Sec. 9. (a) A town must obtain the consent of both the metropolitan development commission and the legislative body of a county having a consolidated city before annexing territory within the county where a consolidated city is located.
(b) A town may not annex within an area that extends one (1) mile outside the corporate boundaries of a second or third class city. A town may annex within the area that extends:
(1) more than one (1) mile; and
(2) not more than three (3) miles;
outside the corporate boundaries of a second or third class city, if the annexation by the town does not include territory that extends more than one (1) mile outside the corporate boundaries of the town.
(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to:
(1) a town that proposes to annex territory located in a different county than the city; or
(2) an annexation by a town that is:
(A) an annexation under section 5 or 5.1 of this chapter; or
(B) consented to by at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the owners of land in the territory the town proposes to annex.
(d) In determining the total number of landowners of the annexed territory and whether signers of a consent under subsection (c)(2)(B) are landowners, the names appearing on the tax duplicate for that territory constitute prima facie evidence of ownership. Only one (1) person having an interest in each single property, as evidenced by the tax duplicate, is considered a landowner for purposes of this section.
(e) Each municipality that is known as an included town under IC 36-3-1-7 is also considered a town for purposes of this section.