Indiana Code 32-30-6-9 — Right to Farm Act (Agricultural / Industrial Operations Nuisance Defense) (IN)
Tracked preemption from the Indiana overlay bundle.
Overview
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Effective
1981-01-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:IN
Other Indiana preemptions
Indiana HB 1001 (2026) — Statewide Housing-and-Zoning Reform (Default By-Right with Annual Local Opt-Out)Indiana HEA 1210 (2025) — Strengthened STR Preemption / No Numeric Rental CapsIndiana HEA 1005 (2025) — RIF Loan Priority Conditioned on Pro-Housing Land-Use PoliciesIndiana Code 5-1.2-15.5 — Residential Housing Infrastructure Assistance Program (RHIAP / RIF, created by HEA 1005 of 2023)Indiana Code 32-31-1-20 — Rent Control & Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning PreemptionIndiana Code 36-1-24 — Short-Term Rental Preemption (Owner-Occupied as Permitted Residential Use)Indiana Code 13-19 — Environmental Management Generally / IFA Brownfields ProgramIndiana Code 13-18-22 — State Regulated Wetlands Permit (IDEM)
Trigger predicate
When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.
AND
parcel.has_active_agricultural_operation==Trueparcel.agricultural_operation_continuous_years≥1
Preempted fields
3 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.
| Field | Op | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
zoning_ordinance.nuisance_basis_for_use_termination | waive | — | An agricultural or industrial operation that has been in continuous operation for more than one year may not be deemed a nuisance by reason of a changed condition in or about the locality (e.g., residential encroachment from new subdivisions). This neutralizes the most common indirect tool — neighbor-driven nuisance litigation — that local actors use to back-door agricultural shutdowns. |
zoning_ordinance.agricultural_use_change_within_class | permit | change_from_one_ag_operation_to_another_not_significant | A change from one type of agricultural operation to another (e.g., row-crop to CAFO) does not constitute a 'significant change in the type of operation' that would forfeit Right to Farm protection — codified at IC 32-30-6-9(d) (per P.L.162-2005 amendment). |
review_type | require | right_to_farm_defense_available | The statute provides an affirmative defense, not an absolute zoning preemption — a city ordinance can still prospectively restrict agricultural use, but cannot leverage post-hoc residential encroachment to terminate an existing operation. |
Citation
Authority source
Ind. Code § 32-30-6-9 (originally Acts 1981, P.L.45; recodified by P.L.2-2002 §16; amended by P.L.162-2005 §1 to add the use-class-change protection)
§ §32-30-6-9 (continuous-operation-for-more-than-one-year defense); related at §32-30-6-1 (definitions)
Research notes
Procedural / defensive overlay — sits under IC 32 (Property), not IC 36-7-4 (Zoning). Constitutionally upheld by Indiana Court of Appeals in Himsel v. 4/9 Livestock LLC (2019) against Open Courts Clause, Takings Clause, and Equal Privileges and Immunities Clause challenges. CAFO conversions from cropland are explicitly protected by the P.L.162-2005 amendment. Brief asked for 'IN Right to Farm' — IC 32-30-6-9 is the correct statutory anchor; it is sometimes (incorrectly) cited as 'IC 34-15-X' in older case-law commentary.