reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.105 - Election of supervisors; qualifications and terms of office; quorum for transaction of business at owners’ meetings.

(1) Within 30 days after any drainage district has been organized under the provisions of the Drainage District Act, the county clerk of the county in which the petition was filed shall call a meeting of the owners of land situated in the district for the purpose of electing a board of supervisors with three or five supervisors as determined by the owners of land within the district.
(2) The county clerk shall give notice of the meeting by publication in some newspaper published in each county in which lands of the district are situated, at least 10 days before the date of the meeting.
(3) The supervisors must be owners of land in the district.
(4)(a) The owners, assembled at the place and time required by the notice, shall organize by the election of a chairperson and secretary of the meeting who shall conduct the election. Each owner is entitled to one vote in person or by proxy for each acre of land owned by the owner in the district. If an owner is a not a natural person, the owner may appoint a designee, in a writing filed with the secretary, to exercise the authority of the owner, including the voting and serving as a supervisor of the district. The designee shall serve as a representative of the owner until the designee resigns, or the owner replaces the designee, in a writing filed with the secretary.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, at or before the organizing meeting, an owner that is not a natural person may appoint a designee in a writing filed with the county clerk.
(5) The three or five persons receiving the highest number of votes must be declared elected as supervisors. The supervisors shall determine the terms of their offices by lot. If three supervisors are elected, the supervisors shall serve, respectively, one, two and three years. If five supervisors are elected, one supervisor shall serve one year, two supervisors shall serve two years, and two supervisors shall serve three years. The supervisors first elected shall serve until their successors are elected and qualified.
(6) At a meeting of owners, owners that represent at least a majority of the acreage in the district constitute a quorum for the transaction of district business. In a year in which a quorum of owners is not achieved at the annual meeting called under ORS 547.110, owners representing at least 35 percent of the acreage in the district constitute a quorum for the annual meeting in the succeeding year. [Amended by 1959 c.379 §1; 2003 c.223 §1; 2015 c.544 §18]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.110 - Annual meeting; election of supervisors; owners entitled to vote.

In the same month of each year after the election of the first board of supervisors, the board shall call a meeting of the owners of land in the district. The board shall give notice in the manner provided for in ORS 547.105. The owners shall meet at the time and place fixed by the board and elect one or two supervisors in the manner prescribed in ORS 547.105, who shall hold office for three years and until a successor is elected and qualified. However, after the report of the commissioners has been confirmed by the court under the provisions of ORS 547.235, only the owners, or the designees of the owners, of the land having benefits attributed to the land are entitled to vote at the annual meetings held under the provisions of this section. [Amended by 1969 c.669 §14; 1991 c.459 §425b; 2003 c.223 §2; 2015 c.544 §19]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.112 - Change in number of supervisors.

(1) At least six months prior to an annual meeting of a drainage district, the board of supervisors of the drainage district may change the number of supervisors elected to the board, effective at the next annual meeting, by a motion approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the supervisors.
(2) If the board of supervisors acts under subsection (1) of this section:
(a) To change the number of supervisors on the board, the board shall notify the county clerk of the county in which the petition to form the district was filed and the Secretary of State at least six months prior to the annual meeting at which one or more supervisors will be added to or removed from the board or within 30 days of taking action under subsection (1) of this section, whichever is later.
(b) To reduce the number of supervisors from five to three, the board shall phase in the change, beginning at the next annual meeting, in a manner that allows each supervisor to serve the full term to which the supervisor was elected. If the decision is made to reduce the number of supervisors from five to three at an annual meeting at which only one supervisor is scheduled to be elected, the election must be canceled and the supervisor whose term is ending shall continue in office until the following annual meeting. At the following annual meeting, the terms of two more supervisors will end, and only one supervisor will be elected. [2003 c.223 §4]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.115 - Supervisor’s oath of office.

Each supervisor before entering upon official duties shall take and subscribe to an oath before some officer authorized by law to administer oaths, that the supervisor will honestly, faithfully and impartially perform the duties devolving upon the supervisor in office as supervisor of the drainage district in which the supervisor was elected, and that the supervisor will not neglect any of the duties imposed upon the supervisor by the Drainage District Act.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.120 - Board of supervisors; officers; secretary; seal; record of proceedings; report.

