Introduced Version
SENATE BILL No. 357
_____
DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
Citations Affected: IC 6-1.1; IC 10-17-2-1; IC 29-1-7-23;
IC 32-21-2.5-8; IC 36-2-9-18.
Synopsis: Acceptance of electronic conveyance documents. Effective
January 1, 2024, provides that a county recorder, auditor, or assessor
may not refuse to accept or endorse a document because the document
is an electronic document. Requires a military discharge or real
property survey or plat to be submitted to the county recorder as a
paper document for recording.
Effective: July 1, 2022.
Brown L
January 11, 2022, read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary.
2022 IN 357—LS 6911/DI 87 Introduced
Second Regular Session of the 122nd General Assembly (2022)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
between statutes enacted by the 2021 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
SENATE BILL No. 357
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local
government.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 6-1.1-5-4 IS AMENDED TO READ AS
2 FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2022]: Sec. 4. (a) Except as
3 provided in section 9 of this chapter, the county auditor shall keep a
4 transfer book, arranged by townships, cities, and towns. In the transfer
5 book he the county auditor shall enter a description, for the purpose
6 of taxation, of land that is conveyed by deed or partition, the date of the
7 conveyance, the names of the parties, and the post office address of the
8 grantee.
9 (b) In addition, the county auditor shall endorse on the deed or
10 instrument of conveyance the words "duly entered for taxation subject
11 to final acceptance for transfer", "not taxable", "has already been listed
12 for taxation", or "duly entered for taxation". The deed or instrument
13 must include on its face the post office address of the grantee.
14 (c) After December 31, 2023, a county auditor may not refuse to
15 endorse a deed or instrument of conveyance because the deed or
16 instrument is an electronic document.
17 SECTION 2. IC 6-1.1-5.5-3, AS AMENDED BY P.L.159-2020,
2022 IN 357—LS 6911/DI 87 2
1 SECTION 8, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
2 JULY 1, 2022]: Sec. 3. (a) For purposes of this section, "party"
3 includes:
4 (1) a seller of property that is exempt under the seller's ownership;
5 or
6 (2) a purchaser of property that is exempt under the purchaser's
7 ownership;
8 from property taxes under IC 6-1.1-10.
9 (b) Subject to subsections (g) and (h), before filing a conveyance
10 document with the county auditor under IC 6-1.1-5-4, all the parties to
11 the conveyance must do the following:
12 (1) Complete and sign a sales disclosure form as prescribed by the
13 department of local government finance under section 5 of this
14 chapter. All the parties may sign one (1) form, or if all the parties
15 do not agree on the information to be included on the completed
16 form, each party may sign and file a separate form. For
17 conveyance transactions involving more than two (2) parties, one
18 (1) transferor and one (1) transferee signing the sales disclosure
19 form is sufficient.
20 (2) Before filing a sales disclosure form with the county auditor,
21 submit the sales disclosure form to the county assessor. The
22 county assessor must review the accuracy and completeness of
23 each sales disclosure form submitted immediately upon receipt of
24 the form and, if the form is accurate and complete, stamp or
25 otherwise approve the form as eligible for filing with the county
26 auditor and return the form to the appropriate party for filing with
27 the county auditor. If multiple forms are filed in a short period,
28 the county assessor shall process the forms as quickly as possible.
29 For purposes of this subdivision, a sales disclosure form is
30 considered to be accurate and complete if:
31 (A) the county assessor does not have substantial evidence
32 when the form is reviewed under this subdivision that
33 information in the form is inaccurate; and
34 (B) both of the following conditions are satisfied:
35 (i) The form contains the information required by section
36 5(a)(1) through 5(a)(16) of this chapter as that section
37 applies to the conveyance transaction, subject to the
38 obligation of a party to furnish or correct that information in
39 the manner required by and subject to the penalty provisions
40 of section 12 of this chapter. The form may not be rejected
41 for failure to contain information other than that required by
42 section 5(a)(1) through 5(a)(16) of this chapter.
2022 IN 357—LS 6911/DI 87 3
1 (ii) The form is submitted to the county assessor in a format
2 usable to the county assessor.
