Vaidik, CJ.
When Warsaw Police Department Officer Miles Reichard pulled over Eberaia Fields, Officer Reichard had not taken the statutory oath for law-enforcement officers. Fields filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him, and the trial court denied his motion, finding that although Officer Reichard had not been sworn in, he was acting as a de facto officer at the time of the stop.
The de facto officer doctrine confers validity upon acts performed by a person acting under the color of official title even though it is later discovered that the legality of that person’s appointment is deficient. The purpose of this doctrine is to protect the public by insuring the orderly functioning of the government despite technical defects in title to office. …
… Officer Reichard pulled over Fields in the early-morning hours of September 12, 2015, due to a broken license-plate light. At the time of the stop, Officer Reichard was in full Warsaw Police Department uniform, was driving a marked Warsaw Police Department patrol car, and identified himself as an officer with the Warsaw Police Department. Fields was ultimately charged with Level 6 felony operating a vehicle while intoxicated, two counts of Level 6 felony intimidation, and Class C misdemeanor violation of special-driving privileges. The State also alleged that Fields was a habitual vehicular substance offender.
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At the hearing on Fields’s motion to dismiss, evidence was presented that Officer Reichard began working for the Warsaw Police Department on November 9, 2014, and that he received his first paycheck a couple weeks later. However, Officer Reichard did not have his oath of office administered and filed with the Kosciusko County Clerk until November 19, 2015—a year after he was hired and two months after he stopped Fields. The State presented additional evidence that before Officer Reichard began working for the Warsaw Police Department, he worked part-time for the Indiana University Police Department while he was attending college. … Upon being hired by the Warsaw Police Department, Officer Reichard received a paycheck, health-insurance and retirement benefits, a uniform, handcuffs, a handgun, ammunition, a taser, a fully marked patrol car, and badge number 161. He also underwent a two-week orientation and was supervised by a field-training officer for twelve weeks before he was allowed to patrol on his own. Finally, Officer Reichard acted with the approval and consent of the Warsaw Chief of Police.
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… The de facto officer doctrine is well established in the law. According to the United States Supreme Court, “The de facto officer doctrine confers validity upon acts performed by a person acting under the color of official title even though it is later discovered that the legality of that person’s appointment or election to office is deficient.” Ryder v. United States, 515 U.S. 177, 180 (1995) (quotation omitted)2; see also King v. State, 397 N.E.2d 1260, 1268 (Ind. Ct. App. 1979) …
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… According to Indiana law, all that is required to make an officer de facto is that he (1) claim the office, (2) be in possession of it, and (3) perform its duties under the color of election or appointment. Carty v. State, 421 N.E.2d 1151, 1154 (Ind. Ct. App. 1981) …
We find that Officer Reichard’s failure to take the statutory oath was a technical defect. Applying the three-prong test from Carty, Officer Reichard claimed the office when he accepted the job and began working as an officer with the Warsaw Police Department on November 9, 2014. From that date forward, Officer Reichard possessed the office. He was assigned a uniform, handcuffs, a handgun, ammunition, a taser, a fully marked patrol car, and badge number 161. And he openly performed the duties of an officer while being paid and employed by the Warsaw Police Department with the approval and consent of the chief of police. Accordingly, we conclude that he was acting as a de facto officer when he stopped Fields on September 12, 2015.
… We therefore affirm the trial court’s denial of Fields’s motion to dismiss.
Affirmed.
May, J., and Altice, J., concur.