reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.007 - Effective time and date of document.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section and ORS 554.009, a document accepted for filing is effective on the date it is filed by the Secretary of State and at the time, if any, specified in the document as its effective time.
(2) If a document specifies a delayed effective time and date, so the document becomes effective at the time and date specified. If a document specifies a delayed effective date but no time, the document becomes effective on that date. A delayed effective date for a document may not be later than the 90th day after the date it is filed. [1987 c.94 §139]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.009 - Correcting filed document.

(1) A corporation may correct a document filed by the Secretary of State, other than an annual report, if the document contains an incorrect statement or was defectively executed, attested, sealed, verified or acknowledged.
(2) A corporation shall correct a document by delivering articles of correction to the Office of the Secretary of State. The articles shall include the following:
(a) A description of the document, including its filing date, or a copy of the document.
(b) The incorrect statement and the reason it is incorrect, or a description of the manner in which the execution, attestation, seal, verification or acknowledgment is defective.
(c) A correction of the incorrect statement or defective execution, attestation, seal, verification or acknowledgment.
(3) Articles of correction are effective on the effective date of the document they correct except as to persons relying on the uncorrected document and adversely affected by the correction. As to those persons, articles of correction are effective when filed. [1987 c.94 §140]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.011 - Penalty for signing false document.

(1) A person commits the crime of signing a false document for filing if the person:
(a) Knows the document is false in any material respect; and
(b) Signs the document with an intent that the document be delivered to the office of the Secretary of State for filing under ORS 554.005 to 554.340.
(2) Signing a false document for filing is a Class A misdemeanor. [2013 c.158 §12]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.012 - Forms; rules.

Upon request, the Secretary of State may furnish forms for documents required or permitted to be filed by this chapter. The Secretary of State may by rule require the use of the forms. [1987 c.94 §138; 1995 c.215 §29]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.015 - Filing duty of Secretary of State.

(1) If a document delivered to the Office of the Secretary of State for filing satisfies the requirements of ORS 554.005, the Secretary of State shall file it.
(2) The Secretary of State files a document by indicating thereon that it has been filed by the Secretary of State and the date of filing. After filing a document, except for the annual report, the Secretary of State shall return an acknowledgment of filing to the corporation or its representative.
(3) If the Secretary of State refuses to file a document the Secretary of State shall return it to the corporation or its representative within 10 business days after the document was delivered together with a brief written explanation of the reason for the refusal.
(4) The Secretary of State’s duty to file documents under this section is ministerial and is limited in scope of review as set out by rule of the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is not required to verify or inquire into the legality or truth of any matter included in any document delivered to the Office of the Secretary of State for filing. The Secretary of State’s filing or refusing to file a document does not:
(a) Affect the validity or invalidity of the document in whole or part; or
(b) Relate to the correctness or incorrectness of information contained in the document.
(5) The Secretary of State’s refusal to file a document does not create a presumption that the document is invalid or that information contained in the document is incorrect. [1987 c.94 §141; 1999 c.486 §20]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.016 - Filing, service, copying and certification fees.

The Secretary of State shall collect the fees described in ORS 56.140 for each document delivered for filing under this chapter and for process served on the secretary under this chapter. The secretary may collect the fees described in ORS 56.140 for copying any public record under this chapter, certifying the copy or certifying to other facts of record under this chapter. [1991 c.132 §18; 1999 c.652 §16]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.017 - Appeal from Secretary of State’s refusal to file document.

If the Secretary of State refuses to file a document delivered to the Office of the Secretary of State for filing, the corporation, in addition to any other legal remedy that may be available, shall have the right to appeal from such order pursuant to the provisions of ORS 183.480. [1987 c.94 §142]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.018 - Evidentiary effect of copy of filed document.

(1) A certificate attached to a copy of a document filed by the Secretary of State, bearing the Secretary of State’s signature, which may be in facsimile, is conclusive evidence that the original document, or a facsimile thereof, is on file with the Office of the Secretary of State.
(2) The provisions of ORS 56.110 apply to all documents filed pursuant to ORS 554.005 to 554.340, 554.420, 554.440 and 554.510 to 554.590. [1987 c.94 §143]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.019 - Certificate of existence.