3 (3) File the sales disclosure form with the county auditor.
4 (4) After December 31, 2023, a county assessor or county
5 auditor may not refuse to accept a sales disclosure form for
6 filing because the sales disclosure form is an electronic
7 document.
8 (c) The auditor shall review each sales disclosure form and process
9 any deduction for which the form serves as an application under
10 IC 6-1.1-12-44. The auditor shall forward each sales disclosure form
11 to the county assessor. The county assessor shall verify the assessed
12 valuation of the property for the assessment date to which the
13 application applies and transmit that assessed valuation to the auditor.
14 The county assessor shall retain the forms for five (5) years. The county
15 assessor shall forward the sales disclosure form data to the department
16 of local government finance in an electronic format specified by the
17 department of local government finance on or before April 1 in a year
18 ending before January 1, 2016, and on or before February 1 in a year
19 beginning after December 31, 2015. The county assessor shall forward
20 a copy of the sales disclosure forms to the township assessors in the
21 county. The department of local government finance shall make sales
22 disclosure form data received from a county assessor available to the
23 legislative services agency. The forms may be used by the county
24 assessing officials, the department of local government finance, and the
25 legislative services agency for the purposes established in
26 IC 6-1.1-4-13.6, sales ratio studies, equalization, adoption of rules
27 under IC 6-1.1-31-3 and IC 6-1.1-31-6, and any other authorized
28 purpose.
29 (d) In a county containing a consolidated city, the auditor shall
30 review each sales disclosure form and process any deduction for which
31 the form serves as an application under IC 6-1.1-12-44. The auditor
32 shall forward the sales disclosure form to the appropriate township
33 assessor (if any). The township assessor shall verify the assessed
34 valuation of the property for the assessment date to which the
35 application applies and transmit that assessed valuation to the auditor.
36 The township or county assessor shall forward the sales disclosure form
37 to the department of local government finance in an electronic format
38 specified by the department of local government finance. The
39 department of local government finance shall make sales disclosure
40 form data received from a township or county assessor available to the
41 legislative services agency. The forms may be used by the county
42 assessing officials, the county auditor, the department of local
2022 IN 357—LS 6911/DI 87 4
1 government finance, and the legislative services agency for the
2 purposes established in IC 6-1.1-4-13.6, sales ratio studies,
3 equalization, adoption of rules under IC 6-1.1-31-3 and IC 6-1.1-31-6,
4 and any other authorized purpose.
5 (e) If a sales disclosure form includes the telephone number or
6 Social Security number of a party, the telephone number or Social
7 Security number is confidential.
8 (f) County assessing officials, county auditors, and other local
9 officials may not establish procedures or requirements concerning sales
10 disclosure forms that substantially differ from the procedures and
11 requirements of this chapter.
12 (g) Except as provided in subsection (h), a separate sales disclosure
13 form is required for each parcel conveyed, regardless of whether more
14 than one (1) parcel is conveyed under a single conveyance document.
15 (h) Only one (1) sales disclosure form is required for the
16 conveyance under a single conveyance document of two (2) or more
17 contiguous parcels located entirely within a single taxing district.
18 SECTION 3. IC 10-17-2-1, AS AMENDED BY P.L.42-2020,
19 SECTION 6, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
20 JULY 1, 2022]: Sec. 1. (a) To provide a special and permanent record
21 of discharges from a branch of the military service of the United States
22 of members of a branch of the service who are residents of Indiana, the
23 county recorder shall do either of the following:
24 (1) Procure a sufficiently large and well bound book of good
25 material in which the county recorder shall record all discharges.
26 (2) Preserve discharges received by the recorder. Subject to
27 subsection (c), discharges may be preserved in an electronic
28 format that may be accessed in the office of the recorder and store
29 paper copies or microfilm of the discharges shall be stored at a
30 secure offsite location from which the paper copies or microfilm
31 may be retrieved as necessary.
32 (b) The county recorder shall annually test the reliability of
33 hardware and software used to provide electronic access to discharges
34 preserved under subsection (a)(2).
