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 5 - COUNTY AID IN CERTAIN COUNTIES (§§ 69-27-201 — 69-27-223) › Section 69-27-209 - [Applicable to any county which is exempt from the provisions of Section 19-2-3] Machinery and equipment; how purchased; operation; election on question of purchase

The board of supervisors of a county as designated in Section
69-27-201
may, on the recommendation of the soil erosion committee, or shall, if so required by the election hereinafter provided for, advertise for bids as in other cases and purchase the proper terracing and/or ditching machinery, either for the county as a whole or for any one or more supervisors districts thereof as a soil erosion district, and provide the necessary labor for the operation thereof, and the necessary supplies and maintenance to properly operate the same, subject, however, to the approval of the soil erosion committee herein otherwise provided. In event the board of supervisors shall fail or refuse to advertise for bids for the purchase of any machinery recommended by said soil erosion committee within sixty (60) days after receipt of such recommendation, it shall, on the filing with it of a petition signed by ten percent (10%) or more of the qualified electors of the county as a whole, or of one or more supervisors districts as the petition may provide, call and hold as in other cases a special election in said county, or in such one or more supervisors districts, within sixty (60) days after the filing of the petition, in which election the question shall be, for or against the purchase of terracing and/or ditching machinery for the county, or for one or more supervisors districts as the case may be; and if a majority of the votes cast in said election be in favor of the purchase of such machinery, then said board shall, at its next meeting, advertise for bids for the purchase thereof, and thereafter further perform the duties required of it hereunder with respect to soil erosion work. Such advertisement for bids shall constitute notice to the public of the intention of the board to make such purchase and the board may proceed accordingly unless on or before the first day of the meeting at which said bids are to be opened a petition, signed by twenty percent (20%) or more of the qualified electors of the county, exclusive of those who pay poll tax only, or if the soil erosion district is composed of one or more supervisors districts then of twenty percent (20%) or more of such soil erosion district, shall be filed with the clerk of the board protesting against such purchase, in which event such purchase shall not be made unless approved in an election called and held for the purpose in the manner provided for the calling and holding of elections on the question of the issuance of tax anticipation note or notes. Said board shall have full supervision of all soil erosion work, the machinery, labor, supplies, contracts, and the funds arising from work performed, from taxation, if any, or otherwise, except to the extent herein otherwise specifically provided; and in administering the soil erosion fund the board shall take into consideration the repairs and replacements incident to the operation of the character of machinery in use in order that the work may continue without undue interruption as long as may be necessary. In event machinery be purchased hereunder for soil erosion districts composed of one or more supervisors districts, but less than the whole county, then the soil erosion fund shall be administered in one or more subdivisions as may be necessary, so as to keep separate the operations of the several soil erosion districts of the county, and the taxes levied, if any, shall likewise be levied upon said separate soil erosion districts, in the same manner as for separate road districts; and for these purposes such separate soil erosion districts may be designated by name or number, to be declared by the board. All acts and proceedings of the board with respect to soil erosion work and the funds thereof shall be by order upon its minutes, as in other cases. Contracts for terracing and/or ditching shall be performed as nearly as possible in the order of their dates, any deviation therefrom by reason of necessity, public convenience, causes beyond the control of the committee, or agreement with the landowners, to be under the direction of the soil erosion committee. Only one (1) committee shall be appointed in said county, regardless of the number of soil erosion districts in operation therein.
Codes, 1942, § 4970; Laws, 1938, ch. 285; Laws, 1988 Ex Sess, ch. 14, § 58, eff. 10/1/1989.
This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.