Clark County, IN Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Under Clark County Code of Ordinances § 151.30, the County Board adopted I.C. 36-7-9 et seq. as the county's unsafe building ordinance and explicitly incorporated the statute's definition of SUBSTANTIAL PROPERTY INTEREST from I.C. 36-7-9-2, with the code specifying that state statute controls if the two ever conflict. Section 151.31 designates the County Planning and Zoning Department as the executive department that administers the ordinance, with the County Building Commissioner, also titled the Ordinance Enforcement Officer, serving as the enforcement authority responsible for identifying unsafe structures and initiating action against them.

Section 151.32 sets up the hearing process required by I.C. 36-7-9-2: the Clark County Planning and Zoning Board is the hearing authority, though the Board can form a subcommittee of at least three of its own members to act in that role, and if the Board cannot agree on a subcommittee, the full Board hears the case itself. Section 151.33 requires the Planning and Zoning Board to establish a dedicated Unsafe Building Fund in its operating budget, as authorized by I.C. 36-7-9-14, which finances the county's cost of demolishing or repairing unsafe structures when an owner does not act.

Because the county adopted the state statute wholesale rather than writing its own abatement steps, the notice, hearing, order, and lien/cost-recovery procedures for a specific unsafe building follow I.C. 36-7-9's own provisions rather than a separately numbered county process.