The board of supervisors immediately after its election shall choose one of its number president of the board, and elect some suitable person secretary, who may or may not be a member of the board. The board shall adopt a seal with a suitable design, and shall keep a record of all its proceedings. The board shall report to the landowners at the annual meeting held under the provisions of ORS 547.110 what work has been done, either by the engineers or otherwise. Notwithstanding the provisions of ORS 198.190, if the secretary is a member of the board the secretary shall be entitled to compensation as provided for in ORS 547.125. [Amended by 1971 c.403 §10; 1973 c.794 §28]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.125 - Secretary as treasurer; duties; audit of books and report to landowners; compensation.

(1) The secretary of the board of supervisors in any drainage district shall hold the office of treasurer of the district, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
(2) The treasurer shall receipt for all moneys received by the treasurer and shall keep all funds received by the treasurer from any source deposited at all times in some insured institution or trust company, as those terms are defined in ORS 706.008, that is designated by the board of supervisors. All interest accruing on such funds shall, when paid, be credited to the district.
(3) The board of supervisors shall audit or have audited the books of the treasurer each year and make report thereof to the landowners at the annual meeting and publish a statement within 30 days thereafter, showing the amount of money received, the amount paid out during the year, and the amount in the treasury at the beginning and end of the year.
(4) The treasurer shall pay out funds of the district only on warrants signed by the president of the board and attested by the signature of the secretary and treasurer.
(5) The secretary shall receive as compensation for performing the duties of secretary-treasurer such salary as may be fixed and directed to be paid by resolution of the board. [Amended by 1969 c.345 §14; 1997 c.631 §489]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.130 - Record of meetings, proceedings, certificates, bonds, acts.

The board of supervisors of any district organized under the Drainage District Act shall cause to be kept a well-bound book, entitled "Record of Proceedings of Board of Supervisors of _____ District," in which shall be recorded minutes of all meetings, proceedings, certificates, bonds given by all employees, and any and all corporate acts, which record shall at all times be open to the inspection of anyone interested, whether taxpayer or bondholder.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.140 - Uniform charge to pay expenses of organizing district, surveys, assessing benefits and damages; collection; surplus funds; refunding in case of dissolution.

(1) The board of supervisors of any district organized under the provisions of the Drainage District Act shall, as soon as elected and qualified, impose a uniform charge of not more than $1 per acre upon the owner of each acre of land within the district, to be used for the purpose of paying expenses incurred or to be incurred in organizing the district, making surveys of the same, and assessing benefits and damages, and to pay other expenses necessary to be incurred before the board shall be empowered by other provisions of the Drainage District Act, to provide funds to pay the total cost of works and improvements of the district. In case the boundary lines of the district are extended so as to include lands not described and contained in the petition, the same uniform charge shall be imposed upon the owners of the included lands as soon as the lands are annexed and included in the district.
(2) The charge shall be due and payable as soon as imposed and billed, and if not paid within 60 days after the billing date, the charge shall become delinquent.
(3) In case the sums received from the charges exceed the total cost of items for which the charges are imposed, the surplus shall be placed in the general fund of the district and used to pay cost of construction. Upon dissolution of the district, any amount of surplus remaining shall be prorated and refunded to the landowners who paid the charges. [Amended by 1991 c.459 §425c]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.150 - Payment of claims; warrants; nonpayment; interest-bearing warrants; charge or levy of tax to pay.

All claims against the district shall be paid by warrants drawn on the district treasurer and signed by the president and secretary of the board. When any warrant is not paid when presented to the treasurer because of lack of funds in the treasury, such fact shall be indorsed on the back of the warrant, and such warrant shall draw interest thereafter at the rate of six percent per annum until there is money on hand to pay the amount of the warrant and the interest then accumulated. No interest shall be allowed on warrants after sufficient funds are in the treasury to pay the indorsed warrants and interest. The secretary shall give notice by publication whenever sufficient funds are available to pay outstanding warrants. The board shall charge or levy each year a sufficient amount of money to pay the outstanding warrants of the district to the extent permitted within the constitutional limitation. [Amended by 1991 c.459 §425d]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.205 - Appointment of engineer; duties; surveys; report; maps.

