Sec. 6. (a) The department, through the commissioner or the commissioner's designee, may do the following:

(1) Acquire by purchase, gift, or condemnation, sell, abandon, own in fee or a lesser interest, hold, or lease property in the name of the state, or otherwise dispose of or encumber property to carry out its responsibilities.

(2) Contract with persons outside the department to do those things that in the commissioner's opinion cannot be adequately or efficiently performed by the department.

(3) Enter into:

(A) a contract with the Indiana finance authority under IC 8-9.5-8-7; or

(B) a lease with the Indiana finance authority under IC 8-9.5-8-8;

for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, repair, or operation of toll road projects under IC 8-15-2 and toll bridges under IC 8-16-1.

(4) Enter into a contract with a contractor, operator, or design builder or construction manager as constructor for, or with any adviser, consultant, attorney, accountant, engineer, architect, or other person or entity in connection with, the construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, repair, or operation of a railroad project, as defined in IC 8-5-15-1, in accordance with an authorization provided to the department by the board of trustees of a commuter transportation district under IC 8-5-15-5(a)(21).

(5) Sue and be sued, including, with the approval of the attorney general, the compromise of any claims of the department.

(6) Hire attorneys.

(7) Perform all functions pertaining to the acquisition of property for transportation purposes, including the compromise of any claims for compensation.

(8) Hold investigations and hearings concerning matters covered by orders and rules of the department.

(9) Execute all documents and instruments necessary to carry out its responsibilities.

(10) Make contracts and expenditures, perform acts, enter into agreements, and make rules, orders, and findings that are necessary to comply with all laws, rules, orders, findings, interpretations, and regulations promulgated by the federal government in order to:

(A) qualify the department for; and

(B) receive;

federal government funding on a full or participating basis.

(11) Adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to carry out its responsibilities, including emergency rules in the manner provided under IC 4-22-2-37.1.

(12) Establish regional offices.

(13) Adopt a seal.

(14) Perform all actions necessary to carry out the department's responsibilities.

(15) Order a utility to relocate the utility's facilities and coordinate the relocation of customer service facilities if:

(A) the facilities are located in a highway, street, or road; and

(B) the department determines that the facilities will interfere with a planned highway or bridge construction or improvement project funded by the department.

(16) Reimburse a utility:

(A) in whole or in part for extraordinary costs of relocation of facilities;

(B) in whole for unnecessary relocations;

(C) in accordance with IC 8-23-26-12 and IC 8-23-26-13;

(D) in whole for relocations covered by IC 8-1-9; and

(E) to the extent that a relocation is a taking of property without just compensation.

(17) Provide state matching funds and undertake any surface transportation project eligible for funding under federal law. However, money from the state highway fund and the state highway road construction and improvement fund may not be used to provide operating subsidies to support a public transportation system or a commuter transportation system.

(18) Upon request, evaluate, negotiate, and enter into:

(A) a supplemental funding agreement with a regional development authority under IC 36-9-43; or

(B) an interlocal agreement with a regional development authority for purposes of IC 36-9-43.

(b) In the performance of contracts and leases with the Indiana finance authority, the department has authority under IC 8-15-2, in the case of toll road projects and IC 8-16-1, in the case of toll bridges necessary to carry out the terms and conditions of those contracts and leases.

(c) The department shall:

(1) classify as confidential any estimate of cost prepared in conjunction with analyzing competitive bids for projects until a bid below the estimate of cost is read at the bid opening;

(2) classify as confidential that part of the parcel files that contain appraisal and relocation documents prepared by the department's land acquisition division; and

(3) classify as confidential records that are the product of systems designed to detect collusion in state procurement and contracting that, if made public, could impede detection of collusive behavior in securing state contracts.

This subsection does not apply to parcel files of public agencies or affect IC 8-23-7-10.

(d) In the case of a regional development authority that undertakes a regional transportation infrastructure project under IC 36-9-43, the department shall cooperate with the regional development authority.

As added by P.L.112-1989, SEC.5. Amended by P.L.18-1990, SEC.208; P.L.2-1991, SEC.63; P.L.63-1992, SEC.3; P.L.39-1993, SEC.3; P.L.109-1993, SEC.1; P.L.235-2005, SEC.123; P.L.135-2013, SEC.1; P.L.229-2017, SEC.33; P.L.108-2019, SEC.157.