35 (c) As provided in IC 32-21-2.5-8, a person must submit a
36 discharge to the county recorder in paper form for recording.
37 However, a county recorder may convert a discharge received in
38 paper form to microfilm or electronic form for preservation as
39 provided in subsection (a).
40 SECTION 4. IC 29-1-7-23, AS AMENDED BY P.L.56-2020,
41 SECTION 2, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
42 JULY 1, 2022]: Sec. 23. (a) When a person dies, the person's real and
2022 IN 357—LS 6911/DI 87 5
1 personal property passes to persons to whom it is devised by the
2 person's last will or, in the absence of such disposition, to the persons
3 who succeed to the person's estate as the person's heirs; but it shall be
4 subject to the possession of the personal representative and to the
5 election of the surviving spouse and shall be chargeable with the
6 expenses of administering the estate, the payment of other claims and
7 the allowances under IC 29-1-4-1, except as otherwise provided in
8 IC 29-1.
9 (b) A person may sign and record an affidavit to establish prima
10 facie evidence of the passage of real estate title to distributees under
11 this section. An affidavit under this section may contain the following
12 information:
13 (1) The decedent's name and date of death.
14 (2) A statement of the affiant's relationship to the decedent.
15 (3) A description of how the following deeds or other instruments
16 vested in the decedent an ownership or leasehold interest in real
17 property, with a cross-reference if applicable, under
18 IC 36-2-7-10(l) to each deed or other instrument:
19 (A) Deeds or other instruments recorded in the office of the
20 recorder where the real property is located.
21 (B) Deeds or other instruments that disclose a title transaction
22 (as defined in IC 32-20-2-7).
23 (4) The legal description of the conveyed real property as it
24 appears in instruments described in subdivision (3).
25 (5) The names of all distributees known to the affiant.
26 (6) An explanation of how each interest in the real property
27 passed upon the decedent's death to each distributee by:
28 (A) intestate succession under IC 29-1-2-1; or
29 (B) the decedent's last will and testament that has been
30 admitted to probate under section 13 of this chapter, with
31 references to:
32 (i) the name and location of the court that issued the order
33 admitting the will to probate; and
34 (ii) the date when the court admitted the decedent's will to
35 probate.
36 (7) An explanation of how any fractional interests in the real
37 property that may have passed to multiple distributees were
38 calculated and apportioned.
39 (c) Upon presentation of an affidavit described in subsection (b), the
40 auditor of the county where the real property described in the affidavit
41 is located must endorse the affidavit as an instrument that is exempt
42 from the requirements to file a sales disclosure form and must enter the
2022 IN 357—LS 6911/DI 87 6
1 names of the distributees shown on the affidavit on the tax duplicate on
2 which the real property is transferred, assessed, and taxed under
3 IC 6-1.1-5-7. After December 31, 2023, an auditor may not refuse
4 to endorse an affidavit because the affidavit is an electronic
5 document.
6 (d) Upon presentation of an affidavit described in subsection (b), the
7 recorder of the county where the real property described in the affidavit
8 is located must:
9 (1) record the affidavit; and
10 (2) index the affidavit as the most recent instrument responsible
11 for the transfer of the real property described in subsection (b)(4).
12 (e) Any person may rely upon an affidavit recorded with the county
13 recorder:
14 (1) made in good faith; and
15 (2) under this section;
16 as prima facie evidence of an effective transfer of the decedent's title
17 to the real property interest under subsection (a) to the distributee
18 described in the affidavit.
19 (f) If:
20 (1) at least seven (7) months have elapsed since the decedent's
21 death;
22 (2) the clerk of the court described in subsection (b)(6)(B) has not
23 issued letters testamentary or letters of administration to the court
24 appointed personal representative for the decedent within the time
25 limits specified under section 15.1(d) of this chapter; and
26 (3) the court described in subsection (b)(6)(B) has not issued
27 findings and an accompanying order preventing the limitations in
28 section 15.1(b) of this chapter from applying to the decedent's real
29 property;
30 any person may rely upon the affidavit described in subsection (e) as
31 evidence that the real property may not be sold by an executor or
32 administrator of the decedent's estate to pay a debt or obligation of the
33 decedent, which is not a lien of record in the county in which the real
34 property is located, or to pay any costs of administration of the
35 decedent's estate.