Within 30 days after organizing, the board of supervisors shall appoint a competent civil engineer as chief engineer, who may be an individual, partnership or corporation, and who shall engage such assistants as the board of supervisors may approve. The chief engineer shall:
(1) Have control of the engineering work in the district.
(2) Make all necessary surveys of the lands within the boundary lines of the district, as described in the petition, and of all lands adjacent thereto that may or will be improved or reclaimed in part or in whole by any system of drainage or levees that may be outlined and adopted.
(3) Make a report in writing to the board of supervisors with maps and profiles of the surveys, which report shall contain a plan for draining and reclaiming the lands described in the petition or adjacent thereto from overflow of or damage by water, and which maps and profiles shall indicate so far as necessary the physical characteristics of the lands, and location of any public roads, railroads and other rights of way, roadways and other property or improvements located on such lands.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.210 - Engineer’s report; adoption by supervisors; report constitutes "Plan for Reclamation"; exclusion of lands not benefited; certain irrigated lands deemed to be benefited.

(1) The chief engineer shall make a report in writing to the board of supervisors whenever the board requires. Upon receipt of the final report of the engineer concerning surveys made of the lands contained in the district, and plans for reclaiming the same, the board shall adopt the report or any modification thereof approved by the chief engineer. The adopted report shall be the plan for draining and reclaiming such lands from overflow or damage by water, and shall be known and designated as the "Plan for Reclamation." The plan shall be filed with the secretary of the board of supervisors and by the secretary copied into the records of the district.
(2) Any lands included in the district, which will not be reclaimed or benefited by the construction of the work as specified in the plan for reclamation, may be excluded from the district by order of the county court. Any charge billed to an owner of land so excluded shall be refunded to the person paying the same. However, any irrigated lands contributing to the wet, swamp or overflowed condition of any lands of the district, the waste or seepage waters from which lands will be carried by and disposed of through the works specified in the plan for reclamation, shall be deemed benefited by the construction of the works as specified in the plan. [Amended by 1991 c.459 §425e]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.215 - Commissioners; appointment; qualifications; quorum; continuing existence.

Upon adoption of the plan for reclamation, the county judge shall, by order, appoint three commissioners (who shall not be landowners in the district nor of kin within the fourth degree of consanguinity to any person owning land in the district), one of whom shall be a civil engineer and two of whom shall be freeholders residing within the state. A majority of the commissioners shall constitute a quorum and shall control the action of the board on all questions. Such commissioners shall constitute a body which shall continue in office and may be convened at any time by the county court for the purpose of correcting any errors, omissions or other mistakes that shall have been discovered in its original report as the same may have been amended and supplemented from time to time or for any other good cause shown. The court shall fill any vacancy occurring in such body of commissioners by appointment of a person who has the qualifications required by this section of the commissioner the person is to replace. Whenever said body of commissioners has been reconvened by the court, it shall thereafter make its report in response to the directions of the court and such report when completed shall be subject to ORS 547.245, with reference to a hearing thereon and a confirmation thereof by order or judgment of the court before such supplemental report shall go into effect. [Amended by 1953 c.434 §2; 2003 c.576 §506]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.220 - Notice of appointment of commissioners; meeting; secretary of board of supervisors to furnish certain information; oath; officers.

The county clerk upon the filing of the order of appointment shall notify each commissioner of appointment by written or printed notice, and in the notice the county clerk shall state the time and place for the first meeting of the commissioners. The secretary of the board of supervisors shall attend the meeting, and shall furnish the commissioners a complete list of all lands in the district, and the names of the owners thereof, as were contained in the petition, at the date of the judgment of the court incorporating the district. The secretary shall also furnish the commissioners a copy of the plan for reclamation, with maps and profiles in the office of the secretary. The commissioners at the meeting, or within 10 days thereafter, shall each take and subscribe to an oath that they will faithfully and impartially discharge their duties as commissioners and make a true report of the work done by them. They shall also at the meeting elect one of their own number chairperson. The secretary of the board of supervisors shall be ex officio secretary of the commissioners. [Amended by 2003 c.576 §507]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.225 - Assessment of benefits and damages by commissioners; report; compensation.