(1) Anyone may apply to the Secretary of State to furnish a certificate of existence for a corporation formed under ORS 554.005 to 554.340.
(2) A certificate of existence when issued means that:
(a) The corporation’s corporate name is registered in this state;
(b) The corporation is duly incorporated under ORS 554.005 to 554.340 or chapter 172, Oregon Laws 1911;
(c) All fees payable to the Secretary of State under ORS 554.005 to 554.340, 554.420, 554.440 and 554.510 to 554.590 have been paid, if nonpayment affects the existence or authorization of the corporation;
(d) An annual report required by ORS 554.315 has been filed by the Secretary of State within the preceding 14 months; and
(e) Articles of dissolution have not been filed by the Secretary of State.
(3) A person may apply to the Secretary of State to issue a certificate covering any fact of record. [1987 c.94 §144; 1991 c.132 §33]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.020 - Articles of incorporation; filing.

(1) One or more natural persons of the age of 18 or more, a domestic or foreign corporation, a partnership or an association, by submitting articles of incorporation to the Office of the Secretary of State for filing, may act as incorporators of a corporation for one or more of the following purposes:
(a) Irrigating or draining land.
(b) Furnishing land with water for domestic use.
(c) Protecting land by flood control.
(d) Taking ownership of and operating existing sanitary sewer facilities when water for domestic use is supplied pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection.
(2) The incorporators shall file a true copy of the articles of incorporation in the county clerk’s office of the county where the land incorporated is situated.
(3) The requirements for filing a document under ORS 554.005 apply to articles of incorporation. [Amended by 1971 c.200 §8; 1987 c.94 §145; 1987 c.579 §1; 2013 c.284 §1]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.040 - Contents of articles.

The articles of incorporation shall specify:
(1) The duration of the corporation, if limited.
(2) The name assumed by the corporation and by which it shall be known, which name must include the words "district improvement company," except that:
(a) A corporation organized under ORS 554.005 to 554.340 but not organized for profit, or a corporation incorporated before March 4, 1937, under chapter 172, Oregon Laws 1911, which amends its articles to state that the corporation shall not operate for profit, may omit the word "company" from the name and adopt a name using the words "improvement district" combined with other appropriate words to designate the name of such district; and
(b) A district converted to a corporation under ORS 554.380 shall replace the word "district" with the words "improvement company."
(3) The particular land to be improved by the works of the corporation, describing the land by legal subdivisions so far as possible and otherwise by tracts or lots of duly platted land or by metes and bounds, with the acreage thereof and the names of the respective owners as shown by the records of the county, and the total number of acres.
(4) In general but clear language, the purpose and intent of the corporation, and describe in general language the proposed plan of improvement whether for one or more of the purposes named in ORS 554.020.
(5) The number of directors and the names of those first holding such office, and the mode and times of the election of their successors in office.
(6) The location of the principal office of the corporation for the transaction of business, which must be in a county where at least a portion of the land to be improved is situated, and the mailing address, if different.
(7) Whether or not such corporation is organized for profit to the corporation or to its members.
(8) The initial registered agent and the address, including any street and number, of the registered office of the corporation.
(9) The name and address of each incorporator.
(10) The method of allocating votes to the membership, which may be based on:
(a) One vote for each acre of land owned; or
(b) One vote for each parcel as defined in the bylaws of the corporation, regardless of the number of acres owned. [Amended by 1983 c.717 §31; 1987 c.94 §146; 1995 c.233 §1; 2013 c.284 §6]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.060 - Challenge to validity of organization; effect of defects or omissions.

(1) No action, suit or proceeding shall be maintained for the purpose of questioning the sufficiency or correctness of any statement within the articles of incorporation when the provisions of ORS 554.005 to 554.340 with respect thereto have been substantially complied with.
(2) No error in the description of any tract or parcel of land included in such district or in naming the owner thereof shall affect the incorporation or relieve the land from the same unless the owner has been materially prejudiced, misled or injured thereby, and has instituted proceedings because of same within three months after actual notice in any manner brought to the owner. Notwithstanding any error, defect or omission in the articles of incorporation in such case, the corporation is hereby declared to be a legally organized corporation as to all such owners. [Amended by 1987 c.94 §147; 2013 c.284 §7]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.070 - Membership; meetings; voting; proxies; voting trusts; quorum; removal of officers.

