Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 51 - WATERS, WATER RESOURCES, WATER DISTRICTS, DRAINAGE, AND FLOOD CONTROL (§§ 51-1-1 — 51-41-33) › Chapter 15 - PAT HARRISON WATERWAY COMMISSION AND DISTRICT (§§ 51-15-1 — 51-15-165) › Article 3 - PAT HARRISON WATERWAY DISTRICT (§§ 51-15-101 — 51-15-165) › Section 51-15-109 - Proceedings after filing of petition

The Board of Water Commissioners shall file a written answer to the petition within thirty (30) days after such service. After the filing of the answer of the Board of Water Commissioners, and upon motion of the petitioners, the chancellor shall enter an order fixing the date for a hearing of the cause on the original petition, the exhibits, the answer of the Board of Water Commissioners, and any other answers filed or other pleadings. The chancery clerk shall give notice of such hearing to all persons interested by posting notices thereof at the door of the courthouse of the county or counties in which the district is situated and in at least ten (10) public places in said proposed district, and also by publishing said notice at least once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in each of the counties or municipalities proposed to be included in such waterway district. If there is no newspaper published in any such county or municipality, then it shall be sufficient to publish said notice in a newspaper having a general circulation in such county or municipality. Such notice shall be addressed to the property owners and qualified electors of such proposed district and all other persons interested, shall state when and in what court said petition was and is filed, shall state the counties and municipalities included in such district, and shall command all such persons to appear before the Chancery Court, or the chancellor in vacation, at the Chancery Court building of Forrest County upon the date fixed by the chancellor to show cause, if any they can, why the proposed waterway district should not be organized and established as prayed for in said petition. The date for such hearing shall not be less than twenty-one (21) days nor more than forty (40) days after the last publication of such notice. It shall be sufficient in describing the lands to be included in the waterway district to name the counties and municipalities to be included therein in the publication or notice hereinbefore mentioned.
If the court or chancellor finds that the notice or publication was not given as provided for in this article, it shall not thereby lose jurisdiction, but the court or chancellor shall order due publication or notice to be given and shall continue the hearing until such publication or notice shall be properly given; and the court or chancellor shall thereupon proceed as though publication or notice had been properly given in the first instance.
On or after July 1, 2023, the procedures of this section shall apply to a petition filed under Section
51-15-107
to modify the decree organizing the district to include a municipality as a member of the district.
Codes, 1942, § 5956-175; Laws, 1962, ch. 222, § 4(b); Laws, 1962, 2d Ex. Sess., ch. 31, § 1(b), eff. 12/21/1962.
Amended by Laws, 2023, ch. 304, SB 2526,§ 3, eff. 7/1/2023.