(1) Within 30 days after qualifying, the commissioners shall begin their duties. The chief engineer shall accompany them at all times, and render an opinion in writing when called for.
(2) The commissioners shall proceed to view the premises and determine the value of all lands within or without the district to be acquired and used for rights of way, holding basins or other works set out in the plan for reclamation. They shall assess the amount of benefits and the amount of damages, if any, that will accrue to each parcel of land, including irrigated lands, irrigation ditches and canals which contribute to the swampy, wet or overflowed condition of those lands, or any lands, public highways, railroads and other rights of way, roadways and other property which will be affected by the proposed reclamation work.
(3) For the purpose of determining benefits under the provisions of this section, all irrigated lands having an available water supply for irrigation that are adjacent to and on a higher level than other lands within the district and which fall naturally within the same watershed as the land within the district, shall be deemed contributing to the wet, swampy or overflowed condition of the lands of the district, and shall be deemed benefited by the construction of the works as specified in the plan for reclamation.
(4) The commissioners shall give due consideration and credit to any other drains, ditches, levees or other systems of reclamation which already have been constructed and which afford partial or complete protection to any tract or parcel of land in the new district.
(5) The public highways, railroads and other rights of way, roadways and other property shall be assessed according to the increased physical efficiency and decreased maintenance cost thereof by reason of the protection to be derived from the proposed works and improvements.
(6) The commissioners shall have no power to change the plan for reclamation.
(7) The commissioners shall prepare a report of their findings, which shall be signed by at least a majority of the commissioners and filed in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the district is organized. The secretary of the board of supervisors shall accompany the commissioners while engaged in their duties, and shall perform all clerical work of the board. The commissioners shall report to the board of supervisors the number of days each was employed and the actual expenses incurred. Each commissioner shall be paid $5 per day for services, and necessary expenses in addition thereto.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.230 - Notice of report of commissioners; publication; form.

(1) Upon the filing of the report of the commissioners, the county clerk shall give notice thereof by publication once a week for three consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in each county in the district. It shall not be necessary for the notice to name the parties interested. The notice shall be in small type, in substantially the following form:
______________________________________________________________________________
Notice of Filing of Commissioners’ Report for
_____Drainage District
Notice is given to all persons interested in the land included within the _____ drainage district, _____County (or counties), Oregon, (here describe land or give boundaries of district) that the commissioners heretofore appointed to assess benefits and damages to the property and lands situate in the drainage district and to appraise the cash value of the land necessary to be taken for rights of way, holding basins and other works of the district within or without its limits, filed their report in this office on the ___ day of______, 2___, and you are notified that you may examine the report and file exceptions to all or any part thereof, on or before the ___ day of_____, 2___.
____________
County Clerk of _____ County, Oregon.
______________________________________________________________________________
(2) Where lands in different counties are contained in the report, the notice shall be published in some newspaper in each county in which the lands so affected are situated.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.235 - Exceptions to report or assessment; hearing by court; modifications; transmission of judgment and report to supervisors and county clerks; appeal from judgment.

The drainage district or any owner of land in the district may file exceptions to the report or to any assessment of either benefits or damages, within 10 days after the last day of publication of the notice provided for in ORS 547.230. All exceptions shall be heard by the court and such amendments and modifications made to the report of the commissioners as may in the court’s judgment be equitable. When it appears to the satisfaction of the court, after having heard and determined all the exceptions, that the estimated cost of the improvement contemplated in the plan for reclamation is less than the benefits to be derived therefrom, the court shall approve and confirm the commissioners’ report, as so amended and modified. The county clerk shall transmit a certified copy of the judgment and copy of the commissioners’ report, as confirmed or amended by the court, to the secretary of the board of supervisors of the district and to the clerk of each county having lands in the district, or affected by the report, where the same shall become a permanent record. Each such county clerk shall receive a fee of $3.75 for receiving, filing and preserving the same. Any person may appeal from the judgment of the court. [Amended by 1971 c.621 §39; 1975 c.607 §42; 1979 c.833 §34; 1981 c.835 §16; 2003 c.576 §508]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.240 - Dissolution of district if cost exceeds benefits; obligations and expenses; additional charges.