(1) Every owner of land described in the articles of incorporation is a member of the corporation, and membership is lost or gained through a sale or purchase of any of said land, as the case may be, by which the legal title is transferred. In case of sale or purchase under contract without transfer of legal title, the parties may agree with respect to voting such land as provided in the bylaws, and unless so agreed and determined pursuant thereto the holder of the legal title shall be entitled to vote. Corporate owners may by resolution of their board of directors appoint and designate a proxy as provided by the bylaws.
(2) At all meetings of the members of the corporation each member who attends in person, or by proxy appointed in writing, shall be entitled to vote as provided in the articles of incorporation. In the absence of a provision in the articles of incorporation, each member shall be entitled to vote the amount of acreage of the land owned by the member on the basis of one vote for each acre of land. Nothing in the laws of Oregon shall be construed to prevent any owners of land, or members of the corporation, from joining in a voting trust or from giving a proxy or power of attorney to vote such membership for a term of years or until the happening or performance of a named contingency or condition. Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section or ORS 554.560, members representing a majority of the votes entitled to be cast shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at all landowners’ meetings, and a majority vote shall govern in all cases except as otherwise specially provided by law.
(3) At any meeting of the members of the corporation any officer may be removed and another elected in the place of the officer. There must be at least one regular meeting of the members in each year, to be fixed by the bylaws, and there shall be such other meetings as may be called under the provisions of the bylaws.
(4) When members representing a majority of the votes entitled to be cast or their appointed proxies do not attend the regular annual meeting of the members of the corporation or any other meeting called under the bylaws, the directors of the corporation may call another meeting of the members on a date that is not later than 60 days after the date of the meeting at which a quorum was not obtained. At such subsequent meeting, members representing 25 percent or more of the votes entitled to be cast shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. [Amended by 1985 c.466 §1; 1995 c.233 §2]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.080 - Corporate existence; powers of corporation.

When the articles of incorporation are filed by the Secretary of State, the corporation is deemed to be established and has the power:
(1) To sue and be sued.
(2) To contract and be contracted with.
(3) To have, use and alter a corporate seal.
(4) To purchase, condemn by the power of eminent domain, possess and dispose of real and personal property as necessary and convenient to carry out the purposes of the corporation, and to take, hold, possess and dispose of all real and personal property donated to the corporation to carry out the purposes of the corporation.
(5) To appoint subordinate officers, employees and agents as the corporation requires, and prescribe their duties and compensation.
(6) To make, establish or amend bylaws, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the laws of the state, the articles of incorporation, or the covenants and provisions of the landowners’ notice provided in ORS 554.170 to 554.190, if any is filed, prescribing the manner and mode of conducting the business of the corporation, distributing and using water in domestic use, irrigating land, using any drainage or flood control works, collecting and treating sewage and enforcing the collection of rates, tolls, charges, fees, fines and assessments. Bylaws, rules and regulations must be ratified by two-thirds of the votes of the members of the corporation.
(7) To prescribe, fix, make and charge and collect from the water users or those who receive the benefits of the corporation, rates, tolls, fees, fines and charges for maintenance and operation of the corporation, use of water or for the works of the corporation, or for violation of any of the bylaws, rules and regulations of the corporation. The rates, tolls, fines, fees and charges shall be a lien on the crops produced as prescribed in ORS 545.275, and may be a lien upon the land to which the water was furnished, or benefit was provided, as prescribed in ORS 554.135.
(8) To make, levy and collect assessments either ratably or in proportion to the benefits received as provided by the bylaws or recorded landowners’ notice, upon the lands described in the articles of incorporation to fund the corporation for any purpose, including maintenance and operation, estimated delinquencies on assessments, principal and interest of maturing indebtedness, and reserve necessary or provided by the bylaws, subject to the limitations, restrictions and provisions of the recorded landowners’ notice. [Amended by 1987 c.94 §148; 1991 c.459 §432d; 2013 c.284 §2]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.082 - Registered office and registered agent.

