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 51-15-107 - Petition for creation of district

The Pat Harrison Waterway Commission, acting through its members who favor bringing the counties they represent into the Pat Harrison Waterway District, or other counties having Pascagoula River, Leaf River, Chickasawhay River, or Tallahala Creek tributaries, shall petition the Chancery Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, to organize and establish the Pat Harrison Waterway District and shall set forth in the petition:
(a)
The counties to be included in the Pat Harrison Waterway District. Each member of the Pat Harrison Waterway Commission, as created by virtue of Sections
51-15-1
through
51-15-9
, and any county through which the Pascagoula, Leaf, and Chickasawhay Rivers and Tallahala Creek run, or other counties having tributaries to such streams or which border on said streams, may be included in the district.
(b)
The necessity and desirability for the developments and construction of suitable facilities.
(c)
A general description of the purposes of the contemplated works, and a general description of the plan.
The petition shall be filed with as many copies as there are parties defendant.
The Board of Water Commissioners of the State of Mississippi shall be made a party defendant, and the chancery clerk shall furnish the Board of Water Commissioners with a copy of the petition with attached exhibits. Each county named in the petition shall be joined as a party defendant by service of process on the president of the board of supervisors thereof, and the chancery clerk shall furnish a copy of the petition to each such president. Whenever any municipality having a population according to the most recent federal decennial census of ten thousand (10,000) or more is included in such proposed district, such municipality shall be made a party defendant.
From and after July 1, 2023, any municipality located in a county that is not a member of the district may, by resolution spread on its minutes, request that the Pat Harrison Waterway Commission petition the Chancery Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, to modify its decree organizing the district to include the municipality as a member of the district. The Board of Water Commissioners of the State of Mississippi shall be made a party defendant, and the chancery clerk shall furnish the Board of Water Commissioners with a copy of the petition with attached exhibits. The municipality applying for membership shall not be made a party defendant.
It shall not be necessary that any landowners in the counties or municipalities to be included in said proposed district be named in the petition, or be made parties defendant. The chancellor of the Chancery Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, shall have jurisdiction of the entire waterway district for the purposes of this article. Such jurisdiction may be exercised by the chancellor in term time or in vacation, as provided in this article.
Codes, 1942, § 5956-174; Laws, 1962, ch. 222. § 4(a); Laws, 1962, 2d Ex. Sess., ch. 31, § 1(a), eff. 12/21/1962.
Amended by Laws, 2023, ch. 304, SB 2526,§ 2, eff. 7/1/2023.