Category Archives: Government Practice

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held in Nunez v. Indiana Department of Child Services that Indiana may not be sued for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). Two employees of Indiana Department of Child Services (the “Department”) sued the Department for violation of FLSA alleging that the employees had not been paid for overtime they were required to work.  The trial court dismissed the lawsuit, holding that Indiana was immune from suit pursuant to the Eleventh Amendment (which provides “The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State”).  In short, the Eleventh Amendment prevents private suits against states in federal court. The United States Supreme Court held in 1999 that the FLSA did not abrogate immunity, but that states could consent to suits for violation of the FLSA. Alden v. Maine, 527 U.S. 706 (1999). A waiver of immunity can occur in any of 3 circumstances:  When a plaintiff seeks prospective equitable relief against a state official, when Congress abrogates immunity through legislative enactment (which did not occur with FLSA per Alden), or when a state waives immunity and consents to suit. The plaintiffs claimed that Indiana had waived immunity and consented to suit.  First they claimed a waiver within the Indiana Code which contains a statute of limitations for contract claims against the state.  However, the Seventh…

Beginning July 1, 2016, Indiana Code § 5-11-1-27 (HEA 1264-2015) imposes a number of new requirements on all political subdivisions in Indiana that will significantly change the manner in which these entities operate.  It is critical that each unit of local government takes action prior to July 1, 2016 to ensure that it will remain in compliance and receive budget approval from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) later this year. Specifically, the new law requires, among other items, the following: (1) The legislative body of a political subdivision must develop and adopt a “system of internal controls” and ensure appropriate training of all personnel concerning the internal control system. (2) The fiscal officer of a political subdivision must certify annually that required and procedures are in place and that all personnel with access to funds have received training on the procedures. (3) The state board of accounts (SBOA) must issue a comment in its examination report if internal controls and procedures are not adopted or personnel have not received training. (4) The governing board of the entity must self-report uncorrected violations to the DLGF. (5) The DLGF may not approve the political subdivision’s budget or supplemental appropriations if the political subdivision has failed to adopt internal controls and procedures or train personnel. (6) Additional reporting and follow up requirements are required upon the discovery of the misappropriation of political subdivision funds. While the new law makes other changes to the operations of local units of government, the above will have the most immediate…