(1) A corporation shall continuously maintain in this state a registered agent and registered office that may be, but need not be, the same as any of the corporation’s places of business. The registered office must be located at a physical street address where process may be personally served on the registered agent. The registered office may not be a commercial mail receiving agency, a mail forwarding business or a virtual office.
(2) A registered agent must be:
(a) An individual who resides in this state and whose business office is identical to the registered office;
(b) A domestic corporation or domestic nonprofit corporation, the business office of which is identical to the registered office; or
(c) A foreign corporation or foreign nonprofit corporation that is authorized to transact business in this state, the business office of which is identical to the registered office. [1993 c.190 §19; 2001 c.315 §56; 2013 c.158 §37; 2017 c.705 §33]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.084 - Change of registered office or registered agent.

(1) A corporation may change its registered office or registered agent by delivering to the Office of the Secretary of State for filing a statement of change that sets forth:
(a) The name of the corporation;
(b) If the registered office is to be changed, the address including street and number of the new registered office;
(c) If the registered agent is to be changed, the name of the new registered agent and that the new agent has consented to the appointment; and
(d) That after the change or changes are made, the street addresses of its registered office and the business office of its registered agent will be identical.
(2) If a registered agent changes the street address of the agent’s business office, the registered agent shall change the street address of the registered office of the corporation for which the agent is the registered agent by notifying the corporation in writing of the change and signing, either manually or in facsimile, and delivering to the Office of the Secretary of State a statement that complies with the requirements of subsection (1) of this section and recites that the corporation has been notified of the change.
(3) The filing of the statement by the Secretary of State shall terminate the existing registered office or agent, or both, on the effective date of the filing and establish the newly appointed registered office or agent, or both, as that of the corporation. [1993 c.190 §20]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.086 - Resignation of registered agent.

(1) A registered agent may resign as agent upon delivering a signed statement to the Office of the Secretary of State and giving notice in the form of a copy of the statement to the corporation. The statement may include a statement that the registered office is also discontinued.
(2) Upon delivery of the signed statement, the Secretary of State shall file the resignation statement. The copy of the statement given to the corporation under subsection (1) of this section shall be addressed to the corporation at the corporation’s mailing address or the corporation’s principal office as shown by the records of the Office of the Secretary of State. For purposes of this subsection, written notice is effective at the earliest of the following:
(a) When received;
(b) Five days after its deposit in the United States mail, as evidenced by the postmark, if mailed postpaid and correctly addressed; or
(c) On the date shown on the return receipt, if sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested and the receipt is signed by or on behalf of the addressee.
(3) The agency appointment is terminated and the registered office discontinued, if so provided, on the 31st day after the date on which the statement was filed by the Secretary of State, unless the corporation shall sooner appoint a successor registered agent as provided in ORS 554.082, thereby terminating the capacity of such agent. [1993 c.190 §21]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.088 - Service on corporation.

(1) The registered agent appointed by a corporation shall be an agent of the corporation upon whom any process, notice or demand required or permitted by law to be served upon the corporation may be served.
(2) The Secretary of State shall be an agent of a corporation including a dissolved corporation upon whom any such process, notice or demand may be served whenever the corporation fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent in this state or whenever the corporation’s registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office.
(3) Service shall be made on the Secretary of State by:
(a) Serving the Secretary of State or a clerk on duty at the office a copy of the process, notice or demand, with any papers required by law to be delivered in connection with the service, and the required fee for each party being served or by mailing to the office a copy of the process, notice or demand and the required fee for each party being served by certified or registered mail;
(b) Transmittal by the person instituting the proceedings of notice of the service on the Secretary of State and copy of the process, notice or demand and accompanying papers to the corporation being served by certified or registered mail:
(A) At the last registered office of the corporation as shown by the records on file in the Office of the Secretary of State; and
(B) At such address the use of which the person initiating the proceedings knows or, on the basis of reasonable inquiry, has reason to believe is most likely to result in actual notice; and
(c) Filing with the appropriate court or other body, as part of the return of service, the return receipt of mailing and an affidavit of the person initiating the proceedings stating that this section has been complied with.
(4) The Secretary of State shall keep a record of all processes, notices and demands served upon the Secretary of State under this section.
(5) After completion of initial service upon the Secretary of State, no additional documents need be served upon the Secretary of State to maintain jurisdiction in the same proceeding or to give notice of any motion or provisional process.
(6) Nothing contained in this section shall limit or affect the right to serve any process, notice or demand required or permitted by law to be served upon a corporation in any other manner now or hereafter permitted by law, or enlarge the purposes for which service on the Secretary of State is permitted where such purposes are limited by other provisions of law. [1993 c.190 §22]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.090 - Directors; qualifications; president; seal; secretary-treasurer; exercise of corporate powers; indemnification.