If after determining the objections made to the commissioners’ report, the court finds that the estimated costs of works and improvements as reported by the commissioners, or as amended by the court, exceed the estimated benefits, the court shall then render a judgment, declaring the incorporation of the district to be dissolved as soon as all costs incurred, which shall include court costs and all obligations and expenses incurred in behalf of the district by the board of supervisors, are paid. If the uniform charge made under ORS 547.140 is found insufficient to pay all the costs, the board of supervisors shall make such additional uniform charges as will be necessary to pay the deficiency. [Amended by 1991 c.459 §425f; 2003 c.576 §509]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.245 - Reassessment of benefits.

At any time after the expiration of five years from the confirmation of the report of the commissioners, as provided by ORS 547.235, and upon the filing of a petition with the county clerk signed by at least one-tenth of the owners of the lands within the drainage district or the owners of at least one-tenth of the lands within such district, setting forth that the original assessments or benefits are inequitable and unjust, the county court shall appoint three commissioners, as provided by ORS 547.215, to reassess the benefits in the district. The commissioners shall report the reassessment to the court. Upon the filing of the report of the commissioners, the county clerk shall give notice of hearing thereon by publication once a week for three consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in each county in the district, the last insertion to be made at least 15 days prior to the hearing. At least 10 days before the day set for hearing, exceptions may be filed by any interested person, and upon hearing the same the court shall approve the report or direct how it shall be modified and, when so modified or approved, shall confirm it. The assessment as confirmed shall take the place of all prior assessments; provided, that in no case shall the total amount of assessments be less than the outstanding obligations. The county clerk shall transmit a certified copy of the court’s judgment and copy of the commissioners’ report, as confirmed or amended by the court, to the secretary of the board of supervisors of the district and to the county clerk of each county having lands in the district. [Amended by 2003 c.576 §510]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.255 - Objections to petition; findings; judgment; recording.

Any owner of land located in the district, or any owner of land located outside of the district that will be affected by the proposed changes, amendments, and corrections enumerated in the petition, may file objections to the granting of the prayer of the petition, on or before the first day of the term of court at which the petition is to be heard. The court shall hear the petition and all objections filed against it in a summary manner and enter a judgment according to its findings. The clerk of the court shall, within 15 days after the granting of the judgment, transmit a certified copy of the judgment and of the petition to the secretary of the board of supervisors, and to the recorder of deeds of each county having land in the district. Each such recorder shall file and preserve the same in the recorder’s office, for which the recorder shall receive a fee of $3.75. [Amended by 1971 c.621 §40; 1975 c.607 §43; 1979 c.833 §35; 1981 c.835 §17; 2003 c.576 §512]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.260 - Appointment of commissioners when plan amended; subsequent proceedings; court costs.

(1) If the judgment of the court provides that the plan for reclamation may be amended, changed or corrected or the boundary lines of the district extended, the court shall appoint three commissioners, possessing the same qualifications as the commissioners appointed under ORS 547.215, to appraise property to be taken, assess benefits and damages, and estimate the cost of improvements the same as is required of commissioners acting under ORS 547.225. The commissioners shall make their report in writing and file it with the county clerk, after which the case shall be proceeded with in the same manner as is provided for the organization of drainage districts.
(2) If the petition is dismissed the district shall pay the cost; but if the petition is sustained in whole or in part the objectors shall pay the court costs. [Amended by 2003 c.576 §513]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.265 - Amendment of plan where works or charge insufficient; additional charge.

Where the works set out in the plan for reclamation of any drainage district are found insufficient to reclaim in whole or in part any or all of the land of the district, the board of supervisors may formulate new or amended plans containing new ditches, levees or other works, and additional assessments may be made in conformity with the provisions of ORS 547.225, the same to be made in proportion to the increased benefits accruing to the lands because of the additional works. If it should be found at any time that the total of the charges made under ORS 547.455 to 547.485 is insufficient to pay the cost of works set out in the plan for reclamation or additional work done under this section, the board of supervisors may impose an additional charge to provide funds to complete the work, provided the total of all charges does not exceed the total amount of benefits assessed. [Amended by 1991 c.459 §425g]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.305 - Entry on land; acquisition of property; water filings and appropriations; condemnation of property devoted to public use; right of way across state lands.