36 SECTION 5. IC 32-21-2.5-8, AS AMENDED BY P.L.185-2021,
37 SECTION 47, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
38 JULY 1, 2022]: Sec. 8. (a) As used in this section, "paper document"
39 or "paper documents" means a tangible record that is received by a
40 county recorder in a form that is not electronic.
41 (b) On or before July 1, 2022, a county recorder shall receive for
42 recording, indexing, storage, archiving, access to, searching of,
2022 IN 357—LS 6911/DI 87 7
1 retrieval, and transmittal all electronic documents proper for recording.
2 A county recorder shall also accept electronically any fee or tax that the
3 county recorder is authorized to collect under applicable laws. A
4 county recorder shall implement the processing of electronic
5 documents proper for recording in compliance with:
6 (1) this article;
7 (2) IC 33-42;
8 (3) IC 36-2-7.5;
9 (4) IC 36-2-11; and
10 (5) IC 36-2-13; and
11 the standards adopted by the electronic recording commission created
12 under section 9 of this chapter.
13 (c) Notwithstanding subsection (b), a person must submit the
14 following documents for recording as paper documents:
15 (1) A military discharge under IC 10-17-2.
16 (2) A survey of real property.
17 (3) A plat of real property.
18 The county recorder may only receive a document listed in this
19 subsection for recording if the document is submitted as a paper
20 document. However, a county recorder may convert a document
21 into electronic form as provided in subsection (e).
22 (c) (d) A recorder who accepts electronic documents for recording
23 shall:
24 (1) continue to accept paper documents as authorized by state
25 law; and
26 (2) place entries for paper documents and electronic documents
27 in the same index.
28 (d) (e) A recorder who accepts electronic documents for recording
29 may:
30 (1) convert paper documents accepted for recording into
31 electronic form;
32 (2) convert into electronic form information recorded before the
33 county recorder began to accept and index electronic documents;
34 or
35 (3) agree with other officials of a state or a political subdivision
36 of a state, or of the United States, on procedures or processes to
37 facilitate the electronic satisfaction of prior approvals and
38 conditions precedent to recording and the electronic payment of
39 fees and taxes.
40 SECTION 6. IC 36-2-9-18, AS AMENDED BY P.L.257-2019,
41 SECTION 105, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS
42 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2022]: Sec. 18. (a) Before the auditor makes the
2022 IN 357—LS 6911/DI 87 8
1 endorsement required by IC 36-2-11-14, the auditor may require that
2 a tax identification number identifying the affected real property be
3 placed on an instrument that conveys, creates, encumbers, assigns, or
4 otherwise disposes of an interest in or a lien on real property. The tax
5 identification number may be established by the auditor with the
6 approval of the state board of accounts. If the tax identification number
7 is affixed to the instrument or if a tax identification number is not
8 required, the auditor shall make the proper endorsement on demand.
9 (b) On request, a county auditor shall provide assistance in
10 obtaining the proper tax identification number for instruments subject
11 to this section.
12 (c) The tax administration number established by this section is for
13 use in administering statutes concerning taxation of real property and
14 is not competent evidence of the location or size of the real property
15 affected by the instrument.
16 (d) After December 31, 2023, a county auditor may not refuse
17 to endorse a deed or instrument required by IC 36-2-11-14 because
18 the deed or instrument is an electronic document.
19 (d) (e) The legislative body of a county shall adopt an ordinance
20 requiring the auditor to collect a fee in the amount of ten dollars ($10)
21 for each:
22 (1) deed; or
23 (2) legal description of each parcel contained in the deed;
24 for which the auditor makes a real property endorsement. This fee is in
25 addition to any other fee provided by law. The auditor shall place the
26 revenue received under this subsection in a dedicated fund for use in
27 maintaining plat books, in traditional or electronic format.
2022 IN 357—LS 6911/DI 87