CRIMINAL LAWAND PROCEDURE
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inoperable, or improperly parked.
(3) An employee or agent of an entity that
possesses a valid lien on a motor vehicle
who is expressly authorized by the lien-
holder to repossess the motor vehicle based
upon the failure of the owner or lessee of
the motor vehicle to abide by the terms and
conditions of the loan or lease agreement.
(b) As used in this section, “authorized oper-
ator” means a person who is authorized to oper-
ate a motor vehicle by an owner or a lessee of the
motor vehicle.
(c) As used in this section, “motor vehicle” has
the meaning set forth in IC 9-13-2-105(a).
(d) A person who:
(1) enters a motor vehicle knowing that
the person does not have the permission of
an owner, a lessee, or an authorized oper-
ator of the motor vehicle to enter the motor
vehicle; and
(2) does not have a contractual interest in
the motor vehicle;
commits unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, a
Class B misdemeanor.
(e) The offense under subsection (d) is:
(1) a Class A misdemeanor if the motor
vehicle has visible steering column dam-
age or ignition switch alteration as a result
of an act described in subsection (d)(1); or
(2) a Level 6 felony if a person occupies
the motor vehicle while the motor vehicle
is used to further the commission of a
crime, if the person knew or should have
known that a person intended to use the
motor vehicle in the commission of a
crime.
(f) It is a defense to a prosecution under this
section that the accused person reasonably believed
that the person’s entry into the vehicle was nec-
essary to prevent bodily injury or property dam-
age.
(g) There is a rebuttable presumption that the
person did not have the permission of an owner,
a lessee, or an authorized operator of the motor
vehicle to enter the motor vehicle if the motor vehi-
cle has visible steering column damage or ignition
switch alteration.
35-43-4-3. Criminal conversion.
(a) A person who knowingly or intentionally
exerts unauthorized control over property of
another person commits criminal conversion, a
Class A misdemeanor.
(b) The offense under subsection (a) is a Level
6 felony if committed by a person who exerts
unauthorized control over the motor vehicle of
another person with the intent to use the motor
vehicle to assist the person in the commission of
a crime.
(c) The offense under subsection (a) is a Level
5 felony if:
(1) committed by a person who exerts
unauthorized control over the motor vehi-
cle of another person; and
(2) the person uses the motor vehicle to
assist the person in the commission of a
felony.
(d) The offense under subsection (a) is a Level
6 felony if:
(1) the person acquires the property by
lease;
(2) the property is a motor vehicle;
(3) the person signs a written agreement to
return the property to a specified location
within a specified time; and
(4) the person fails to return the property:
(A) within thirty (30) days after the
specified time; or
(B) within three (3) days after a writ-
ten demand for return of the property
is either:
(i) personally served on the per-
son; or
(ii) sent by registered mail to the
person’s address that is provided
by the person in the written agree-
ment.
35-43-4-3.5. Conversion by borrower.
(a) If a person:
(1) Borrows any article which belongs to
or is in the care of any library, gallery,
museum, collection, or exhibition;
(2) Borrows the article under an agree-
ment to return the article within a specified
period of time; and
(3) Fails to return the article within that
specified period of time;
