46-129. District property; title; conveyance in trust; procedure; election.
The legal title to all property acquired under the provisions of sections 46-101 to 46-1,111, or acquired through purchase at tax sale foreclosure, shall immediately and by operation of law vest in such irrigation district in its corporate name, and shall be held by such district in trust for, and is hereby dedicated and set apart to the uses and purposes set forth in said sections. The board is hereby authorized and empowered to hold, use and acquire, manage, occupy and possess such property, and may convey the same, in whole or in part, to the United States, in trust, or to any trustee, for any period not exceeding thirty years, when authorized to do so by the affirmative vote of a majority of the qualified electors voting on such proposition at any general or special election held in such district. Notice of such election shall be given by posting notice thereof in three public places in each of the election precincts in the district for at least twenty days and also by publication of such notice in some newspaper published in the county where the office of the board of directors is kept, once each week for three successive weeks. Such notice shall specify the time and place of holding the election and shall contain a brief summary of the proposition involving the proposed conveyance. Such election shall be held and the result thereof determined and declared in conformity with the provisions of law governing the election of officers in such district, as nearly as may be practicable. No informalities in conducting such an election shall invalidate the same if the election shall have been otherwise fairly conducted. Where such conveyance is made pursuant to the terms and provisions of any contract entered into by the district, upon full compliance with the terms and provisions of such contract by the district the title to such property shall revert to the district; Provided, however, that the board of directors of any irrigation district may authorize the sale and conveyance of any property acquired through purchase at a tax foreclosure sale, to any other person, firm or corporation, by a resolution duly adopted by the board of directors of such district; and provided further, that where the property has been purchased by such district at a tax foreclosure sale, the consideration, for the sale and conveyance of such property by the district, shall not be less than the amount bid for it by such district at the tax foreclosure sale.
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Notice of election by publication and posting was sufficient. Frenchman Valley Irr. Dist. v. Smith, 167 Neb. 78, 91 N.W.2d 415 (1958).
Landowner by adverse use of drainage ditch discharging water into irrigation canal for more than statutory period of ten years, may acquire from irrigation district an easement for that purpose. Central Irr. Dist. v. Gering Irr. Dist., 122 Neb. 199, 240 N.W. 289 (1932).
Contract with irrigation district, whereby United States managed and operated system, did not deprive district of right to determine amount of taxes to be levied. Operation was not exercise of state sovereignty. New York Trust Co. v. Farmers' Irr. Dist., 280 F. 785 (8th Cir. 1922).