(1) The officers and employees of any drainage district shall have the right to:
(a) Enter upon any land in the manner provided by ORS 35.220.
(b) Locate the necessary drainage or irrigation works and the necessary branches for the same, on any lands that may be deemed best for such location.
(c) Acquire, either by lease, purchase, condemnation or other legal means, all lands, rights of way, easements and other property necessary for the construction, operation or maintenance of any drainage or irrigation works, including the enlargement, improvement or extension of any natural or artificial waterway for such purposes.
(d) Make all necessary water filings or appropriation of water under the general laws of Oregon for irrigation of lands within such district.
(2) The property, the right to condemn which is hereby given, shall include property already devoted to public use that is less necessary than the use for which it is required by the district, whether used for drainage, irrigation or any other purpose. The right of way is hereby given, dedicated and set apart to locate, construct and maintain such drainage or irrigation works over and through any of the lands that are now or may be the property of this state.
(3) In the acquisition of property or rights by condemnation, proceedings under the provisions of this section shall be brought in the name of the district under the provisions of ORS chapter 35. [Amended by 2003 c.477 §8]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.310 - Board authority regarding reclamation works; contracts; engineer’s duties.

(1) The board of supervisors shall have full power and authority to:
(a) Build, construct and complete any works and improvements needed to carry out the plan of reclamation.
(b) In the name of the district, make all necessary water filings and appropriations of water for the subsequent irrigation of the lands within the district.
(c) Construct, operate and maintain irrigation works for the irrigation of the lands within the district.
(d) Hire personnel and purchase machinery, equipment and supplies.
(2) The board may after advertising for bids, let a contract for construction of the whole or any part of the drainage or irrigation works to the lowest responsible bidder, which contract shall be in writing. The complete plans and specifications for the drainage or irrigation of the lands shall be attached to and made a part of each contract. Good and sufficient bond, running in favor of the district, shall be required of each contractor, conditioned that the contractor will well and truly comply with all the provisions of the contract and perform all work in accordance with the terms thereof.
(3) The chief engineer shall be superintendent of all the works and improvements and shall, whenever required, and at least once each year, make a full report to the board of all work done and improvements and make such suggestions and recommendations to the board as the chief engineer deems proper. [Amended by 1989 c.182 §31]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.315 - Connecting existing improvements; procedure; connection with improvements outside district.

(1) At the time of the construction in any district of the plan for reclamation, all ditches or systems of drainage already constructed in the district and all watercourses shall, if necessary to the drainage of any lands in the district, be connected with and made a part of the works and improvements of the plan of drainage of the district. But no ditches, drains or systems of drainage constructed in the district shall be connected therewith, unless the consent of the board of supervisors is first obtained. This consent shall be in writing and shall particularly describe the method, terms and conditions of such connection, and shall be approved by the chief engineer. The connections, if made, shall be in strict accord with the method, terms and conditions laid down in the consent.
(2) If the landowners wishing to make such connection are refused by the board of supervisors or decline to accept the consent granted, such owners may file a petition for such connection in the circuit court having jurisdiction in the district, and the matter in dispute shall in a summary manner be decided by the court, whose decision shall be final and binding on the district and landowners.
(3) No connection with the works or improvements of the plan of drainage of the district or with any ditch, drain or artificial drainage wholly within the district shall be made, caused or effected by any landowner, company or corporation, municipal or private, by means of or with any ditch, drain, cut, fill, roadbed, levee, embankment or artificial drainage wholly without the limits of the district, unless such connection is consented to by the board of supervisors, or in the manner hereinbefore provided.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.320 - Powers of districts regarding irrigation works; bonds.

Whenever it appears necessary, proper or beneficial to irrigate any of the lands within any drainage district, whether or not the drainage works have been actually acquired or constructed, the district may cause irrigation reservoirs, canals, ditches, and other works to be constructed, operated and maintained. To this end the district shall in all respects have the same power and authority as is conferred respecting drainage, and all powers conferred upon drainage districts by ORS 547.305, 547.310, 547.355 and 547.360 with respect to drainage shall be construed to include irrigation. However, any bonds issued solely for irrigation purposes shall be known as "Irrigation bonds of _____ drainage district."
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.325 - Powers of districts under 1,000 acres regarding domestic water supply.

