Sec. 1. (a) A public utility, except in cities of the third
class, engaged in the production, transmission, delivery, or furnishing
of heat, light, water, or power or for the collection, treatment,
purification, and disposal in a sanitary manner of liquid and solid
sewage or furnishing facilities for transmission of intelligence by
electricity to towns and cities and to the public in general or for the
furnishing of elevator or warehouse service, either directly or
indirectly, to or for the public, for the purpose of enabling it to perform
its functions, may appropriate and condemn lands of individuals and
private corporations, or any easement in any lands, necessary to the
carrying out of its objects, whether the same be for its building,
structures, dams, line of poles, wires, mains, conduits, and pipelines,
or right-of-way to accommodate railway siding or switch tracks
connecting its plant or plants with the tracks of any common carrier,
overflowage by backwater from its dams, waste, or sluiceways.
(b) However, within the limits of any incorporated town or city, the
authority to appropriate does not:
(1) extend to lands situated in any city block in which more than
fifty percent (50%) of the frontage is devoted to residence
purposes;
(2) extend to common carriers engaged in the transportation of
freight or passengers; or
(3) give to any public utility any right or authority to:
(A) appropriate any land or easement within the corporate
limits of any city for overflowage by backwater from any dam;
(B) appropriate or acquire any dam, race, or sluiceway existing
on May 31, 1921, or any interest in either, except to use water
for condensation purposes;
(C) appropriate or acquire any pipeline laid or contained within
the limits of private property; or
(D) authorize any corporation developing hydroelectric power
to unreasonably interfere with or disturb the natural flow of the
stream from which power may be derived. Lands or easements
in lands acquired by appropriation and condemnation shall be
held and enjoyed by the company for those purposes as though
the land or easement had been acquired by purchase.
(c) If a not-for-profit sewer utility (as described in IC 8-1-2-125(a))
appropriates or condemns land to acquire an easement or right-of-way
necessary to carry out the not-for-profit sewer utility's objectives, the
easement or right-of-way may not exceed fifty (50) feet in width.
(d) The appropriation and condemnation of lands and easements in
lands authorized by this section must be done under the terms and
conditions and in the manner prescribed by IC 32-24-1.
Formerly: Acts 1921, c.98, s.1; Acts 1961, c.195, s.1. As
amended by P.L.59-1984, SEC.59; P.L.2-2002, SEC.36; P.L.97-2012,
SEC.2.
Notes of Decisions
Wagler v. West Boggs Sewer Dist., Inc., 898 N.E.2d 815 (Ind. 2008).
· cites it 4× “Indiana Code § 8-1-8-1 grants condemnation and appropriation authority to public utilities and explicitly includes entities engaged in the collection, treatment, purification, and disposal of liquid and solid wastes.”
South E. Indiana Nat. Gas Co. v. Ingram, 617 N.E.2d 943 (Ind. Ct. App. 1993).
· cites it 2× “Judicial review of that determination may be obtained as provided in Indiana Code § 8-1-8-1. Id. The Ingrams cannot divest the IURC of its statutory jurisdiction and the intended procedure for obtaining relief merely by claiming money damages.”
Daniels v. Area Plan Comm'n of Allen Cnty., 125 F. Supp. 2d 338 (N.D. Ind. 2000).
· cites it 8× “The legislature has concluded that a public utility may condemn land for its “building, structures, dams, line of poles, wires, mains, conduits, pipelines, or right of way to accommodate railway siding or switch tracks .”
Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Inc. v. PSI Energy, Inc., 664 N.E.2d 401 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996).
“§ 8-1-8-1 (West Supp.1995). In pertinent part, this section states that: An assignment of errors that the decision, ruling or order of the commission is contrary to law shall be sufficient to present both the sufficiency of the facts found to sustain the decision, ruling, or…”
Gen. Motors Corp. v. Indianapolis Power & Light Co., 654 N.E.2d 752 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995).
“" Our standard of review of Commission orders was stated recently as follows: "Ind.Code 8-1-8-1 provides statutory authority for this court to review Commission orders, stating, in pertinent part: An assignment of errors that the decision, ruling or order of the commission is…”
Wymberley Sanitary Works v. Batliner, 904 N.E.2d 326 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009).
· cites it 2× “II Eminent Domain It is undisputed that Wymberley is a public utility that has the right to exercise the power of eminent domain pursuant to Indiana Code section 8-1-8-1. To exercise this power, the condemning authority must establish, among other things, that it made the…”
Calumet Nat'l Bank v. Am. Tel. & Tel. Co., 647 N.E.2d 689 (Ind. Ct. App. 1995).
“CODE § 8-1-8-1 (1998). As discussed below, the Utilities followed the steps required by IC 32-11-1-1 and IC 32-11-1-2 before filing their complaint to condemn this permanent easement.”
Bradley SurVance v. Duke Energy Indiana, LLC (mem. dec.) (Ind. Ct. App. 2020).
· cites it 6× “2009) (citing Ind. Code § 8-1-8-1 ), trans. denied. 2 Condemnation proceedings involve two stages: an initial or summary phase, in which a complaint is filed and the landowner files objections thereto, and a second phase in which the landowner’s damages are determined.”
Metro. Sch. Dist. of Sw. Allen Cnty., Indiana v. Crown Enter. (Ind. Ct. App. 2025).
· cites it 3× “§ 8-1-8-1(a) (emphasis added). Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-PL-290 | December 31, 2025 Page 8 of 29 are distinguishable because they did not deal with a challenge to the applicability of the present need requirement; rather, the parties disputed whether the…”
— Ind. Code § 8-1-8-1(a) — 2 cases
Metro. Sch. Dist. of Sw. Allen Cnty., Indiana v. Crown Enter. (Ind. Ct. App. 2025).
“§ 8-1-8-1(a) (emphasis added). Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-PL-290 | December 31, 2025 Page 8 of 29 are distinguishable because they did not deal with a challenge to the applicability of the present need requirement; rather, the parties disputed whether the…”
Bradley SurVance v. Duke Energy Indiana, LLC (mem. dec.) (Ind. Ct. App. 2020).
“2009) (citing Ind. Code § 8-1-8-1 ), trans. denied. 2 Condemnation proceedings involve two stages: an initial or summary phase, in which a complaint is filed and the landowner files objections thereto, and a second phase in which the landowner’s damages are determined.”
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