(a) Before any monthly county court establishes a road improvement district as defined in § 54-12-101, a petition, signed by twenty-five percent (25%) of the landowners in the district who will be affected by or liable to be assessed for the expenses of the proposed improvement, shall be filed in the office of county clerk in which the improvement is to be made.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 54-12-103

  • Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Road: includes public bridges and may be held equivalent to the words "county way" "county road" or "state road". See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • signed: includes a mark, the name being written near the mark and witnessed, or any other symbol or methodology executed or adopted by a party with intention to authenticate a writing or record, regardless of being witnessed. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) The petition shall describe the lands proposed to be included in the district by metes and bounds, or otherwise so as to convey intelligible description of the lands, and likewise the termini and general location of the road or roads shall be given in the petition. Likewise, the petition shall allege that the roads proposed are for the public benefit and utility. The petition shall have other allegations necessary to give the court a clear understanding of the necessity for the proposed road and the benefits it will be to the public.
(c) An attorney may sign the names of the landowners to the petition as in other cases.