Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Hoosier Homestead topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee hears bill to codify Hoosier Homestead program and allow local remonstrance on eminent domain
Summary
House Bill 1265 would put the Hoosier Homestead farm recognition into statute and create a local remonstrance process for families with century farms facing fee-simple condemnation; the committee took testimony and signaled technical amendments and further consideration at a later meeting.
Representative Greene presented House Bill 1265, a bill to codify the Hoosier Homestead award program and to create a limited remonstrance process for families whose century farms face fee-simple condemnation under eminent domain.
Greene said the bill would place the ceremonial Hoosier Homestead Farm Program into statute, require ISDA to maintain an electronic registry of homestead farms, and create a local appeal process allowing a homestead farm to ask the local legislative body to review a proposed fee-simple taking. ‘‘1265 simply gives a homestead farm the right to make one final appeal to their local legislative body to review the potential condemnation upon the land which the families have literally invested generations in,’’ Greene said.
Witnesses who spoke in support included Linda Norton, who described her family’s multigenerational farm and urged the committee to approve the measure, and Jason Abel, a county commissioner and fourth-generation farmer, who said the bill would help communities balance growth pressure and agricultural heritage. Quentin Hayes of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture testified neutral and described the current administrative Hoosier Homestead Award Program, its requirements (continuous family ownership of 100, 150 or 200 years and a minimum acreage or gross farm income threshold), and suggested the legislature consider adding application and property-tax requirements into statute.
Supporters said the local remonstrance process would be limited to fee-simple takings and would not apply to easements, leases, voluntary sales or good-faith negotiations. Greene said the process does not provide a blanket exemption from condemnation; the local body must still determine whether there is a feasible and prudent alternative to the proposed taking.
Committee members asked technical questions; Representative Greene said he was working with ISDA staff on technical edits. The committee indicated it would hold the bill for amendment and take the revised language up at a later meeting. No committee vote on HB 1265 was recorded in the hearing segment.
