A. When a final determination of the commission that a proposed district is necessary and desirable has been entered and recorded, the commission shall then determine whether the operation of the district is administratively practicable. To assist in this determination, the commission shall call for a referendum on the proposed district within the geographical boundaries of the district as defined by the commission, to be conducted on the next succeeding first Tuesday in May, if practicable. All registered voters residing within the proposed district shall be eligible to vote.
B. The commission shall:
(1) provide for due notice of a referendum within a proposed district;
(2) confirm eligibility of registered voters; and
(3) adopt and publish rules to govern the orderly conduct of a referendum.
C. A referendum may not be held during an interval when valid rules adopted and published by the commission are not in effect.
D. The proposal shall be presented to the voters on ballots that define, in general terms and by legal description, the area encompassed within the proposed district.
E. Informalities or irregularities in the conduct of a referendum shall have no effect upon its result if due notice requirements have been substantially complied with and balloting has been fairly conducted in substantial compliance with the rules adopted and published by the commission.
F. The commission shall publish referendum results and make a final determination of whether the proposed district is administratively practicable; provided, however, in the event that approval of the proposed district is not carried by a majority of votes cast in a referendum, the commission shall deny the petition and shall enter and record its order.
History: 1953 Comp., § 45-5-49, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 137, § 8; 1977, ch. 254, § 64; 2003, ch. 88, § 7; 2005, ch. 141, § 1.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, changed the date of the referendum of a proposed district from February to May in Subsection A.
The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, in Subsection A deleted "within a reasonable time" following "the commission shall" near the beginning of the second sentence, inserted "to be conducted on the next succeeding first Tuesday in February if practicable" at the end of the second sentence, and substituted "registered voters residing" for "owners of land lying" near the beginning of the third sentence; rewrote the provisions of former Subsection B describing the ballot to be presented to the voters and designated those provisions as present Subsection D and redesignated subsequent paragraphs accordingly and inserted present Subsection C; deleted former Subsection D regarding considerations for the commission in determining the administrative practicability of proposed districts; and deleted "of referendum" following "due notice" near the middle of present Subsection E.
Benefits available to all landowners. — Landowner does not join soil and conservation district; upon formation thereof, benefits of soil and water conservation district are available to all owners of land located within boundaries of district, whether such owners have joined said district or not. 1966 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 66-48.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 94 C.J.S. Waters § 319.