## Facts

- Robert W. Whitacre and his wife, amateur archaeologists, discovered a Hopewell Indian archaeological site and artifacts on a 40-acre farm in Dearborn County, Indiana.
- With the owner’s permission, they began excavating and removing artifacts; later they purchased the farm and continued excavations and investigations.
- After learning of statutory changes, Whitacre asked the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) whether a permit or approved plan was required to conduct archaeological investigations on his own property; IDNR advised that approval was required.
- Whitacre concluded the governing statute did not apply to privately owned land and filed a declaratory judgment action seeking an interpretation of the Indiana Historic Preservation and Archeology Act (Ind. Code § 14-3-3.4).
- The trial court declared the Act applicable to private property; Whitacre appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Ind. Code § 14-3-3.4 applies to privately owned property, requiring a private landowner to obtain an IDNR-approved archaeological plan before disturbing ground to discover artifacts or burial objects.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed the declaratory judgment for the State and IDNR.
- The court held the Act applies to privately owned property.
- A person must have an IDNR-approved archaeological plan before disturbing private land for the purpose of discovering artifacts or burial objects.

## Legal Principles

- Statutory interpretation seeks legislative intent and reads provisions in context of the statute as a whole, including stated policies and structure.
- Amendments adding plan-approval requirements for ground disturbance, without limiting language confining them to state-owned or state-leased land, support a construction extending the Act’s coverage to private property.
- A preservation statute may regulate archaeological ground disturbance on private land when the legislature’s text and purpose indicate statewide protection of archaeological resources.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that Ind. Code § 14-3-3.4, as amended, requires IDNR approval of an archaeological plan before a person may disturb ground to discover artifacts or burial objects, and that requirement applies on privately owned land; the trial court’s declaratory judgment was affirmed.


Whitacre v. State, 619 N.E.2d 605 (Ind. Ct. App. 1993)