§ 10-702 — Issuance; election required; resubmission limited; submission at a statewide election; resolution; notice; counting boards

Nebraska § 10-702

• Jurisdiction: Nebraska
• Ch. 10: Bonds

Text

The question of issuing school district bonds may be submitted at a special election or such question may be voted on at an election held in conjunction with the statewide primary or statewide general election. No bonds shall be issued until the question has been submitted to the qualified electors of the district and a majority of all the qualified electors voting on the question have voted in favor of issuing the same, at an election called for the purpose, upon notice given by the officers of the district at least twenty days prior to such election. If the election for issuing bonds is held as a special election, the procedures provided in section 10-703.01 shall be followed. The question of bond issues in such districts, when defeated, shall not, except in case of fire or other disaster or in the case of a newly created district, be resubmitted in substance for a period of six months from and after the date of such election.
When the question of issuing bonds is to be submitted at a statewide primary or statewide general election as ordered by a resolution of a majority of the members of the board of education, such order shall be made in writing and filed with the county clerk or election commissioner by March 1 for the statewide primary election or September 1 for the statewide general election. The order calling for the school bond election shall be filed with the county clerk or election commissioner in the county having the greatest number of electors entitled to vote on the question. The county clerk or election commissioner receiving such order shall conduct the school bond election for the school district as provided in the Election Act.
A special notice of the election shall be published by the board of education in a newspaper or newspapers of general circulation within the district stating the day of the election, the hours during which the polls will be open, and any other information deemed necessary in informing the public of the bond issue. The notice shall be made at least twenty days prior to the election.
If the question of submitting bonds for the school district is voted upon in one or more counties and the ballots have been certified across county lines, the election boards in the counties where the ballots are cast shall count the ballots on election day the same as all other ballots are counted and seal the same in their ballots-cast container along with other ballots.
The canvassing boards in each county shall canvass the returns in the same manner as other returns are canvassed.
The county clerk or election commissioner in any adjoining county voting on the bond issue shall certify the returns to the county clerk or election commissioner of the county having the greatest number of electors entitled to vote on the question of issuing bonds.
The county clerk or election commissioner in such county shall enter the total returns from any adjoining county or counties to the total votes recorded in his or her official book of votes cast and shall certify the returns to the board of education for which such bond election was held.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1879, § 2, p. 170; R.S.1913, § 448; Laws 1917, c. 9, § 1, p. 65; C.S.1922, § 366; C.S.1929, § 11-902; R.S.1943, § 10-702; Laws 1949, c. 13, § 2, p. 75; Laws 1965, c. 36, § 1, p. 228; Laws 1967, c. 34, § 1, p. 157; Laws 1971, LB 534, § 7; Laws 1973, LB 550, § 1; Laws 1984, LB 920, § 28; Laws 1994, LB 76, § 465; Laws 2020, LB1055, § 1. Cross References: Election Act, see section 32-101. Annotations: Issuance of bonds by school district required authorization by fifty-five percent of legal votes cast at election. Haggard v. Misko, 164 Neb. 778, 83 N.W.2d 483 (1957). Ballots improperly cast or rejected for illegality cannot be counted in determining vote cast. Greathouse v. Dix Rural High School Dist., 155 Neb. 883, 54 N.W.2d 58 (1952). Under a requirement that a proposal for issuance of school district bonds be adopted by three-fifths of the ballots cast, ballots improperly cast or rejected for illegality cannot be counted. Miller v. Mersch, 152 Neb. 746, 42 N.W.2d 652 (1950). This section is not the only valid legislation under which bonds may be voted for repairing, remodeling, and enlarging schoolhouse. Taxpayers League of Wayne County v. Benthack, 136 Neb. 277, 285 N.W. 577 (1939). Posted notices of election to vote school bonds is sufficient in districts of less than one hundred fifty pupils. Union P. R. R. Co. v. School Dist. No. 9, of Merrick County, 114 Neb. 578, 208 N.W. 738 (1926). Statutory provision for publishing notice of school bond election is directory, and posting of notice did not invalidate election where result of election could not possibly have been changed. State ex rel. School Dist. No. 2 of Pierce County v. Marsh, 108 Neb. 749, 189 N.W. 283 (1922). Notice of election published in a weekly paper for a period of twenty days was sufficient. State ex rel. School Dist. of the City of Lincoln v. Barton, 91 Neb. 357, 136 N.W. 22 (1912). Under prior act, two-thirds of those present and voting was necessary to vote bonds. Allen v. School Dist. Nos. 19 and 41, Joint, of Buffalo and Hall Counties, 89 Neb. 205, 130 N.W. 1050 (1911). Women, entitled to vote at school elections, may vote on bonds. Olive v. School Dist. No. 1, 86 Neb. 135, 125 N.W. 141 (1910).