(a) Upon the petition of all the owners of the record title as reflected by the deed records in the office of the circuit clerk and ex officio recorder of the pertinent county of real property in any territory, it shall be the duty of the county court to:
(1) Lay off into an improvement district the territory described in the petition for the purpose of:
(A) Purchasing, accepting as a gift, constructing, or maintaining waterworks, recreational facilities, systems of gas pipelines, and sewers;
(B) Grading, draining, paving, curbing, and guttering streets and highways and laying sidewalks;
(C) Establishing, equipping, and maintaining rural fire departments; or
(D) More than one (1) of such purposes; and
(2) Name as commissioners of the district the three (3) persons whose names appear in the petition if the petition contains names, or if not, three (3) individuals of integrity and good business ability.
(b) Portions of municipalities may be included in these districts if the portion of area located within municipalities shall be less than fifty percent (50%) of the area of the entire district.
(c) All districts shall be numbered consecutively or else shall receive names selected by the court.
(d) If the court does not act promptly in complying with the terms of this section, or of any other section of this chapter essential to the creation and operation of the district, it may be compelled to do so by mandamus.
(e)
(1) If land in more than one (1) county is embraced in the proposed district, the petition shall be addressed to the circuit court in which the largest portion of the lands lie, and all proceedings shall be had in that court.
(2) Any notices in that event shall be published in newspapers published and having a bona fide circulation in each county in which the district embraces land.
(f)
(1) Any number of petitions may be circulated, and identical petitions with additional names may be filed at any time until the court acts.
(2) A petition under this section shall contain a bold heading stating that a signature on the petition is a vote to create the district.