(A) If the owners or those in possession of a building refuse inspection, any town inspection officer may obtain an inspection warrant from any court of record in the county 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 of the grounds described in division (A)(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 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 48 hours after its issuance, must be personally served upon the owner or possessor of the building, and must be returned within 72 hours.
('80 Code, § 15.16.170) (Am. Ord. 2005-06, passed 3-28-05)
Statutory reference:
Inspection warrants, see IC 26-7-9-16