INDIANA SENATE MAJORITY CAUCUS
200 WEST WASHINGTON STREET – INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 46204
NEWS RELEASE
05.25.05
Contact: Jamie Jorczak (317)232-9524
jjorczak@iga.state.in.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(STATEHOUSE) Upon finding that Sen. Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville) may not be eligible to serve on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority, Senate President Pro Tempore Robert D. Garton today announced he will recommend another appointment to the board.
The Stadium Authority is legally a “body corporate and politic,” according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency. A 1958 Indiana Supreme Court case, Book v State Office Building Commission , found that bodies corporate and politic are deemed to be part of the executive branch of government. Under Article 3, Section 1 of the Indiana Constitution, an individual may not serve more than one branch of government at the same time.
Garton said he intends to recommend the appointment of Kenley as a special adviser to the authority.
Garton is recommending the governor fill the vacancy by appointing Joseph M. Perkins, Jr., Senior Counsel to Cummins, Inc. Perkins, a resident of Carmel, is a native Hoosier and a graduate of Richmond High School, Princeton University, and the University of Virginia School of Law. Perkins also studied at the London School of Economics. His service as a member of the Indiana Election Commission was the longest in state history, and he has served on the Marion County Board of Zoning Appeals; as president of the board for Bartholomew County Legal Aid; and as president of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I am confident in Joe's wisdom, character, and ability to be a leader on the stadium and convention center project,” Garton said. “His presence on the board will have a positive impact on the progress of this venture.”
The Building Authority, which will oversee design and construction of the $900 million project, is composed of seven members. Each must be a resident of Indiana. The governor appoints four members; the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may each make one recommendation to the governor. Two members are appointed by the Mayor of Indianapolis. The seventh member of the board is nominated by one of the “doughnut counties” (the seven counties surrounding Marion County), in accordance with a regional partnership on the stadium and convention center project.
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