§ 139-13. Discontinuance of districts.
§139‑13. Discontinuance of districts.
At any time after five yearsafter the organization of a district under the provisions of this Chapter, any25 occupiers of land lying within the boundaries of such districts may file apetition with the Soil and Water Conservation Commission praying that theoperations of the district be terminated and the existence of the districtdiscontinued. The Commission may conduct such public meetings and publichearings upon such petition as may be necessary to assist it in theconsideration thereof. Within 60 days after such a petition has been receivedby the Commission it shall give due notice of the holding of a referendum, andshall supervise such referendum, and issue appropriate regulations governingthe conduct thereof, the question to be submitted by ballots upon which thewords "For terminating the existence of the ______ (name of the soil andwater conservation district to be here inserted)" and "Againstterminating the existence of the ______ (name of the soil and waterconservation district to be here inserted)" shall appear with a squarebefore each proposition and a direction to insert an X mark in the squarebefore one or the other of said propositions as the voter may favor or opposediscontinuance of such district. All occupiers of lands lying within theboundaries of the district shall be eligible to vote in such referendum. Onlysuch land occupiers shall be eligible to vote. No informalities in the conductof such referendum or in any matters relating thereto shall invalidate saidreferendum or the result thereof if notice thereof shall have been givensubstantially as herein provided and said referendum shall have been fairlyconducted.
The Department of Environmentand Natural Resources shall publish the result of such referendum and shallthereafter consider and determine whether the continued operation of thedistrict within the defined boundaries is administratively practicable andfeasible. If the Commission shall determine that the continued operation ofsuch district is administratively practicable and feasible, it shall recordsuch determination and deny the petition. If the Commission shall determinethat the continued operation of such district is not administrativelypracticable and feasible, it shall record such determination and shall certifysuch determination to the supervisors of the district. In making suchdetermination the Commission shall give due regard and weight to the attitudesof the occupiers of lands lying within the district, the number of landoccupiers eligible to vote in such referendum who shall have voted, theproportion of the votes cast in such referendum in favor of the discontinuanceof the district to the total number of votes cast, the approximate wealth andincome of the land occupiers of the district, the probable expense of carryingon erosion control operations within such district, and such other economic andsocial factors as may be relevant to such determination, having due regard tothe legislative findings set forth in G.S. 139‑2: Provided, however, thatthe Commission shall not have authority to determine that the continuedoperation of the district is administratively practicable and feasible unlessat least a majority of the votes cast in the referendum shall have been cast infavor of the continuance of such district.
Upon receipt from the Soil andWater Conservation Commission of a certification that the Commission hasdetermined that the continued operation of the district is not administrativelypracticable and feasible, pursuant to the provisions of this section, thesupervisors shall forthwith proceed to terminate the affairs of the district.The supervisors shall dispose of all property belonging to the district atpublic auction and shall pay over the proceeds of such sale to be covered intothe State treasury. The supervisors shall thereupon file an application, dulyverified, with the Secretary of State for the discontinuance of such district,and shall transmit with such application the certificates of the Soil and WaterConservation Commission setting forth the determination of the Commission thatthe continued operation of such district is not administratively practicableand feasible. The application shall recite that the property of the districthas been disposed of and the proceeds paid over as in this section provided,and shall set forth a full accounting of such properties and proceeds of thesale. The Secretary of State shall issue to the supervisors a certificate ofdissolution and shall record such certificate in an appropriate book of recordin his office.
Upon issuance of a certificateof dissolution under the provisions of this section, all ordinances andregulations theretofore adopted and in force within such districts shall be ofno further force and effect. All contracts theretofore entered into, to whichthe district or supervisors are parties, shall remain in force and effect forthe period provided in such contracts. The Soil and Water ConservationCommission shall be substituted for the district or supervisors as party tosuch contracts. The Commission shall be entitled to all benefits and subject toall liabilities under such contracts and shall have the same right andliability to perform, to require performance, to sue and be sued thereon, andto modify or terminate such contracts by mutual consent or otherwise as thesupervisors of the district would have had. Such dissolution shall not affectthe lien of any judgment entered under the provisions of G.S. 139‑11, northe pendency of any action instituted under the provisions of such section, andthe Commission shall succeed to all the rights and obligations of the districtor supervisors as to such liens and actions.
The Soil and WaterConservation Commission shall not entertain petitions for the discontinuance ofany district nor conduct referenda upon such petitions, nor make determinationspursuant to such petitions, in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter,more often than once in five years. (1937, c. 393, s. 13; 1973,c. 1262, s. 38; 1977, c. 771, s. 4; 1989, c. 727, s. 218(94); 1997‑443,s. 11A.119(a).)