(1) No person is eligible to the office of director unless the person is a member of the corporation. The directors named in the articles of incorporation and thereafter when elected by the members shall promptly qualify and thereupon meet and organize and elect one of their number president who shall preside at their meetings and at the meetings of the members. The board shall adopt a seal with a suitable design.
(2) The board shall elect a secretary who shall keep a fair and correct record of all its proceedings and the official business of the corporation, which shall be open to the inspection of all members as well as to all other interested persons. The secretary may or may not be a member of the board and shall hold the office of treasurer of the corporation and shall receive and receipt for all moneys received.
(3) From the first meeting of the directors, the powers vested in the corporation shall be exercised by them or by their officers or agents under their direction except as otherwise specially provided by law.
(4) Subject to ORS 554.150, the directors and officers of any corporation incorporated under this chapter shall be entitled to indemnification in the same manner as allowed under ORS 65.387 to 65.414. [Amended by 1969 c.345 §17; 1995 c.233 §3]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.100 - Oath of office.

Each director shall, before entering upon official duties, take and subscribe to an oath before some officer authorized by law to administer oaths, that the director will honestly, faithfully and impartially perform the duties devolving upon the director in office as director, and that the director will not neglect any of the duties imposed upon the director by law.
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.110 - Powers of directors.

The board of directors shall have full power and authority to:
(1) Build, construct and complete any works and improvements needed to carry out the plan of improvement of the lands described in the articles of incorporation.
(2) In the name of the corporation, make all necessary water filings and appropriations of water for every purpose of the articles of incorporation.
(3) Operate and maintain such works as are necessary, convenient or beneficial for said purposes.
(4) Hire employees as may be required, and purchase machinery, equipment and supplies.
(5) Generally contract with reference to any of said matters as the board may determine for the purposes and within the scope of the powers granted in ORS 554.005 to 554.340 for improving the land. [Amended by 1995 c.79 §307]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.120 - Records of proceedings of directors; lien docket; deposit of moneys; segregation of funds; accounting; warrant and bond register.

(1) The board of directors shall cause to be kept a well-bound book entitled "Records of Proceedings of Board of Directors," in which shall be recorded minutes of all meetings, proceedings, certificates, bonds, and any and all corporate acts, which records shall be at all times open to the inspection of anyone interested, whether members or creditors.
(2) A lien docket shall also be provided, in which, as to every tract of each owner, all assessments or liens shall be charged and all payments shall be credited, and in which interest on any assessments in arrears shall be charged at time of payment of any installment, to the end that such record shall show the true condition of all liens and the amount thereof.
(3) Except as otherwise provided by ORS 554.160 (2), all money of the corporation shall be deposited with a convenient insured institution or trust company, as those terms are defined in ORS 706.008, in the name of the corporation, and all funds provided to be segregated and held separate shall be so kept, and an accounting of each of such funds upon the books of the corporation shall be correctly kept.
(4) A warrant register shall be provided in which shall be separately kept a record of all warrants issued, the number, date and amount thereof with the name of payee, and the date paid, showing principal and interest separately. The corporation shall keep a register of all bonds with a description thereof, the date thereof and when issued, and generally such a record as shall show all outstanding bonds separately of the several issues and kinds of payments. [Amended by 1969 c.694 §46; 1997 c.631 §492; 2001 c.215 §29]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.135 - Alternative method for collecting assessments.

