Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 69 - AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND ANIMALS (§§ 69-1-1 — 69-55-9) › Chapter 27 - SOIL CONSERVATION (§§ 69-27-1 — 69-27-401) › Article 1 - DISTRICTS (§§ 69-27-1 — 69-27-69) › Section 69-27-57 - Adjustment or consolidation; hearing and determination of administrative feasibility

(1)
Within sixty (60) days after a petition pursuant to Section
69-27-55
has been filed with the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee, it shall cause due notice to be given of one or more proposed hearings upon the question of the desirability and necessity in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare, of the adjustment of the boundaries or creation of such district, upon the question of appropriate boundaries of such district, upon the propriety of the petition and other proceedings taken under this article, and upon all questions relevant to such inquiries. All owners and operators of land within the territory described in the petition, and of lands within any territory considered for addition to such described territory, and all owners and all operators of land within the existing district or districts from which territory is being considered for withdrawal, and all other interested parties, shall have the right to attend such hearings and be heard. If it shall appear upon the hearing that it may be desirable to include within the proposed adjusted boundary or within the proposed district territory outside of the area within which due notice of the hearing has been given, the hearing shall be adjourned and due notice of further hearing shall be given throughout the entire area to be considered and such further hearing held.
(2)
After such hearing or hearings, if the committee shall determine, upon the facts presented at such hearings and upon such other relevant facts and information as may be available, that there is need, in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare, for adjustment in the boundaries, or for withdrawing territory from an existing district for the purpose of combination with other territory or district to provide an opportunity for more effective functioning of one or more districts in the territory considered at the hearings, it shall have the power to and shall make and record such determination, and shall define, by metes and bounds, or by legal subdivisions, the boundaries of such adjusted territory, or the boundaries of such district or districts. In making such determination and in defining such boundaries, the committee shall give due weight and consideration to the topography of the area considered, the composition of the soils, the distribution of erosion, the prevailing water and land-use practices, the desirability and necessity of including within the boundaries the particular lands under consideration and the benefit such 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 to be organized under the provisions of this article, the relationship to existing political subdivisions of the state, and such other physical, geographical, and economic factors as are relevant, having due regard to the legislative determinations set forth by law.
(3)
If the committee shall determine after such hearings, after due consideration of the said relevant facts, that there is no need for the adjustment in boundary, or the revision of districts in the territory considered at the hearing, it shall make and record such determination and shall deny the petition. After twelve (12) months shall 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 as aforesaid and new hearings held and determinations made thereon.
(4)
The committee shall pay all expenses for the issuance of such notices and the conduct of such hearings as are deemed necessary by the committee. The committee shall supervise the conduct of all hearings provided pursuant to the provisions of this article. It shall issue appropriate regulations governing the conduct of such hearings.
(5)
If the committee has decided that the adjustment of boundaries or revision of districts is needed, as provided in subsection (2) of this section, it shall have the power to make the determination, upon the facts presented at such hearings, and upon such other relevant facts and information as may be available, that the operation of a district with the adjusted boundaries, or as revised or consolidated within the defined boundaries, is administratively practicable and feasible. If the committee shall determine that the operation of such district is not administratively practicable and feasible, it shall record such determination and deny the petition. If the committee shall determine that the operation of a district within the described boundaries is administratively practicable and feasible, it shall record such determination and shall proceed with the organization of the district in the manner provided in Sections
69-27-15
through
69-27-29
, except that a referendum as provided therein shall not be deemed necessary, a hearing or hearings being substituted therefor.
(6)
After twelve (12) months shall have expired from the date of entry of a determination by the State Soil and Water Conservation Committee that operation of a district within the adjusted boundary or revised territory is not administratively practicable and feasible, and denial of a petition pursuant to such determination, subsequent petitions may be filed as provided in subsection (3) of this section and action taken thereon in accordance with the provisions of Sections
69-27-55
through
69-27-61
.
Codes, 1942, § 4954.5; Laws, 1968, ch. 246, § 12, eff. 1/1/1969.