(1)Two or more established districts
may be consolidated into a single district by the following procedure:
(a)The supervisors of the districts desiring to consolidate, acting upon their
own initiative or upon the petitions of a substantial number of the qualified
landowners in their districts, may jointly prepare and submit to the state board a
request for authority to consolidate. Such request shall be accompanied by maps
showing the geographical boundaries and locations of the districts to be
consolidated and of the proposed consolidated district. If the state board finds that
the proposed consolidation is in the best interests of the districts affected, it shall
notify the supervisors of the districts that they have authority to proceed.
(b)Upon receiving such notification
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(1) Two or more established districts
may be consolidated into a single district by the following procedure:
(a) The supervisors of the districts desiring to consolidate, acting upon their
own initiative or upon the petitions of a substantial number of the qualified
landowners in their districts, may jointly prepare and submit to the state board a
request for authority to consolidate. Such request shall be accompanied by maps
showing the geographical boundaries and locations of the districts to be
consolidated and of the proposed consolidated district. If the state board finds that
the proposed consolidation is in the best interests of the districts affected, it shall
notify the supervisors of the districts that they have authority to proceed.
(b) Upon receiving such notification to proceed, the supervisors of the
districts shall hold a public hearing concerning the proposed consolidation.
Thereafter, if the supervisors decide to proceed with the consolidation, each board
of supervisors shall request that the state board prepare a notice of election on the
proposed consolidation, setting forth the circumstances of the proposed
consolidation and the date, time, and place of a special election to be held in each
of the districts at which the question of consolidation will be voted upon. The notice
shall be published as specified in section 35-70-105 (6), in a newspaper of general
circulation in each of the districts not more than thirty days nor less than ten days
before the election and posted at several places in each of the districts. The
election shall be conducted by the state board as provided in section 35-70-105 (7).
(c) If a majority of the votes cast in each of the districts are against such
consolidation, the state board shall dismiss the proceedings, and the district shall
proceed as though no such election had been held. If a majority of the votes cast in
each of the districts are in favor of consolidation, the board of supervisors of each
district shall certify jointly that fact to the state board, which shall in turn certify it
to the division of local government in the department of local affairs. Upon such
final certification, the districts so consolidated shall cease to exist as separate
districts.
(d) (I) After an election approving a consolidated district, the supervisors of
each board of a consolidated district shall constitute the organizational board of
the consolidated district, regardless of the number of supervisors. This
organizational board shall remain as the board of the consolidated district until
such time as the first board of the consolidated district is selected as provided in
this paragraph (d).
(II) The organizational board, within six months after the date of the
consolidation election, shall select and determine the terms of the supervisors of
the first board of the consolidated district. In making such determination, the
organizational board shall fix the terms of the first board as follows: The terms of
two directors of the first board having the fewest years to serve on the board to
which they were originally elected shall expire at the first election after the
consolidation, and the terms of the remaining three directors having the greatest
number of years to serve on the board to which they were originally elected shall
expire at the second election. If the terms of the supervisors so selected to the first
board of the consolidated district expire on the same date, the terms of such
supervisors shall be determined by the organizational board. Such terms shall be
determined, however, so that the terms of three supervisors of the consolidated
district shall expire at the time that the terms of three supervisors of existing
districts shall expire, and the terms of the remaining two supervisors of the
consolidated district shall expire at the time that the terms of the remaining two
supervisors of existing districts shall expire. Thereafter, each supervisor in office
shall be elected for a four-year term.
(III) The members of the organizational board of the consolidated district not
selected to act as the members of the first board of the consolidated district may
act, however, as advisory members to the first board until such time as the terms of
office for which they were originally elected would have expired. Advisory members
may be compensated equally with compensation paid to the board of the
consolidated district for each meeting attended. Advisory board members may not
act as officers of nor bind the consolidated district and shall have no vote on any
matters before the board of the consolidated district, but they may be employed by
the board of the consolidated district in any capacity.
(e) A consolidated district has all of the rights, powers, and authority of each
of the conservation districts consolidated. After consolidation the district may
consolidate with any other conservation districts, and all actions and proceedings
of the consolidated district shall be done without regard to the fact of
consolidation.
(2) Any contract to which any district is a party remains the obligation of that
district, and the assets or proceeds from the assets thereof shall be first available
for the payment of any obligation thereunder, unless the other parties to the said
contract agree and consent to the substitution of the new district as a party
thereto. In either event, the consolidated district shall, in accordance with the terms
of any agreement made between the consolidating districts, be an additional party
to any such contract and liable thereon and with full right and authority to perform
or require the performance of the said contract, including the right to enforce the
said contract by any lawful action, as fully as though the consolidated district were
an original party thereto. Upon consolidation of such districts, the consolidated
district shall become and shall proceed in all things as a newly-organized district
under the provisions of this article.