(1) In lieu of the method of levy and assessment provided for in ORS 554.130, the board of directors may provide in the bylaws or by resolution for the billing and collection of the rates, tolls, fees, fines and charges of the corporation in the manner provided in this section. The provision in the bylaws or the resolution may apply to rates, tolls, fees, fines and charges for the operation and maintenance of the corporation, for the use of water, or for the use of any of the works of the corporation, or for violation of any of the bylaws, rules and regulations of the corporation, or for principal and interest of maturing indebtedness.
(2) The bylaws or the resolution establishing the rates, tolls, fees, fines and charges shall fix the time when they shall become due and payable, and shall also fix a time after which they shall become delinquent, which time shall be any time within one year from the due date.
(3) If any rates, tolls, fees, fines or charges remain unpaid after the delinquency date, the corporation may file a notice of lien and collect the delinquent charges in the manner provided for collection of incurred charges of an irrigation district under ORS 545.494, 545.496, 545.498, 545.502, 545.504 and 545.506.
(4) If rates, tolls, fees, fines or charges, or any installment thereof, are not paid when due, interest shall be charged and collected on the past due amount at the rate of one and one-half percent per month, or fraction of a month, until paid. [1991 c.459 §432c; 2013 c.284 §3]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.140 - Directors’ duty to institute proceedings to enforce lien; attorney fees.

(1) The board of directors shall institute proceedings to enforce the lien of any assessment when the last installment of such assessment is delinquent for more than three months. If the board fails to promptly institute and diligently prosecute in good faith proceedings for enforcement of a lien after that time and any member or creditor of the corporation shall give written notice to the board of such delinquency and request that such procedure be instituted and the board neglects for 30 days thereafter in good faith to bring suit to enforce the lien, the members of the board so failing shall each be jointly and severally liable to the corporation in the amount of the delinquent assessment.
(2) Any member or creditor of the corporation may bring an action on behalf of the corporation in its name against any such directors to enforce the payment thereof; however, no directors shall be personally liable for payment of a delinquent assessment if:
(a) The record of proceedings of a duly constituted meeting of the board held prior to the commencement of such action show either that such director presented or voted in favor of a resolution presented and voted upon by the board calling for the prompt commencement of such enforcement proceedings; or
(b) If no meeting of the board was held between the time prescribed for enforcement of a delinquent assessment lien and the commencement of an action against the directors by a member or creditor of the corporation, that such director duly requested a special meeting of the board of directors be called for the purpose of adopting such a resolution and that the proposed resolution was submitted with the request.
(3) In any legal proceeding instituted by the board of directors of the corporation as provided in this section, the court may award to the prevailing party, in addition to the costs and disbursements of such proceedings, a reasonable attorney fee at trial and on appeal. [Amended by 1963 c.549 §1; 1981 c.897 §65; 1995 c.618 §87]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.150 - Action to compel assessment.

If the board of directors neglects to make any assessment provided by ORS 554.005 to 554.340 for 30 days after the time when it is required to be made, any member of the corporation or any creditor thereof who is likely to be injured thereby may bring an action to compel the assessment to be made. In any such case the costs and expenses thereof may be assessed to the directors who were willfully negligent in failing to make the same and judgment rendered against them jointly and severally by the court in the same action. In such action the corporation and the directors shall be parties defendant. [Amended by 1979 c.284 §173]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.160 - Assessments to provide funds to meet obligations; custody, disbursement and disposal of funds; general operating expenses.

