AI-assisted research summary: Land owners must start and file a signed petition to establish a subdistrict, and the chairman and county commission must follow set hearing and decision steps.
(a) The establishment of a subdistrict shall be undertaken only upon the initiative of one or more of the land owners concerned. Such land owners shall file with the chairman, for which a fee of $1.00 shall be charged, a petition signed by three fourths of the land owners who own, control or operate all of the land involved. Said petition shall state the approximate boundaries of the proposed subdistrict, that the purpose of this article will be served by the drainage of such land or by the control of such surface waters and the name and last known address of each owner of land within the proposed subdistrict. (b) When said petition has been filed, the chairman shall set a date for a hearing before him on said petition, not less than 10 nor more than 30 days after the date on which the petition is filed, and all owners of land within the proposed subdistrict shall be notified by personal service or by letter, postage prepaid and addressed to such owner at last known address not less than five days previous to the dates set for the hearing, stating the time, place and the nature of the hearing; provided, that nonresident land owners may be given such notice by registered or certified letter mailed to their last known address or by publication of such notice one time in some newspaper published in the county. (c) If, upon such hearing, the chairman deems the proposed improvements feasible and desirable, he shall request the agricultural engineer of the Alabama Extension Service to make or cause to be made a survey of the proposed subdistrict and to file with the chairman a map, a description of the work to be done, a recommended plan, an estimate of the cost of the work and an estimate of the benefits to accrue by reason of the improvements to the land of each owner of land within the proposed subdistrict. (d) When the engineer’s report has been filed, the chairman shall set a date for a hearing before the county commission and notify each owner of land within the proposed subdistrict as provided in this section. At this hearing a full report of the engineer’s survey shall be made by the engineer or some one designated by him. If, upon said hearing, the county commission or a majority thereof are of the opinion that the proposed subdistrict is feasible and desirable, it shall order the same duly established; otherwise, it shall dismiss the petition. The order of the county commission in establishing a subdistrict or in approving assessments as provided in Section 9-9-76 shall have all the force and effect of a judgment.