Indiana Code 25-36.5-1-3.2. Adjudicative proceeding against timber buyer or cutter
(1) a timber buyer; or
Terms Used In Indiana Code 25-36.5-1-3.2
- Attorney: includes a counselor or other person authorized to appear and represent a party in an action or special proceeding. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Department: means the department of natural resources. See Indiana Code 25-36.5-1-1
- Judgment: means all final orders, decrees, and determinations in an action and all orders upon which executions may issue. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
- Person: means an individual, partnership, firm, association, business trust, limited liability company, or corporation. See Indiana Code 25-36.5-1-1
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Timber: means trees, standing or felled, and logs which can be used for sawing or processing into lumber for building or structural purposes or for the manufacture of any article. See Indiana Code 25-36.5-1-1
- Timber buyer: means a person engaged in the business of buying timber from timber growers for sawing into lumber, processing, or resale, but does not include a person who occasionally purchases timber for sawing or processing for his own use and not for resale. See Indiana Code 25-36.5-1-1
- Timber grower: means the owner, tenant, or operator of land in this state who has an interest in, or is entitled to receive any part of the proceeds from, the sale of timber grown in this state and includes persons exercising lawful authority to sell timber for a timber grower. See Indiana Code 25-36.5-1-1
(b) The department may under IC 4-21.5-3-8 commence a proceeding against a timber buyer or a timber cutter if there is reason to believe that:
(1) the timber buyer or timber cutter has acquired timber from a timber grower under a written contract for the sale of the timber without payment having been made to the timber grower as specified in the contract; or
(2) if:
(A) there is no written contract for the sale of the timber; or
(B) there is a written contract for the sale of the timber but the contract does not set forth the purchase price for the timber;
the timber buyer or timber cutter has cut timber or acquired timber from the timber grower without payment having been made to the timber grower equal to the value of the timber as determined under IC 26-1-2.
(c) A proceeding may be commenced under this section at the request of a timber grower.
(d) The necessary parties to a proceeding initiated under this section are:
(1) the timber grower; and
(2) the timber buyer or timber cutter.
(e) After the commencement of a proceeding under this section through the service of a complaint under IC 4-21.5-3-8, a party to the proceeding may move for the joinder of any of the following persons having a relationship to the site or subject of the complaint:
(1) The surety of the timber buyer.
(2) A timber buyer.
(3) A timber cutter.
(4) A landowner.
(5) An owner of land adjacent to the land from which the timber was cut.
(6) A consultant receiving a fee for services related to the timber.
(7) A professional surveyor performing an American Land Title Association and American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ALTA/ACSM) land title survey.
(8) The department of natural resources, if the department has a relationship to the site or subject of the complaint as a landowner or owner of adjacent land.
(f) The complaint served under IC 4-21.5-3-8 to commence a proceeding under this section may seek the following:
(1) Damages in compensation for damage actually resulting from the wrongful activities of a timber buyer or timber cutter.
(2) Damages equal to three (3) times the stumpage value of any timber that is wrongfully cut or appropriated without payment.
(3) Damages for costs associated with a claim or action, including attorney‘s fees.
(4) Damages specified by a contract between a timber grower and a timber buyer.
(g) Notwithstanding subsection (f), the liability on the surety bond of a timber cutter is limited to the value of any timber wrongfully cut or appropriated.
(h) A proceeding under this section is governed by IC 4-21.5. Before a hearing is convened in the proceeding, a prehearing conference shall be conducted to provide the parties with an opportunity for settlement, including an opportunity for mediation.
(i) In determining the site for a hearing in a proceeding under this section, the administrative law judge shall consider the convenience of the parties.
(j) A final agency action in a proceeding under this section must address all issues of damage and responsibility and, after the completion of the opportunity for judicial review, may be enforced in a civil proceeding as a judgment.
As added by P.L.220-1993, SEC.3. Amended by P.L.57-2013, SEC.86; P.L.141-2022, SEC.50.