HUNTINGTON, IND. (WOWO) A federal judge has ruled that the State of Indiana unlawfully discriminated against certain recovery homes serving people recovering from substance abuse.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt found the state violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by treating some family-style recovery homes as commercial facilities rather than residential housing.

The decision determined that the state imposed requirements on the homes that were not applied to other residential properties, creating barriers for organizations providing housing to people in addiction recovery.

Under the ruling, Indiana is permanently barred from enforcing those requirements against four nonprofit organizations that operate recovery homes.

The court also ordered the state to pay more than $200,000 in damages to a recovery home located in Huntington County.

Federal disability law protects people recovering from substance use disorders from discrimination in housing and other services. The judge concluded that the state’s policies placed unnecessary burdens on the recovery homes and violated those protections.

The decision means the affected nonprofit groups can continue operating their housing programs without the commercial classification requirements that had been imposed by the state.