Sec. 28. Public and municipally owned utilities are
authorized to construct, operate, and maintain their poles, facilities,
appliances, and fixtures upon, along, under, and across any of the
public roads, highways, and waters outside of municipalities, as long
as they do not interfere with the ordinary and normal public use of the
roadway, as defined in IC 9-13-2-157. However, the utility shall review
its plans with the county executive before locating the pole, facility,
appliance, or fixture, and the county executive shall comply with IC 8-1-2-101. The utility may trim any tree along the road or highway, but
may not cut down and remove the tree without the consent of the
abutting property owners, unless the cutting or removal is required by
rule or order of the Indiana utility regulatory commission. The utility
may not locate a pole where it interferes with the ingress or egress from
adjoining land.
Formerly: Acts 1905, c.167, s.38; Acts 1911, c.161, s.1. As
amended by P.L.86-1988, SEC.181; P.L.2-1991, SEC.62;
P.L.177-2021, SEC.11.
Notes of Decisions
Carter v. Indianapolis Power & Light Co., 837 N.E.2d 509 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005).
· cites it 22× “Acts 86 § 181 (amending Ind.Code § 8-20-1-28). The events in Copeland, Cornelius, Sell, and Golds-berry occurred before 1988, and those courts therefore relied on the earlier version of the statute.”
Goldsberry v. Grubbs, 672 N.E.2d 475 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996).
· cites it 4× “IC § 8-20-1-28. Indiana has long recognized the substantial public interest that is served by the grant and exercise of this right.”
Indiana Limestone Co. v. Staggs, 672 N.E.2d 1377 (Ind. Ct. App. 1996).
· cites it 6× “(NIPSCO) had no relationship with the plaintiff, the Sell court relied on the right of utility companies, under the statute in effect at the time of the accident, to place its poles along state roads so long as the placement of the poles does not "incommode" the public in the…”
Bush v. N. Indiana Pub. Serv. Co., 685 N.E.2d 174 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997).
· cites it 4× “Ind. Code § 8-20-1-28 as in effect on April 19, 1991 imposed a duty on a utility company to erect and maintain utility poles "in such a manner as not to incommode the public in the use of such roads, highways, and water.”
State v. Cornelius, 637 N.E.2d 195 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994).
“Relationship IPL IPL acknowledges that Ind.Code 8-20-1-28, as in effect in 1987, imposed a duty on a utility company to erect and maintain utility poles “in such a manner as not to incommode the public in the use of such roads, highways, and water_” However, IPL points to the…”
S.E. Johnson Companies, Inc. v. N. Indiana Pub. Serv. Co., 852 N.E.2d 1 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006).
· cites it 2× “(5) NIPSCO had a right to install its steel gas pipe beneath New Haven Avenue pursuant to Ind.Code 8-20-1-28 but it had no corresponding duty under DUFA, absent the prescribed notice, to notify Johnson, or to others using the roadway, of the existing depth of its service pipe;…”
Ritz v. Indiana & Ohio RR, Inc., 632 N.E.2d 769 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994).
“Indiana Code 8-20-1-28 authorizes public and municipally owned utilities to construct, operate, and maintain their facilities upon, along, under, and across any of the public roads, highways and waters outside of municipalities but directs a utility to review its plans with the…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.