(1) When any bonds or obligations of the corporation are payable from revenue of assessments pledged for the payment thereof, the board of directors shall, at the time of creating such indebtedness or issuing such bonds or obligations or at any time thereafter when assessments therefor are made, designate such fund by appropriate name and shall at the time of making each assessment thereafter determine the amount and portion of the assessment in dollars which is required to be then made for revenue of such fund. In determining and levying every assessment provided in ORS 554.005 to 554.340 the board of directors shall provide separately for the amount to be so raised for each of the several funds so designated and named including the general operation and maintenance fund.
(2) The revenues apportioned to the funds pledged to the payment of bonds and obligations shall be separately held and kept and accounted for. The corporation shall disburse the funds only for the purposes for which levied until the indebtedness and obligation for which the assessment was made is fully paid with interest, whereupon the remainder shall be transferred to the general fund of the corporation for the payment of expenses of the corporation and its operation and maintenance. At the time of making assessments the board of directors shall first determine the estimated amount necessary for the expenses of operation and maintenance and then the several amounts for the respective funds, and determine that the whole amount thereof is within the limitations, restrictions and provisions of the landowners’ notice provided for in ORS 554.170 to 554.190. [Amended by 1969 c.694 §47; 2001 c.215 §30]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.170 - Covenants by landowners; effect.

Owners of all the land described in the articles of incorporation or amendments thereto may at any time after the adoption of the plans and specifications for improving the land as provided in ORS 554.210, mutually covenant and agree for the purpose of binding their respective lands, as provided in ORS 554.180. Such covenants and agreements shall attach to and run with the land for the purpose of limiting, restricting and governing the conduct of the corporation. Such covenants, limitations, restrictions and agreements must not be inconsistent with the articles of incorporation, and after the recording of the same as provided in ORS 554.190 they may not be altered, amended, modified or rescinded during the life of such corporation without the consent of landowners representing two-thirds of the lands in the district and persons having an interest in such lands and the corporation and its creditors if any there are. After the recording, the bylaws of the corporation and every act and proceeding of such corporation must be in accordance with and subject to the limitations, restrictions and provisions thereof. [Amended by 1965 c.427 §1]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.200 - Incurring indebtedness before notice recorded; scope of notice.

When any corporation is organized pursuant to ORS 554.005 to 554.340, the board of directors and the corporation may not lawfully incur any indebtedness or obligation of such corporation, except as otherwise provided in ORS 554.005 to 554.340, before the landowners’ notice has been executed and recorded. When the notice is so recorded, it shall be notice to the world of the facts therein stated. It shall not be necessary, for the purpose of the lien of any assessment or indebtedness of the corporation upon any of the lands described therein, to file or record in the office where deeds and other instruments affecting the title to real property are recorded, any resolution of the corporation or notice of assessment, indebtedness or lien; but as to all matters upon the recording of the landowners’ notice every person interested in any of the land therein described or dealing with respect thereto is put upon inquiry respecting the same and shall ascertain from the corporation the extent and amount of such indebtedness, assessment and lien upon the land. [Amended by 1987 c.158 §117]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.210 - Plans and specifications; how adopted.

(1) Owners of all the land described in the articles of incorporation may, by unanimous agreement in writing, subscribed and acknowledged by them:
(a) Cause to be prepared and approve and adopt detailed plans and specifications for the works and improving of the lands under the plan described in the articles of incorporation;
(b) Make a report upon the same, including an estimate of the cost; and
(c) File the plans, specifications and report with the secretary of the corporation.
(2) When the owners have acted pursuant to subsection (1) of this section:
(a) The board of directors shall adopt a resolution briefly reciting the facts of the plans, specifications and report and accepting, approving and adopting them as the plan of improvement of the land described in the articles of incorporation.
(b) The plans, and specifications and report shall be the plans of the corporation for the works and improvement of the land.
(3) If the landowners do not adopt plans, specifications and a report thereon by unanimous consent, the plans, specifications and report may be adopted by resolution at a meeting of members as provided in subsections (4) to (6) of this section.
(4) The board of directors at any meeting of the board may adopt a resolution:
(a) Designating and authorizing the expenditures for preliminary investigation and report upon the plans and cost of works and construction, or repair or reconstruction of the same, or purchasing or acquiring any property, ditches, dikes, levees, plants, improvements, easements, rights of way, water rights, or other things necessary, advantageous or beneficial for improving the land under the plan described in the articles of incorporation; or
(b) Determining and declaring that such preliminary investigation and the expense thereof is unnecessary.
(5) Pursuant to action under subsection (4) of this section, the directors shall then:
(a) Secure a competent engineer, if necessary or desirable, who shall make the investigation, and prepare detailed plans and specifications and make a report upon the same, including an estimate of the cost thereof; or
(b) Prepare detailed plans and specifications and report with an estimate of the cost thereof without securing an engineer.
(6) The directors shall submit the detailed plans and specifications and report to a meeting of the members of the corporation for adoption. Adoption must in that case be made by resolution passed by a two-thirds vote of all the votes to which the members may be entitled.
(7) Notwithstanding subsections (1) to (6) of this section, when a corporation formed under ORS chapter 554 takes ownership of existing sanitary sewer facilities under ORS 554.020 (1)(b), the board of directors may adopt as detailed plans and specifications of the corporation the plans and specifications of the former owner or operator of the sanitary sewer facilities without securing a competent engineer. [Amended by 2013 c.284 §4]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.220 - Bonds; denominations; interest; maturities; execution; coupons; amortized installment obligations.

