers and duties as a Commissioner sitting as a hearing officer, except the power to issue subpoenas;
(J) To attempt reconciliation between the parties, including, but not limited to, reconciliation through the process of mediation. The Commission shall have the right to appoint a mediator who is qualified under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules of the state to provide mediation services to the complainant and the respondent. If the reconciliation efforts fail, the Commission shall conduct hearings to find facts, reach conclusions, and issue orders.
(1) During the period beginning with the filing of the complaint and ending with the reasonable or no reasonable cause determination, the Commission will, to the extent feasible, attempt to conciliate the complaint.
(2) In conciliating the complaint, the Commission will attempt to achieve a just resolution of the complaint and to obtain assurances that the respondent will satisfactorily remedy any violations of the rights of the aggrieved person, and take action as will assure the elimination of discriminatory housing practices, or the prevention of their occurrence in the future.
(3) Generally, members of the Commission or the staff of the Commission engaged in the investigation of a complaint will not participate or advise in the conciliation of the same complaint or in any factually related complaint. Where the rights of the aggrieved party and the respondent can be protected and the prohibitions with respect to disclosure of information can be observed, the investigator of the complaint may suspend fact-finding and engage in efforts to resolve the complaint by conciliation.
(4) The terms of a settlement of a complaint will be reduced to a written conciliation agreement. The conciliation agreement shall seek to protect the interests of the aggrieved person, other persons similarly situated, and the public interest. The types of relief that may be sought are:
(a) For the aggrieved person:
1. Monetary relief in the form of damages, including damages caused by humiliation or embarrassment, and attorney’s fees;
2. Other equitable relief, including, but not limited to, access to the dwelling at issue, or to a comparable dwelling, the provision of services or facilities in connection with a dwelling, or other specific relief; or
3. Injunctive relief appropriate to the elimination of discriminatory housing practices affecting the aggrieved person or other persons.
(b) The conciliation agreement may provide for binding arbitration of the dispute arising from the complaint. Arbitration may award appropriate relief as described in division (J)(4)(a). The aggrieved person and the respondent may, in the conciliation agreement, limit the types of relief that may be awarded under binding arbitration.
(c) For the public interest:
1. Elimination of discriminatory housing practices;
2. Prevention of future dis- criminatory housing practices;
3. Remedial affirmative activities to overcome discriminatory housing practices;
4. Reporting requirements; or
5. Monitoring and enforcement activities.
(5) The agreement must be executed by the respondent and the complainant. The agreement is subject to approval by the Commission. The Commission will indicate approval by having a majority of the Commission sign the agreement. The Commission will approve an agreement and, if the Commission is the complainant, will execute the agreement, only if:
(a) The complainant and the respondent agree to the relief accorded to the aggrieved person;
(b) The provisions of the agreement will adequately vindicate the public interest; and
(c) If the Commission is the complainant, all aggrieved persons named in the complaint are satisfied with the relief provided to protect their interests.
(6) The Commission may issue a reasonable cause determination if the aggrieved person and the respondent have executed a conciliation agreement that has not been approved by the Commission.
(7) The Commission may terminate its efforts to conciliate the complaint if: the respondent fails or refuses to confer with the Commission; the aggrieved person or the respondent fails to make a good faith effort to resolve any dispute; or the Commission finds, for any reason, that voluntary agreement is not likely to result.
(8) Where the aggrieved person has commenced a civil action under federal or state law seeking relief with respect to the alleged discriminatory housing practice, and the trial in the action has commenced, the Commission will terminate conciliation unless the court specifically requests assistance from the Commission.
(9) Except as provided in divisions (J)(10) and (D) of this section, nothing that is said or done in the course of conciliation may be made public or used as evidence in a subsequent administrative hearing under this chapter or in civil actions under the Federal Fair Housing Act or the State Fair Housing Act without the written consent of the persons concerned.
(10) Conciliation agreements shall be made public unless the aggrieved person and respondent request non-disclosure and the Commission determines that disclosure is not required to further the purposes of this chapter. Notwithstanding a determination that disclosure of a conciliation agreement is not required, the Commission may publish tabulated descriptions of the results of all conciliation efforts.
(11) The Commission may, from time to time, review compliance with the terms of any conciliation agreement. Whenever the Commission has reasonable cause to believe that a respondent has breached a conciliation agreement, the Commission may file a civil action under division (H) of this section for the enforcement of the terms of the conciliation agreement.
(K) To state findings of fact and conclusions of law after a hearing. If the Commission determines, after a hearing, that the respondent has engaged in a discriminatory practice in violation of this chapter, the Commission may order the appropriate relief, including actual damages, reasonable attorney’s fees, court costs, and other injunctive or equitable relief. To vindicate the public interest, the Commission may assess a civil penalty against the respondent in an amount that does not exceed the following:
(1) $1,500 if the respondent has not been adjudged by order of the Commission or a court to have committed a prior discriminatory housing practice;
(2) Except as provided by division (K)(1) above, $2,500 if the respondent has been adjudged by order of the Commission or a court to have committed one other discriminatory housing practice during the five-year period ending on the date of the filing of the finding of reasonable cause; or
(3) Except as provided by division (K)(1) above, $2,500 if the respondent has been adjudged by order of the Commission or a court to have committed two or more discriminatory housing practices during the seven-year period ending on the date of the filing of the finding of reasonable cause.
(L) If the acts constituting the discriminatory housing practice that is the object of the finding of reasonable cause are committed by the same individual who has been previously adjudged to have committed acts constituting a discriminatory housing practice, the civil penalties in divisions (K)(2) and (K)(3) above may be imposed without regard to the period of time within which any other discriminatory housing practice occurred. The Commission may sue to recover a civil penalty due under this section;
(M) If after the hearing the Commission shall find that the respondent has not engaged in any practice in violation of this chapter, the Commission shall state its findings of fact and conclusions of law and shall issue an order dismissing the complaint;
(N) Judicial review of Commission orders shall be obtained in accordance with the provisions of I.C. 4-21.5-5; and
(O) To prepare and submit to the Town Council once each year a detailed report of the Commission’s activities, including the investigations, reconciliations, and hearings it has conducted and their outcome.
(1985 Code, § 900-11) (Ord. 95-7, passed 3-13-1995) Penalty, see § 10.99