Julie Kitchell v. Ted Franklin, as the Mayor of the City of Logansport, and the Common Council of the City of Logansport

RUCKER, Justice.

In this case we address whether Indiana’s Public-Private Agreements statute requires a local legislative body to first adopt the statute before it may issue a request for proposals or begin contract negotiations as provided for under the statute. We hold it does not.

Background

In the first half of the nineteenth century a number of federal, state, and local governmental entities entered into ventures with private businesses to build railroads and canals in an effort to promote economic growth. The public entities raised money to invest in private companies, not only by issuing…