242.050. Annexation of land to organize district.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

242.050. Annexation of land to organize district.

Annexation of land to organize district.

242.050. 1. The board of supervisors of any drainagedistrict organized under the provisions of sections 242.010 to242.690, for and in its behalf, or the owners of a majority ofthe acres in any tract or tracts of swamp, wet or overflow landsor lands subject to overflow lying adjacent to such district, orhaving an outlet in common with lands in the district, shall havethe right to file a petition in the office of the clerk of thecourt organizing such district, asking that the boundary lines ofsuch district be changed or extended so as to annex and includesuch lands. Said petition shall describe the boundary lines ofthe tract or tracts sought to be annexed and state the names ofthe owners of such tracts together with descriptions of tractsowned by each; when the name or names of any owner or owners ofany such lands or other property are unknown this fact shall beset out in said petition.

2. As soon as said petition has been filed the clerk of thecourt shall give notice of such filing by causing publication tobe made once a week for four consecutive weeks in some newspaperpublished in each county in which any part of the lands sought tobe annexed are situate; said notice need not contain the names ofthe owners of said lands and other property or descriptions oftracts owned by each, but it will be sufficient to describe saidlands by sections and parts of sections; the notice shall statethe purpose of the petition, that the lands will be renderedliable to taxation to pay the cost of making and maintaining theimprovement found necessary to drain and reclaim said lands, andthat any owner of said lands shall have the right to fileobjections to said petition on or before fifteen days after thelast publication of the notice, which said date of filingobjections shall be stated in said notice.

3. Any owners of land, or other property sought to beannexed, not petitioning, or the board of supervisors of thedistrict, if not petitioning, shall have the right to fileobjections within fifteen days after the last publication of thenotice herein provided for but not thereafter, setting out whysaid petition should not be granted. Such objection shall belimited to a denial of the statements in the petition and shallbe heard and determined by the court as early and speedily aspossible, at either a regular, adjourned or special term, and thecourt shall annex all lands and other property described in thepetition that are found to be swamp, wet or overflow lands orlands subject to overflow, or lands having an outlet in commonwith lands in the district.

4. After such extension or extensions have been made, theboard of supervisors of the district shall proceed to reclaim thelands and other property in the district as enlarged, by eitherconstructing and putting into force or completing theimprovements set out in the plan for reclamation already adoptedor to be adopted, or by formulating and adopting enlargements,additions and extensions to drains, channels, levees or otherimprovements in the plan already adopted, and thereafter the sameshall be proceeded with in the same manner or as nearly aspossible, as provided by sections 242.010 to 242.690.

5. Any petition filed under this section, all maps, profilesand reports of the chief engineer of such district, and recordsof the board shall be deemed prima facie evidence in allproceedings under this section as to all facts therein. The term"lying adjacent to the district" as used herein shall beconstrued by the courts to mean situate nearby or in the vicinityof any drainage district, or touching such district in part or inwhole.

6. Any owner of lands or other property, or the board ofsupervisors, for and on behalf of the district, shall have theright to appeal from the finding or decree of the court extendingor refusing to extend the boundary lines of such district, saidappeal to be prosecuted the same as provided for appeals underthe civil code.

7. The amendments contained herein are declared to beremedial in character, shall be liberally construed by the courtspromptly and shall apply to districts already organized, inprocess of organization or to be hereafter organized by circuitcourts of this state.