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Indiana
Mini trucks in Bartholomew County, Indiana
Kei trucks in Indiana, plated for the road and kept off the interstate.
Bartholomew CountyIndiana
Can I own one here
Owning one in Bartholomew County.
On your own land
On private land with the owner's consent an off-road vehicle needs no local act. Indiana asks for BMV registration and decals on an off-road vehicle and DNR rules govern public land.
To confirm.
On the farm
IC 14-16-1-20 does not apply to a farm vehicle being used for farming, which is outside the off-road vehicle class by the BMV's own page. No Indiana source read puts a kei truck on a county road for farm work outside the local acts.
To confirm.
A 25 year truck on the road
Road use with limits. Indiana titles and plates a mini truck for the road, and it may go anywhere except an interstate highway.
A newer governed truck
Off highway vehicle. ORV title, required for an ORV bought after 31 December 2009, applied for within 45 days.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Bartholomew County.
Roads open. Bartholomew County opens its unincorporated county roads to registered recreational off-highway vehicles and utility task vehicles under a 2025 ordinance, but not state highways, and Columbus opened its streets to utility task vehicles in 2026. The county's vehicle test asks for four off-highway tires and a top speed of 35 mph or more.
In town Some
- Some Columbus. Golf carts and utility task vehicles on city streets posted 30 mph or less, never any other off-road vehicle, never on sidewalks, trails or bike paths, and never on or across state highways except at designated crossing intersections. A utility task vehicle is a self propelled vehicle designed for off-road use with at least four wheels, side by side seating for two or more and a steering wheel, no wider than 74 inches and no more than 2,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating. It may not exceed 30 mph on any city street, and the operator needs a licence and liability insurance. Golf carts are also barred from Central Avenue and three other named streets. City of Columbus Ordinance No. 10, 2026, adding Chapter 10.70, passed in spring 2026 and in effect 1 June 2026 by the city's own police page, read 28 October 2026
County roads Open
Every publicly maintained road in the unincorporated county road inventory, for recreational off-highway vehicles and utility task vehicles of 50 to 80 inches wide, 2,500 pounds dry or less, on at least four off-highway tires, able to reach 35 mph and riding single file. All terrain vehicles, three wheelers, four wheelers and slow moving vehicles may not use them. Golf carts are limited to roads inside residential neighborhoods. Sunrise to sunset only unless lamps, brake lights, turn signals, mirror and belts are fitted. Ordinance 2025-04, Chapter 74 of the county traffic code, passed on first reading 4 August 2025 and adopted 18 August 2025, read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Bartholomew County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Savannah, Georgia Ports Authority, about 700 road miles.
- The JAXPORT, Jacksonville Port Authority, about 800 road miles.
- The Port of Los Angeles, about 2,200 road miles.
How to import a mini truck, step by step.
A newer off road truck never lands in California. It comes in through Tacoma or by way of Houston.
Trucks travel in containers, one to a 20 foot box with room for parts or three to a 40 foot box.
Road miles are an estimate, the straight line times 1.2.
The ground
Bartholomew County, counted.
3 active surface mines and quarries work Bartholomew County's ground. Bartholomew County is mostly urban, with 31 percent of its people outside urban areas. Bartholomew County has 502 farms and 107 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture.
Importing a kei truck
The essentials, in short.
A truck under 25 can come in only as governed off road equipment, and only if its engine family held an EPA nonroad certificate for that model year. No kei engine family was certified for mini trucks before model year 2010, so a truck built after 30 October 2001 and before model year 2010 has no federal door until its 25th birthday.
Two lanes
A road truck must be 25 years old by its own build date. A newer truck comes in only as governed off road equipment with a certified engine.
The 25 percent duty
Every kei truck pays the 25 percent truck duty at the port, whatever its age.
The paperwork
The customs entry and the two federal declarations, DOT Form HS-7 and EPA Form 3520-1, travel with the truck to your title office.
The title
Keep every stamped paper with the truck. Your state title office asks to see them.
Contact
A question about the law in Bartholomew County?
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