§ 73-14-5 — Petition; place of filing; signatures; contents; land

included. A. Before any district shall be established under this act, a petition shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the court vested with jurisdiction, in a county in which all or a part of the lands embraced in said proposed district are situated, signed by the owners of more than one-third of the real property in such proposed district, in either acreage or value, as shown by the last preceding assessment roll of the county or counties wherein such district is proposed to be created. B. Whenever a proposed district shall include territory extending into more than one judicial district, the petition for the organization of said district shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the court in and for that county which has the greatest valuation of real property within the proposed district, as shown by the tax rolls of the respective counties. C. Such a petition may also be signed by any private corporations owning lands within the proposed district, or by the governing body of any public corporation lying wholly or partly within the proposed district, in such manner as it may prescribe, and when so signed, such petition shall fill all the requirements of representation upon such petition of the owners of land of such public corporation, as they appear upon the tax rolls; and thereafter it shall not be necessary for individuals within said public corporation to sign such a petition. D. Any city interested in some degree in the improvement, upon proper action by its governing body, may alone file the petition required by this section. E. The petition shall set forth: (1) the proposed name of said district; (2) that property within the proposed district will be benefited by the accomplishment of one or more of the purposes enumerated in Section 73-14-4 NMSA 1978; (3) a general description of the purpose of the contemplated improvement, and of the territory to be included in the proposed district; such description need not be given by metes and bounds or by legal subdivisions, but it shall be sufficient to enable a property owner to ascertain whether his property is within the territory proposed to be organized as a district; said territory need not be contiguous, provided it be so situated that the organization as a single district of the territory described is calculated to promote one or more of the purposes enumerated in Section 73-14-4 NMSA 1978; (4) said petition shall pray for the organization of the district by the name proposed. F. No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared null and void on account of alleged defects, but the court may at any time permit the petition to be amended to conform to the facts, by correcting any errors in the description of the territory or in any other particular. G. Several similar petitions or duplicate copies of the same petition for the organization of the same district may be filed and shall together be regarded as one petition. All such petitions filed, prior to the hearing on the first petition filed, shall be considered by the court the same as though filed with the first petition. H. A guardian, conservator or personal representative of an estate who is appointed as such under the laws of this state, and who as such guardian, conservator or personal representative is entitled to the possession of the lands belonging to the estate which he represents, may, on behalf of his ward or the estate which he represents, upon being thereunto authorized by the proper court, sign and acknowledge the petition in this act mentioned and may act in respect to the said lands to the same extent and in the same manner as a private owner might act. I. For the inclusion in any existing district of territory beyond its boundaries, the same procedure as specified for the organization of a district may be followed by the landowners of the said territory; provided, however, approval and consent thereto by the court shall first have been obtained. Such territory may also be included by the appraisers of such existing district as hereinafter provided. In the event that all of the landowners of such territory desire to have the same included in such district, a petition signed by each of them shall be filed in the court which has jurisdiction over such district, and upon approval and consent thereto by the court, no further proceedings except the order of the court including such territory in such district shall be necessary. Provided, however, the directors of the district may be heard before the court on any objections the district may have to the inclusion of such territory therein because of the change in official plan and the appraisal of the benefits and damages. J. In determining whether a requisite number of landowners have signed the petition, the court shall be governed by the names as they appear upon the tax roll, which shall be prima facie evidence of such ownership. K. No land shall be included or proposed to be included in any such district which is so situated that it cannot reasonably be drained, flooded or irrigated as an integral part thereof by or from any stream or waters to be controlled thereby, and is more than two miles distant from any lands above described. L. No district formed under the provisions of Chapter 140, Laws of New Mexico, 1923, or formed under the provisions of this act, for the protection and conservation of property in the Rio Grande valley, shall include any lands south of the Elephant Butte dam; provided that any district formed under said Chapter 140, Laws of New Mexico, 1923, shall retain all rights to impound and control the water of the Rio Grande or other streams or waters, or to acquire rights and property incident thereto that it now possesses, whether within or without the district as hereby limited and defined. Except as otherwise provided herein, the boundaries of any such district heretofore created shall be limited and confined to the territory as herein defined.

Legislative History

Laws 1927, ch. 45, § 202; C.S. 1929, § 30-202; 1941 Comp., § 77-2705; 1953