District: means a watershed district for which organization is proposed or which has been granted under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 69-6-102
Land: means "real property" as defined by the laws of this state and includes, but is not limited to, easements, water rights, or any other interest in real property. See Tennessee Code 69-6-102
Landowner: means any person owning any interest in land located in a district, including tenants in common, tenants by the entireties, joint tenants, life tenants, owners of dower or curtesy rights, vested beneficiaries of the remainder interests, and the holders of leasehold interests of more than three (3) years' duration. See Tennessee Code 69-6-102
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
(1) Before any watershed district is organized, a petition shall be filed in the office of the Tennessee soil and water conservation commission, signed by not less than twenty percent (20%) of the landowners of the real property, and representing twenty-five percent (25%) of the acreage within the proposed district, as shown by a verified enumeration of the landowners taken by a landowner of the proposed district to be selected by the first ten (10) signers of the petition. In the event the proposed district embraces land in more than one (1) county, the enumeration shall be separated as to counties.(2)(A) A verified copy of the enumeration shall be filed with the county clerk of each county in which any portion of the proposed district is located.(B) A duplicate copy of the petition, containing the text of the petition in full, shall be filed with the county clerk of each county where any part of the proposed district lies.(b) There shall be filed with the Tennessee soil and water conservation commission, as an exhibit to the petition, a certification as to the number of landowners within the proposed district, that the petition is signed by not less than twenty percent (20%) of such landowners, and that the signers of the petition represent twenty-five percent (25%) of the acreage within the proposed district. The certification as to each respective county shall be signed by the county clerk, or the county assessor of property of such county.
