The circuit courts of the several counties and cities of this Commonwealth shall have jurisdiction, power and authority to establish a levee, or drainage project or projects, in their several counties and cities and in projects as hereinafter set out, and to locate and establish levees, drains or canals and cause to be constructed, straightened, […]
Whenever the word district or districts hereinafter appears in this chapter, it shall be construed to mean project or projects. 1954, c. 642.
It is hereby declared that the drainage of the surface water from wet agricultural lands is essential for the successful cultivation of such lands and the prosperity of the community, and the reclamation of overflowed swamps and tidal marshes shall be considered a public benefit and conducive to the public health, convenience, utility and welfare. […]
It is declared that the preliminary work, establishment and completion of a drainage district shall be classified as a public improvement of an integral part of the county in which such district or part thereof be located, and it shall be the duty of the governing body of each county to cooperate in the promotion […]
Whenever a petition, signed by fifty-one percent or more of the owners of land who own fifty-one percent or more of the land, within a proposed drainage project, according to the county-land book or books or to the latest assessment lists of the county or counties in which such project is located, or by the […]
For the convenience of the petitioners, duplicate originals of the same petition may be circulated and separately signed by the several petitioners without the others being present, which the court shall treat in all respects as if the signatures had been placed upon the same copy at the same time. Code 1919, § 1738; 1924, […]
The summons may be served by publication as to any defendants who cannot be personally served, as provided by law. Such summons shall be returnable to the first day of any regular term of the circuit court of the county, during which term, or some succeeding term, the court, after determining the sufficiency of the […]
Repealed by Acts 1954, c. 642.
The clerk of the court thereupon shall mail a written notice to each member of the board of viewers so appointed, notifying him of his appointment, and requesting that the board proceed without delay to discharge its duties as such according to law. Code 1919, § 1738; 1924, p. 708; 1926, p. 606.
If a vacancy occurs on the board of viewers for any reason a successor shall be chosen in accordance with the provisions of § 21-297. Code 1919, § 1738; 1920, p. 608; 1924, p. 708; 1926, p. 606; 1954, c. 642.
The compensation for the services of the board of viewers, together with their incidental expenses to be fixed as herein provided, shall be paid preliminarily by the county treasurer upon the certificate of the circuit judge; the sum so paid shall be refunded, with interest at the rate of six per centum per annum when […]
If the majority of the landowners in any wet, swamp or overflowed lands petition the court for a drainage district based on the widening, deepening, cleaning or straightening of such natural streams only as the United States government or the state drainage authorities pronounce as essential for the drainage of such lands, and agree in […]
If during the proceedings, before or after the filing of the petition, any of the petitioners withdraw from the petition so as to render the number of petitioners whose signatures remain upon the petition insufficient according to § 21-295, and sufficient additional signatures to the petition of the same or other landowners, whose lands will […]
To render the practical application of this chapter possible in all drainage cases, it shall be sufficient for the petitioners to exercise due diligence to ascertain the names of all the landowners and those having title to land in the proposed district, and it shall not be necessary for the petitioners to list and include […]
Whenever a supplementary petition signed by the owner or owners of any tract of land in the proposed district, be subsequently filed with the clerk of the court, requesting that tile be used to drain the tract, the clerk shall immediately notify the engineer of the district of such petition. The engineer shall thereupon design […]
The board of viewers of the project involved shall at the first meeting after the selection of a drainage engineer make provision for the compensation to be paid him, if any, and his necessary assistants and the members of the board of viewers together with their incidental expenses. The rate of pay to each member […]
If, at the time of the filing of the petition, or at any time subsequent thereto, it shall be made to appear to the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, by affidavit or otherwise, that the owner or owners of the whole or any share of any tract or tracts of land affected or […]
After the time of publication shall have expired, if no person claiming and asserting title to the tract or tracts of land and entitled to notice shall appear, the court or the judge thereof, in its or his discretion, may appoint some disinterested person to represent the unknown owner or owners of the lands, and […]
If at any time during the pendency of the drainage proceeding the owner or owners of the lands shall appear in person, they may be made parties defendant of their own motion and without the necessity of personal service, and shall thereafter be considered as parties to the proceeding, but they shall have no right […]
These proceedings shall not be stayed because of infancy or incapacity; but the court in which the petition was filed shall appoint some discreet and competent attorney at law as guardian ad litem to any infant or incapacitated person who may own or be interested in any of the land affected by these proceedings, whether […]