(1) At any time after recording the landowners’ notice as provided in ORS 554.190 and adoption of a plan for improvement of the land described in the articles of incorporation as provided in ORS 554.210, the board of directors may, if in their judgment it seems best, and subject to the limitations, restrictions and provisions of the landowners’ notice, issue bonds or other obligations of the corporation necessary or convenient for improving the lands, including the refunding of outstanding bonds and any indebtedness of the corporation.
(2) The bonds shall be in such denominations as the board may determine, and bear interest from date at a rate determined by the board, payable semiannually, to mature at intervals to be determined by the board, both principal and interest being payable at some convenient insured institution or trust company, as those terms are defined in ORS 706.008, that is named in the bonds. The bonds shall be signed by the president of the corporation and attested with the seal of the corporation and the signature of the secretary. They may be issued so as to mature serially in annual amounts so as to be approximately equal, principal and interest, and may be issued so as to include a sum sufficient to pay the first four years’ interest, or less, to accrue on the bonds, and be numbered serially in the order in which they mature. Each such bond shall have interest coupons attached bearing the serial number of the bond, which coupons shall be serially numbered in the order of maturity.
(3) If the directors so determine, they may issue for the purposes stated in this section, or as provided in ORS 554.270 and 554.280, one or more amortized installment obligations of the corporation constituting a designated series of such bonds as particularly described in ORS 554.280, all of which obligations shall be evenly and ratably paid as the attached installments mature as determined by the board of directors and as described in ORS 554.280. The latter bonds and coupons shall be executed and attested as provided by subsections (1) and (2) of this section for bonds of the corporation. [Amended by 1969 c.694 §48; 1977 c.188 §10; 1981 c.94 §49; 1981 c.526 §7; 1997 c.631 §493; 2001 c.215 §31]
2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 15 - Water Resources, Agriculture and Food › Chapter 554 - Corporations for Irrigation, Drainage, Water Supply or Flood Control › Section 554.230 - Bonds; recitals; payment; liability of land.

(1) Bonds or obligations of the corporation shall refer therein to ORS 554.005 to 554.340 and to the resolution of the board of directors authorizing the same, and shall briefly recite the purpose for which issued. If they constitute a lien on the land described in the articles of incorporation they shall so state therein; otherwise they shall state that they and the interest thereon are payable by the revenue derived from the annual assessments by the corporation upon the land described in the articles of incorporation and the landowners’ notice, which assessments are lien-apportioned to every acre of such land and assessed for a fund pledged for the payment thereof, and that the corporation covenants to and with the holder thereof to make such assessments as required by the laws of Oregon and to pay the obligation (or bond) at the maturity therein provided, and further that the assessment required to be made for the payment thereof at maturity will not together with all other assessments required for payment of the debts and obligations, operation and maintenance, and other charges, exceed the limitations prescribed in the landowners’ notice.
(2) Upon the issue of any bond or obligation payable by revenue derived from assessment by the corporation upon the land for a fund designated in the resolution authorizing such issue, the land described in the articles of incorporation and the landowners’ recorded notice shall thereafter be and remain liable to be assessed for such payments as provided in and subject to the provisions of ORS 554.005 to 554.340.