(1) Any drainage district embracing less than 1,000 acres may:
(a) Within and adjacent to the district, own, construct, install, contract to use and to receive service from, and buy and sell, wells, reservoirs, pumps, pipelines and other equipment used to supply water from wells for domestic purposes and for watering lawns and gardens.
(b) Buy and sell, deliver, supply and dispose of water for domestic purposes and for watering lawns and gardens, for profit, to any person within the limits of such drainage district or adjacent thereto.
(c) Fix and collect the rates and charges therefor.
(2) The board of supervisors may act for such district in exercising the power and authority herein provided.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.355 - Contracts with United States for reclamation by drainage or irrigation authorized.

The board of supervisors of any drainage district, whenever it is determined by the board that it is for the best interests of the district, may enter into a contract with the United States for the reclamation by drainage or irrigation of the lands within the boundaries of the district, under the provisions of the Act of Congress of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto, and especially the Act of Congress approved August 13, 1914, entitled, "An act extending the period of payment under reclamation projects, and for other purposes," commonly known as the "Twenty-Year Extension Act."
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.360 - Payment of amounts due; assessments on lands; lien thereof; collection.

The board of supervisors of any drainage district shall provide by a resolution, adopted at a regular meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose, for the payment of the amounts to become due under such contract with the United States, according to the provisions of the contract, by assessment upon the lands which are to be benefited by the drainage or irrigation. The assessments shall be a lien upon the lands of the district to the same extent as other assessments under the drainage laws of this state, and, except as provided in ORS 547.492, shall be collected by the tax collector of the county within which the lands are situated the same as other taxes are collected. [Amended by 1991 c.459 §425h]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.405 - Districts west of Cascades; control of supervisors over improvements.

The boards of supervisors of all drainage districts lying west of the Cascade Mountains, whether or not organized under the Drainage District Act, shall have supervision and control of all drainage ditches, laterals, drains, canals, sloughs, waterways or conduits within the boundaries of their districts and may prescribe the width and grade thereof. They may construct and maintain ditches, laterals, drains, canals, sloughs, waterways or conduits within the boundaries of their districts.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.410 - Maintaining improvements; notice to owner or occupant of premises.

(1) Whenever the engineer or secretary of such a drainage district notifies the supervisors that any ditch, lateral, drain, canal, slough, waterway or conduit is less efficient, by reason of the failure of the owner of the premises upon which it is situated to repair, clean or grade the same, the board of supervisors shall serve or cause to be served upon such owner, if the owner is known and residing within the county in which the district is situate, or if not a resident of the county, then upon the occupant of the premises, a notice in writing notifying the owner or occupant of the clogged or obstructed condition of the ditch, lateral, drain, canal, slough, waterway or conduit.
(2) The notice shall be served by delivering to the owner, occupant or person in charge of the premises a copy thereof certified to be such by the person serving it, or if there is no occupant or the owner is not a resident of the county, then the notice shall be served by posting a copy of it in a conspicuous place upon the premises. Immediately after serving or posting the notice, the person serving it, by authority of the board of supervisors, shall file the original notice with the county clerk of the county in which service is made, together with a return on the notice stating the time and manner of making service. The notice and return, when so filed, shall be retained as a public record of the county.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.415 - Failure of owner or occupant to act; maintenance by supervisors.

If the owner or occupant of the premises upon which the clogged or obstructed ditch, lateral, drain, canal, slough, waterway or conduit is situated fails for 10 days after being notified of the existence of such clogged or obstructed condition, to repair, clean or grade the ditch, lateral, drain, canal, slough, waterway or conduit or remove the obstruction therefrom, the board of supervisors shall immediately repair, clean or grade the same and cause it to be promptly placed in a proper and efficient condition.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.420 - Liability for cost of work; notice of claim of lien; foreclosure; sale of land.

