Township Trustee The trustee is the chief administrative officer of the township and must reside in that township. Residents of the township elect the trustee for a term of four years. The trustee's salary is established by the township board (formerly called township advisory board) but may not be less than the amount paid in 1980, prior to the repeal of the legal minimums. The trustee prepares the annual township budget for submission to the township board and has general control over all property belonging to the township. The trustee also serves as chief administrative officer for township schools and, in townships having a population of less than 8,000, serves as township assessor. Other responsibilities of the trustee relate to areas as diverse as poor relief, recreation and fire protection. These duties are outlined in the following sections. Township Assistance Duties. Every township trustee has a primary obligation of caring for destitute people who appeal for aid. The original designation of the trustee was "overseer of the poor," a term that first appeared in the Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1572. Because provisions for township government and the procedure for laying out township boundaries were established in 1790 in the Acts of the Northwest Territory, township trustees and poor relief existed in Indiana before the state was admitted to the union. When a person or family claiming to be poor and in distress seeks aid, the township trustee is obliged to grant relief if the need is verified and residency or intent to establish residency is verified. Such relief includes food, shelter, clothing, utility bills and school lunches. The trustee may employ and fix the salaries of investigators of township assistance claimants within prescribed limits. The trustee may designate the county school attendance officer as such an investigator; if the county commissioners approve, the attendance officer is required to serve. In township assistance activities, the trustee must follow a law requiring uniform budgeting of all poor relief funds and the filing of such budgets with the county auditor. Township relief traditionally is "in kind" in that the recipient receives written allowances for groceries or services, not cash. However, townships with a population of 20,000 or more now may, with approval of the county commissioners, assume the responsibility (previously assigned only to the county auditor) of processing all claims and then issuing checks to the vendors. The trustee must, in cases of necessity, promptly provide medical and surgical attendance for the township poor that are not provided for in public institutions and also furnish any medicines that are prescribed. This responsibility specifically includes the provision of insulin for diabetics, including authorization to provide special diets if prescribed. Additionally, the trustee of the poor must provide for and superintend the burial of deceased indigent people. Other guidelines related to the trustee's township assistance responsibilities include the following:
Removal to county home The trustee shall have paupers (permanent charges of the township) removed to the county home, subject to the approval of the county's board of commissioners. Work required If people applying for assistance are in good health, or if any members of their family are in good health, the trustee shall insist that those able to work seek employment. The trustee may refuse to furnish any aid until satisfied that the people wanting help are looking to find work for themselves. Responsible relatives If the people applying for township aid have relatives able to assist them who are living in the township, it is the duty of the trustee, before giving aid a second time, to call on such relatives of the people and ask them to help their relatives, either with material relief or by furnishing them with employment. Cooperation with private agencies It is the duty of each trustee to ascertain the existence, if any, in the township of societies for relief of the poor or other organizations for charitable purposes, and to become acquainted with the work of all such relief organizations and to cooperate with them. Transportation It is unlawful for the trustee to furnish transportation at the cost of the township to any non-resident who may be sick, aged, injured or crippled until after the legal residence of the person applying for such assistance has been ascertained beyond a reasonable doubt. Records of relief Every trustee and other official who administers relief from the public funds to indigent people who are not inmates of any public institution must keep records of such relief. Because the office of township trustee is a public office, the law requires that the trustee's records and books remain open for public inspection.
Conduct of rehabilitation, training and work programs For recipients of poor relief, the township trustee, with the approval of the township board, may conduct rehabilitation, training, retraining and work programs. The costs of such programs are paid from poor relief funds. Eradication of Weeds. Another obligation of the trustee can include requiring owners of real estate located "in a subdivision of any lots situated in his or her township, including lots in unincorporated towns, and outside of the corporate limits of any city or town," to cut and remove weeds and other detrimental plants on that property. The order may be in the form of a fiveday written notice served by certified mail. If the landowner fails to take the requested action, the trustee may have the vegetation removed and charge the cost to the landowner, along with a $20 charge for supervision of the action. There is a legal penalty for noncompliance. Should the owner fail to pay the sum due within the prescribed time, the amount shall be added to the tax due on the affected property and collected as taxes are collected. Duties Related to Schools. In those school districts still administered by trustees (nine districts in three counties), the trustee is vested with almost complete powers in school matters. These powers are subject, of course, to supervision and review by certain state agencies and by the township board. In counties adopting the county unit plan of school administration or in which township school corporations are otherwise reorganized under the jurisdiction of school boards, the trustees cease to individually administer the schools of their townships. The duties of the trustee, as school administrator, are as follows: To employ teachers with the approval of the superintendent of schools To establish and conveniently locate a sufficient number of schools for the education of the township children To provide suitable school buses, transportation, furniture, apparatus and other articles and educational appliances necessary for efficient management of schools Trustees of two or more townships may initiate a plan, with approval of the Commission on General Education of the Indiana State Board of Education, for forming a metropolitan or consolidated school district. Special school funds may then be used to purchase firefighting apparatus to be used outside city and town limits. To finance the completion of school buildings or additions under construction, school and civil townships are authorized to issue bonds. Issuing Reports. In addition to the aforementioned duties, the trustee must examine and settle all accounts and demands chargeable against the township. Specifically, the trustee must keep an accurate and current
account showing amounts received into and paid out of each fund, who was paid, as well as all receipts and expenditures in one general account. The trustee shall file all accounts as vouchers and report the same to the township board in the annual settlement. The law provides that the township trustee must have the annual report published within four weeks of the time it is filed. Immediately after this annual settlement, the county treasurer must, at the directive of the county auditor, pay the proper township trustee all funds belonging to each township. The records and other books of the township trustee must always be open for public inspection. Summer Recreation Programs. The trustee has the authority, either independently or in cooperation with a school board, school corporation, city, town or other governmental unit, to establish and sponsor summer recreation programs. The cost is to be paid from civil township funds. Community Services. Within funding capabilities, the trustee has wide authority to establish or maintain a variety of community services. These include, but are not limited to, programs for the elderly, as well as parks. Fire Protection. The trustee, with the consent of the township board, may purchase firefighting equipment and employ firefighters or may join with the trustee of one or more adjoining townships in providing joint fire protection. The trustee may contract with cities, towns or volunteer firefighting companies to supply fire protection, ambulance service and paramedic programs. Serving as Assessor. In addition to the duties outlined previously, the trustee serves as assessor in townships with a population of up to 8,000. Townships with populations of 5,000 to 8,000 may choose to elect an assessor. Deputies may be employed by the trustee to assist in the assessing duties. Serving on the Township Park and Recreation Board. Beginning in 1993, townships were able to establish a township park and recreation board consisting of the trustee and three members appointed by the trustee. The enabling statute allows such boards to receive park funds from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Additional Duties. Beyond the duties already described, other obligations of the trustee are as follows: To keep a true record of official proceedings of the township office To receive and disburse all monies belonging to the township To have the care and management of all property, real and personal, belonging to the township, with authority to bind the township within the limitations of the trustee's function (this includes the authority to enter into leases with private businesses for the mining of oil and gas on township
property) To care for abandoned cemeteries To administer oaths where necessary in the discharge of duties of office To serve property owners with ditch-cleaning notices on behalf of the county surveyor To build line fences where the affected property owners fail to agree to do so To serve as a notary public (although he or she may not charge for such service) To appoint an attorney to defend in any suit or proceeding in which the township may be interested To serve as "park governor" in relation to township parks, no matter whether a township park board has been established To collect the township's dog tax (when assuming the duties of a township assessor)