Section 69-27-23 - Organization of soil and water conservation district; procedure; certificate of due organization(1) If the committee shall determine that the operation of the proposed district within the defined boundaries is administratively practicable and feasible, it shall appoint two (2) commissioners to act, with the three (3) commissioners elected as provided hereinafter, as the governing body of the district. Such district shall be a governmental subdivision of this state and a public body, corporate and politic, upon the taking of the following proceedings: The two (2) appointed commissioners shall present to the Secretary of State an application signed by them, which shall set forth (and such application need contain no detail other than the mere recitals):
(a) that a petition for the creation of the district was filed with the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee pursuant to the provisions of this article, and that the proceedings specified in this article were taken pursuant to such petition; that the application is being filed in order to complete the organization of the district as a governmental subdivision and a public body, corporate and politic, under this article; and that the committee has appointed them as commissioners; (b) the name and official residence of each of the commissioners, together with a certified copy of the appointments evidencing their right to office;(c) the term of office of each of the commissioners;(d) the name which is proposed for the district; and(e) the location of the principal office of the commissioners of the district. The application shall be subscribed and sworn to by each of the said commissioners before an officer authorized by the laws of this state to take and certify oaths, who shall certify upon the application that he personally knows the commissioners and knows them to be the officers as affirmed in the application, and that each has subscribed thereto in the officer's presence. The application shall be accompanied by a statement by the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee, which shall certify (and such statement need contain no detail other than the mere recitals) that a petition was filed, notice issued, and hearing held as aforesaid; that the committee did duly determine that there is need, in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare, for a soil and water conservation district to function in the proposed territory and did define the boundaries thereof; that notice was given and a referendum held on the question of the creation of such district, and that the result of such referendum showed a majority of the votes cast in such referendum to be in favor of the creation of the district; that thereafter the committee did duly determine that the operation of the proposed district is administratively practicable and feasible. The said statement shall set forth the boundaries of the district as they have been defined by the committee. The Secretary of State shall examine the application and statement, and, if he finds that the name proposed for the district is not identical with that of any other soil and water conservation district of this state or so nearly similar as to lead to confusion or uncertainty, he shall receive and file them and shall record them in an appropriate book of record in his office. If the Secretary of State shall find that the name proposed for the district is identical with that of any other soil and water conservation district of this state, or so nearly similar as to lead to confusion and uncertainty, he shall certify such fact to the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee, which shall thereupon submit to the Secretary of State a new name for said district, which shall not be subject to such defects. Upon receipt of such new name, free of such defects, the Secretary of State shall record the application and statement, with the name so modified, in an appropriate book of record in his office. When the application and statement have been made, filed and recorded, as herein provided, the district shall constitute a governmental subdivision of this state and a public body, corporate and politic. The Secretary of State shall make and issue to the said commissioners a certificate, under the seal of the state, of the due organization of the said district, and shall record such certificate with the application and statement. The boundaries of such district shall include the territory as determined by the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee as aforesaid, but in no event shall they include any area included within the boundaries of another soil and water conservation district organized under the provisions of this article.
(2) In any suit, action, or proceeding involving the validity or enforcement of, or relating to, any contract, proceeding, or action of the district, the district shall be deemed to have been established in accordance with the provisions of the aforesaid sections upon proof of the issuance of the aforesaid certificate by the Secretary of State. A copy of such certificate duly certified by the Secretary of State shall be admissible in evidence in any such action or proceeding and shall be proof of the filing and contents thereof. However, the procedural steps required for the issuance of a certificate by the Secretary of State may be attacked in any suit or proceeding involving the validity or enforcement of or relating to any contract, proceeding, or action of the district.Codes, 1942, § 4944; Laws, 1938, ch. 253; Laws, 1968, ch. 246, § 5, eff. 1/1/1969.