{"id":2091,"date":"2023-02-27T00:03:46","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T05:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesslaw.hpindiana.law\/blog\/?p=2091"},"modified":"2025-03-13T22:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T02:23:12","slug":"mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandatory and Directory Statutes: What does “shall” really mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A

The Chicago Picasso in Daley Plaza, copyright 2023 Harshman Ponist Smith & Rayl<\/p><\/div>\n

Lawyers and others often say that \u201cmay\u201d is permissive and \u201cshall\u201d is mandatory.\u00a0 By that, they mean that when a statute says a person \u201cmay\u201d do something, that person has the discretion to do it or not, but when a statute says a person \u201cshall\u201d do something, the person has no choice. Or, as the Drafting Manual for the Indiana General Assembly puts it:<\/p>\n

To create a duty, say “shall.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Continue reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Picasso in Daley Plaza, copyright 2023 Harshman Ponist Smith & Rayl Lawyers and others often say that \u201cmay\u201d is permissive and \u201cshall\u201d is mandatory.\u00a0 By that, they mean that when a statute says a person \u201cmay\u201d do something, that person has the discretion to do it or not, but when a statute says […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,10],"tags":[23,34,39,47,64],"class_list":["post-2091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-auction-law","category-contract-law","category-indiana-court-decisions","tag-chicago-picasso","tag-directory-statute","tag-gary-indiana","tag-mandatory-statute","tag-wooden-model"],"yoast_head":"\nMandatory and Directory Statutes: What does "shall" really mean? — Indiana Business Law Blog — February 27, 2023<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lawyers and others often say that \u201cmay\u201d is permissive and \u201cshall\u201d is mandatory.\u00a0 By that, they mean that when a statute says a person \u201cmay\u201d do something, — February 27, 2023\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael R. Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mandatory and Directory Statutes: What does \"shall\" really mean? — Indiana Business Law Blog — February 27, 2023","description":"Lawyers and others often say that \u201cmay\u201d is permissive and \u201cshall\u201d is mandatory.\u00a0 By that, they mean that when a statute says a person \u201cmay\u201d do something, — February 27, 2023","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael R. Smith","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael R. Smith","@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22651dd1a387f83ca7560f7eba353e29"},"headline":"Mandatory and Directory Statutes: What does “shall” really mean?","datePublished":"2023-02-27T05:03:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-14T02:23:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/"},"wordCount":1250,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2022-05-15-19.01.26-scaled-1.jpg","keywords":["Chicago Picasso","directory statute","Gary Indiana","mandatory statute","wooden model"],"articleSection":["Auction Law","Contract Law","Indiana Court Decisions"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/","name":"Mandatory and Directory Statutes: What does \"shall\" really mean? — Indiana Business Law Blog — February 27, 2023","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2022-05-15-19.01.26-scaled-1.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-27T05:03:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-14T02:23:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22651dd1a387f83ca7560f7eba353e29"},"description":"Lawyers and others often say that \u201cmay\u201d is permissive and \u201cshall\u201d is mandatory.\u00a0 By that, they mean that when a statute says a person \u201cmay\u201d do something, — February 27, 2023","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2022-05-15-19.01.26-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2022-05-15-19.01.26-scaled-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":2560,"caption":"The Chicago Picasso in Daley Plaza, copyright 2023 Harshman Ponist Smith & Rayl"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/mandatory-and-directory-statutes-what-does-shall-really-mean\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mandatory and Directory Statutes: What does “shall” really mean?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/","name":"Indiana Business Law Blog","description":"Published by Indianapolis Corporate Attorneys \u2014 Harshman Ponist Smith & Rayl, LLC","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/#\/schema\/person\/22651dd1a387f83ca7560f7eba353e29","name":"Michael R. Smith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/095342975260becd46df795933b96309ce26cc246013b9675f2ebfbfb15aeb88?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/095342975260becd46df795933b96309ce26cc246013b9675f2ebfbfb15aeb88?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/095342975260becd46df795933b96309ce26cc246013b9675f2ebfbfb15aeb88?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Michael R. Smith"}}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2022-05-15-19.01.26-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2091"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2634,"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2091\/revisions\/2634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hpindiana.law\/business-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}