Sec. 4. (a) If the person seeking to acquire the property does not agree with the owner of an interest in the property or with the guardian of an owner concerning the damages sustained by the owner, the person seeking to acquire the property may file a complaint for that purpose with the clerk of the circuit court of the county where the property is located.

(b) The complaint must state the following:

(1) The name of the person seeking to acquire the property. This person shall be named as the plaintiff.

(2) The names of all owners, claimants to, and holders of liens on the property, if known, or a statement that they are unknown. These owners, claimants, and holders of liens shall be named as defendants.

(3) The use the plaintiff intends to make of the property or right sought to be acquired.

(4) If a right-of-way is sought, the location, general route, width, and the beginning and end points of the right-of-way.

(5) A specific description of each piece of property sought to be acquired and whether the property includes the whole or only part of the entire parcel or tract. If property is sought to be acquired by the state or by a county for a public highway or by a municipal corporation for a public use and the acquisition confers benefits on any other property of the owner, a specific description of each piece of property to which the plaintiff alleges the benefits will accrue. Plats of property alleged to be affected may accompany the descriptions.

(6) That the plaintiff has been unable to agree for the purchase of the property with the owner, owners, or guardians, as the case may be, or that the owner is mentally incompetent or less than eighteen (18) years of age and has no legally appointed guardian, or is a nonresident of Indiana.

(c) All parcels lying in the county and required for the same public use, whether owned by the same parties or not, may be included in the same or separate proceedings at the option of the plaintiff. However, the court may consolidate or separate the proceedings to suit the convenience of parties and the ends of justice. The filing of the complaint and a lis pendens notice in any eminent domain action under this article constitutes notice of proceedings to all subsequent purchasers and persons taking encumbrances of the property, who are bound by the notice.

[Pre-2002 Recodification Citation: 32-11-1-2.]

As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.9. Amended by P.L.81-2004, SEC.26.