SECTIONS 56010-56020 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 56010-56020

56010. Proceedings for the formation of a county drainage district
shall be instituted by the board of supervisors of a county when a
petition requesting the institution of such proceedings and signed by
the requisite number of owners of real property is filed with the
board. The petition may consist of any number of separate
instruments, each of which must comply with all of the requirements
of a petition except as to the number of signatures.

56011. A petition requesting the institution of proceedings for the
formation of a county drainage district shall:
(a) Request the board of supervisors of a county in which the
district will be located to institute proceedings to form a county
drainage district pursuant to this part;
(b) Describe the boundaries of the territory which is proposed for
the district;
(c) Be signed by not less than 100 owners of real property within
the proposed district unless the total number of owners of real
property within the proposed district does not exceed 200, in which
case the petition shall be signed by a majority of such owners. If
the board of supervisors finds that the petition is signed by the
requisite number of owners of real property residing within the
territory to be included within the proposed district, that finding
shall be final and conclusive.

56012. Proceedings for the formation of a county drainage district
shall be instituted by the board of supervisors by the adoption of a
resolution of its intention to do so. The resolution shall contain
all of the following:
(a) A statement of the intention to form the district;
(b) The boundaries of the proposed district or some other
designation of its territorial extent;
(c) The name of the proposed district;
(d) The time and place where objections to the formation of the
district or to its extent will be heard;
(e) Instructions to the clerk of the board to publish the
resolution and notices of hearing.

56013. The district as formed may include unincorporated or
incorporated and contiguous unincorporated territory. The
incorporated territory included in the district may include the whole
or part of one or more cities. However, the whole or part of a city
shall not be included in a district except by the vote of a majority
of the governing board of the city. The district shall not include
the whole or any part of any other district formed for similar
purposes unless the governing body of such other district shall
consent thereto and the board of supervisors shall find and determine
by resolution duly adopted that the proposed inclusion of the whole
or part of such other district is in the best public interest and the
territory affected will be benefited thereby.

56014. The time to be fixed for the hearing of objections to the
formation or extent of the district shall be not less than 30 days
after the adoption of the resolution of intention to form the
district by the board of supervisors. The hearing shall be held at
the regular meeting place of the board of supervisors or at some
place within the proposed district as specified by the board in the
resolution of intention to form the district.

56015. Prior to the time of hearing, the resolution shall be
published at length in the proposed district pursuant to Section 6066
of the Government Code. Brief notices of the passage of the
resolution and the time and place of the hearing may be published in
the proposed district pursuant to Section 6066 of the Government
Code.

56016. At the time provided in the resolution of intention or at
any time to which the hearing is continued, the board of supervisors
shall hear any objections to the formation of the district or to its
extent. At the hearing the board of supervisors shall exclude any
territory that in its opinion will not be benefited by being in the
district.

56017. If written objection to the formation of the district signed
by 10 percent of the voters registered in the district is filed with
the board of supervisors, it shall, and in any event it may, either
adopt an order abandoning the formation of the district or order the
matter of the formation of the district with the boundary lines
determined at the close of the hearing submitted to the voters of the
proposed district at an election.

56018. At the election only voters registered in the proposed
district may vote. Election precincts shall be established by the
board of supervisors, and precinct boards, composed of one inspector,
one judge, and one clerk shall be appointed. At least one week prior
to the election notice of the election shall be published in the
proposed district pursuant to Section 6061 of the Government Code. In
other particulars the election shall be conducted in the manner
ordered by the board of supervisors.

56018.1. Within five days after the district formation election has
been called, the legislative body which has called the election
shall transmit, by registered mail, a written notification of the
election call to the executive officer of the local agency formation
commission of the county or principal county in which the territory
or major portion of the territory of the proposed district is
located. Such written notice shall include the name and a description
of the proposed district, and may be in the form of a certified copy
of the resolution adopted by the legislative body calling the
district formation election.
The executive officer, within five days after being notified that
a district formation election has been called, shall submit to the
commission, for its approval or modification, an impartial analysis
of the proposed district formation.
The impartial analysis shall not exceed 500 words in length and
shall include a specific description of the boundaries of the
district proposed to be formed.
The local agency formation commission, within five days after the
receipt of the executive officer's analysis, shall approve or modify
the analysis and submit it to the officials in charge of conducting
the district formation election.

56018.2. The board of supervisors or any member or members of the
board authorized by the board, or any individual voter or bona fide
association of citizens entitled to vote on the district formation
proposition, or any combination of such voters and associations of
citizens, may file a written argument for or a written argument
against the proposed district formation.
Arguments shall not exceed 300 words in length and shall be filed
with the officials in charge of conducting the election not less than
54 days prior to the date of the district formation election.

56018.3. If more than one argument for or more than one argument
against the proposed district formation is filed with the election
officials within the time prescribed, such election officials shall
select one of the arguments for printing and distribution to the
voters.
In selecting the arguments, the election officials shall give
preference and priority in the order named to the arguments of the
following:
(a) The board of supervisors or any member or members of the board
authorized by the board.
(b) Individual voters or bona fide associations of citizens or a
combination of such voters and associations.

56018.4. The officials in charge of conducting the election shall
cause a ballot pamphlet concerning the district formation proposition
to be voted on to be printed and mailed to each voter entitled to
vote on the district formation question.
The ballot pamphlet shall contain the following in the order
prescribed:
(a) The complete text of the proposition.
(b) The impartial analysis of the proposition prepared by the
local agency formation commission.
(c) The argument for the proposed district formation.
(d) The argument against the proposed district formation.
The elections officials shall mail a ballot pamphlet to each voter
entitled to vote in the district formation election at least 10 days
prior to the date of the election. The ballot pamphlet is "official
matter" within the meaning of Section 13303 of the Elections Code.

56019. At the conclusion of the hearing, or if an election is held
and the canvass of the election returns shows that a majority of all
the votes cast in the entire proposed district were in favor of the
formation of the district, the board of supervisors may, if it deems
best, make an order forming the district.

56020. The order of formation shall contain the name of the
district, and a description of the boundaries or otherwise indicate
its territory. The order is conclusive evidence of the regularity of
all prior proceedings, except the adoption and publication in full of
the resolution of intention and of the fact of the hearing.