(1) Upon completion of the work the board of supervisors shall bill the owner or occupant of the premises for the expense necessarily incurred in the repair, grading or cleaning of the canal, ditch, lateral, drain, slough, waterway or conduit.
(2) If any charge remains unpaid beyond the due date thereof, the secretary of the district may file a notice of claim of lien with the county clerk of the county in which the lands for which the charges were billed are situated. The notice of lien shall be in writing and must contain:
(a) The name of the landowner or occupier who was billed.
(b) A statement of the amount claimed past due.
(c) A description of the land upon which the work was completed sufficient for identification.
(3) The county clerk shall cause the notice of lien to be recorded in the County Clerk Lien Record maintained under ORS 205.125. The amount of the charges and expense, as of the date the notice of lien is filed, shall constitute a first lien upon the lands or premises, except as to taxes. If the charges and expenses are not paid and the lien discharged by the owner or occupant within 30 days from the date the notice is filed, suit or action may be brought in the name of the drainage district for the foreclosure of the lien. The suit or action shall be brought by the district attorney, or, at the option of the board, by an attorney employed by the board. The lands affected thereby shall be sold under execution for the payment and satisfaction of the lien and of the costs and disbursements incurred in connection with the prosecution of the suit or action. [Amended by 1991 c.459 §425i]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.425 - Prohibited practices.

No person shall:
(1) Throw, dump or place or allow to be thrown, dumped or placed, any rubbish, refuse or any article or thing in any ditch, lateral, canal, slough, waterway or conduit used as a part of or in connection with any drainage works or drainage plant or drainage system or any waterway under the control of any drainage district lying west of the Cascade Mountains; or
(2) Befoul or pollute or allow to be befouled or polluted any such ditch, lateral, canal, slough, waterway or conduit; or
(3) In any manner obstruct or permit to be obstructed by stock any such waterway, canal, ditch, lateral, slough or conduit.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.430 - Civil liability for expense of removal of filth or obstruction; recovery by action.

Any person who throws, dumps or places or allows to be thrown, dumped or placed, any rubbish, refuse, or any article or thing in any such ditch, lateral, canal, slough, waterway or conduit shall, in addition to the penalty provided in ORS 547.990, also be liable to the owner of the ditch, lateral, canal, slough, waterway or conduit, or other person or district having control, charge or supervision of the same, for all expense legitimately occasioned or incurred by such person or district in the removal of any such rubbish, refuse or other article or thing or the prevention of such befoulment or pollution, and for all damage that may be done or occasioned to the ditch, lateral, canal, slough, waterway or conduit by reason of such dumping, throwing or placing of the rubbish, refuse or article or thing, or the befoulment or pollution. The sum may be recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the person or district having control of or using the ditch, lateral, canal, slough, waterway or conduit that was injured, damaged, befouled, polluted or obstructed.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.455 - Annual charge or assessment; computation; apportionment; liability of state lands; payment of assessments by bonds, coupons or warrants.

(1) The board of supervisors shall each year make a computation of the whole amount of money to be raised by the district through charges or assessments for the ensuing year for any purposes whatsoever in carrying out the provisions of the Drainage District Act, including maintenance and operation and estimated delinquencies on charges or assessments. This amount when determined by the board shall constitute an assessment upon all the land included in the district and shall be apportioned by the board in accordance with the report of the commissioners as confirmed or amended by the court as provided for in ORS 547.235.
(2) Any land owned by any person totaling less than one acre shall be charged or assessed as one acre.
(3) Any land, the title to which is vested in the state, or state lands sold under contract in any drainage district, shall be subject to charge or taxation by the district, and the full amount of the charge or assessment due against such lands shall be paid to the district at the same times and in the same manner as other drainage district charges and assessments are paid.
(4) The tax collector shall receive any past due bond of the drainage district or any past due interest coupon from any bond of the district in payment of any charge or assessment made for the purpose of paying bonds or bond interest of the district, and shall receive in payment of charges or assessments levied for operation and maintenance purposes any warrants drawn upon the operation and maintenance fund, such warrants received in payment of charges and assessments to be in order of issuance. [Amended by 1953 c.446 §3; 1991 c.459 §425j]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 547 - Drainage Districts › Section 547.460 - County, city and town lands subject to taxation, assessment or charges.

Any land situated within a drainage district, the title to which is vested in any county, city or town, shall be subject to taxation, assessment or charge by the district. The full amount of taxes or assessments due against the land or the full amount of charges imposed upon the county, city or town shall be paid to the district at the same times and in the same manner as other drainage district taxes, assessments or charges. [Amended by 1991 c.459 §425k]