The town shall provide a limited indemnification to an owner of real estate located in the town, subject to the following conditions.
(A) The owner of real estate shall have received the written notice required by §§ 131.01 or 131.02 of this chapter from the Town Marshal, advising that a present occupant or tenant of the property of that owner of real estate has been using or selling illicit narcotics or controlled dangerous substances or allowing the using or selling of illicit narcotics or controlled dangerous substances at that property or as otherwise been engaging in or allowing activity constituting a nuisance pursuant to I.C. 32-30-8-1.
(B) The owner of real estate has instituted eviction proceedings with 30 days of receipt of notice of suspected illegal activities in accordance with §§ 131.01 or 131.02 of this chapter against a tenant whose suspected criminal activities would otherwise give rise to potential liability under this chapter.
(C) The owner of real estate shall give no less than 30 days’ notice to the Town Attorney, by certified mail, return-receipt requested, of the trial date for any eviction proceedings and a list containing the names and addresses of all witnesses the owner of real estate intends to call at the hearing.
(D) The Town Attorney, upon receipt of the notice and list of witnesses, shall have the right to provide the owner of real estate with the names and addresses of additional other witnesses including, but not limited to, witnesses from the Town Marshal whose presence shall be required at the hearing on the eviction proceedings.
(E) All witness listed by either the owner of real estate and/or the Town Attorney’s office shall be subpoenaed by the owner of real estate in proper and legal fashion, violation of this chapter shall be an adjunct to, and not substitution for, any criminal charges filed as a result of investigation by the Town Marshal against occupants or tenants of that owner’s real estate premises for use or sale of illicit drugs or controlled dangerous substances or conduct constituting a nuisance pursuant to I.C. 34-1-52-1.
(F) The tenant involved as a defendant in the eviction proceedings shall prevail on the merits, not by reason of procedural irregularities, but by sole reason that a court finds after trial that the illegal activity alleged in the notice the owner of real estate had received pursuant to §§ 131.01 or 131.02 of this chapter did not, in fact, take place.
(G) The tenant institutes legal proceedings against the owner of real estate in the form of a counter claim or separate action and obtains a judgment for damages against the owner of real estate by reason of the tenant having prevailed on the merits in accordance with division (F) above.
(H) The owner of real estate completes whatever steps he or she chooses to undertake to seek review of the judgment by motion to correct errors and/or appeal.
(I) The limited indemnification by the town shall be restricted solely to those damages assessed by judgment against the owner of real estate as set out aforesaid, but shall not, in any event, include any attorney’s fees incurred by the owner of real estate in connection with the enforcement of any of the terms of this chapter, but will include either the reasonable attorney’s fees incurred in the defense of legal proceedings brought by a tenant pursuant to division (G) above regardless of the outcome of the proceedings or the provision of the legal services by the town, at the town’s option.
(2013 Code, Title VII, Ch. 8, § 8) (Ord. III-I-1, passed 1-27-2003)