Altice, J.
Case Summary
In February 2018, Charlene Noel filed a medical malpractice complaint in Marion Superior Court against several defendants, including Indiana University Health Southern Indiana Physicians, Inc. (IU Health SIP), Sarah Whiteman, NP, and Carlito Sabandal, M.D. (collectively, Appellants). Appellants filed a motion to transfer venue, alleging that Marion County was not a preferred venue under Ind. Trial Rule 75 and requesting that the case be transferred to Lawrence County. The trial court denied the motion. Appellants appeal from the denial of their motion to transfer venue. Amicus curiae briefs have been filed by Defense Trial Counsel of Indiana (DTCI) and Indiana Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA), aligned with Appellants and Noel, respectively.
The only connection that any of the defendants have to Marion County is the Indianapolis address of the registered agent for IU Heath SIP and Indiana University Health Bedford, Inc., d/b/a Indiana University Health Bedford Hospital (IU Bedford Hospital) (collectively, IU Health Entities). Based on this connection, Noel contends that Marion County is a preferred venue under T.R. 75(A)(4) and our Supreme Court’s interpretation of this rule in American Family Ins. Co. v. Ford Motor Co., 857 N.E.2d 971 (Ind. 2006) (American Family). Appellants, however, direct us to Ind. Code § 23-0.5-4-12 that went into effect January 1, 2018. This statute provides in part: “The address of the [registered] agent does not determine venue in an action or a proceeding involving the entity.” Noel responds that the statute is a nullity because it conflicts with T.R. 75(A)(4) as interpreted by the Court in American Family.
We affirm. [Footnote omitted.]
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Extensive revisions to Indiana’s corporation law took effect on January 1, 2018, with the repeal of numerous statutes and the adoption of new ones. Relevant here is the adoption of I.C. § 23-0.5-4-12, which provides:
The designation or maintenance in Indiana of a registered agent does not by itself create the basis for personal jurisdiction over the represented entity in Indiana. The address of the agent does not determine venue in an action or a proceeding involving the entity.
(Emphasis supplied).[Footnote omitted.]
On appeal, Appellants and DTCI argue that Marion County is not a preferred venue in this case and, therefore, the motion to transfer venue to Lawrence County6 should have been granted by the trial court. First, Appellants argue that American Family is not controlling authority in this case because its holding should be limited to foreign companies. Unlike a foreign corporation, as in American Family, Appellants observe that a domestic corporation is physically located in Indiana. Thus, according to Appellants, a domestic corporation can have both a principal office and a registered office/agent.
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In response, Noel and ITLA do not dispute that I.C. § 23-0.5-4-12 is clear and that if it is applicable here, Marion County would not be a county of preferred venue. They argue, however, that the statute is a nullity because it directly conflicts with T.R. 75 as the rule has been interpreted by our Supreme Court.
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Appellants and DTCI argue that there is no conflict between I.C. § 23-0.5-4-12 and T.R. 75 and that the statute does not fix more stringent rules regarding venue than T.R. 75(A). They observe that the plain language of T.R. 75(A)(4) makes no mention of the phrase “registered office,” only “principal office.” They assert that the location of the registered office became relevant in the context of T.R. 75(A)(4) only after American Family’s interpretation of the phrase “principal office” based on a statute (I.C. § 23-1-24-1) that no longer exists. According to Appellants, the new statute “merely provides guidance on the interpretation of what is not a ‘principal office’ for purposes of T.R.75 (A)(4).” Appellants’ Brief at 15 (emphasis in original). That is, contrary to American Family, the address of the registered agent does not establish preferred venue. [Footnote omitted.]
Another panel of this court recently determined that I.C. § 23-0.5-4-12 is not ineffective under T.R. 75(D). Morrison v. Vasquez, 107 N.E.3d 1103, 1109-10 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018) (rehearing denied October 22, 2018)…. We cannot agree with our colleagues’ determination regarding the effectiveness of the statute.
I.C. § 23-0.5-4-12 clearly conflicts with T.R. 75(A)(4) as the rule has been interpreted by our Supreme Court.9 As set forth above, in American Family, the Court was concerned with the meaning of “principal office” as it was understood at the time T.R. 75 was adopted in 1970. The Court determined that this phrase, as used in the rule, referred to “the place in Indiana where one serves the corporate registered agent.” American Family, 857 N.E.2d at 975. In light of the 1986 amendments to our state’s corporation law, the Court determined that this place was now statutorily referred to as “registered office” rather than “principal office”. Despite the changed nomenclature, the Court stayed true to the original meaning of the term “principal office” in the rule.
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We reiterate that the Supreme Court has the “authority to adopt, amend, and rescind rules of court that govern and control practice and procedure in all the courts of Indiana.” I.C. § 34-8-1-3. Laws in conflict with rules promulgated by the Court “have no further force or effect.” Id. Further, procedural rules adopted by the Court are regularly interpreted by the Court, and these cases also “take precedence over any conflicting statutes.” Augustine v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n of Gary, 384 N.E.2d 1018, 1020 (Ind. 1979) (“The procedural rules and cases decided by this Court take precedence over any conflicting statutes”). We hold that I.C. § 23-0.5-4-12 conflicts with T.R. 75(A)(4) as interpreted by the Indiana Supreme Court and that the statute is, therefore, a nullity.
American Family remains controlling law in Indiana. If the Indiana corporate community is dissatisfied with the Court’s interpretation of the rule, recourse lies with the Indiana Supreme Court Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, not the legislature. [Footnote omitted.] See Ind. Trial Rule 80 (establishing the committee and setting forth procedures for amending Indiana Rules of Court).
Affirmed. Bradford, J. and Tavitas, J., concur.