(a) Any twenty-five (25) landowners within the limits of the territory proposed to be organized into a district may file a petition with the commission requesting that a soil and water conservation district be organized for the territory described in the petition. The description is sufficient if generally accurate and the commission shall not require the description to be given by metes and bounds or by legal subdivision.
Lands: includes lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
soil and water conservation district: means a subdivision of this state and a public body corporate and politic, organized under this part, for the purpose, with the powers, and subject to the restrictions set forth in this part. See Tennessee Code 43-14-202
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Where more than one (1) petition is filed covering parts of the same territory, the commission may consolidate the petitions.(c) Within sixty (60) days after a petition is filed with the commission, the commission shall give notice of a proposed hearing regarding the desirability and necessity, in the interest of public health, safety, and welfare, of the creation of the proposed district, the appropriate boundaries for the district, the propriety of the petition and other proceedings under this part, and any related questions. All landowners and land occupiers within the limits of the territory described in the petition and any territory considered for addition to the described territory and any other interested parties shall have the right to attend the proposed hearings and to be heard. If, at the hearing, it appears that it may be desirable to include, within the proposed district, territory outside of the area regarding which notice of the hearing has been given, the hearing shall be adjourned, and the commission shall hold a further hearing following the commission’s provision of notice of such further hearing throughout the area considered for inclusion in the district.(d)(1) If, after the hearing, the commission determines that, based upon the facts presented at the hearing and any other relevant facts and information, there is a need, in the interest of public health, safety, and welfare, for a soil and water conservation district in the territory considered at the hearing, the commission shall make and record this determination, and shall define, by metes and bounds or by legal subdivision, the boundaries of such district. In making this determination and defining the district’s boundaries, the commission shall give due weight and consideration to the topography of the area considered and of the state, the composition of soils therein, the distribution of erosion, the prevailing land-use practices, the desirability and necessity of including within the boundaries the particular lands under consideration and the benefits the lands may receive from being included within such boundaries, the relation of the proposed area to existing watersheds and agricultural regions and to other soil and water conservation districts already organized or proposed for organization under this part, and any other relevant physical, geographical, and economic factors. The territory to be included within the district need not be contiguous.(2) If, after the hearing and due consideration of the relevant facts, the commission determines that there is no need for a district in the territory considered at the hearing, it shall make and record this determination and shall deny the petition. After six (6) months have expired from the date of the denial of any such petition, subsequent petitions covering the same or substantially the same territory may be filed, considered, and determined in accordance with this section.(e) After the commission has made and recorded a determination that there is a need, in the interest of public health, safety, and welfare, for the organization of a district in a particular territory and has defined the boundaries of the district, the commission shall consider whether the operation of a district within those boundaries, with the powers conferred upon districts by this part, is administratively practicable and feasible.(f) To assist the commission in the determination of administrative practicability and feasibility under subsection (e), the commission shall, within a reasonable time after finding that there is a need for the proposed district and determining its boundaries, hold a referendum within the proposed district regarding the creation of the district and cause notice of the referendum to be given. Only landowners within the boundaries of the territory, as determined by the commission, are eligible to vote in the referendum.(g) A duly organized local soil conservation district in existence on April 22, 2021 continues to exist as a soil and water conservation district, and supervisors of a district serving on April 22, 2021 continue to serve as the supervisors of the district until the expiration of their terms.
