Chapter 223 Oregon Laws 2003

AN ACT

HB 3261

Relating to drainage district; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 547.105 and 547.110.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 547.105 is amended to read:

547.105. 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 [three] supervisors with three or five supervisors as determined by the owners of land within the district. Notice of the meeting shall be given 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. The supervisors shall be owners of land in the district. The landowners, 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. The three or five persons receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected as supervisors. They shall immediately by lot determine the terms of their office.[, which shall be, respectively,] 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. [They] The supervisors first elected shall serve until their successors are elected and qualified. The majority of the acreage represented shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at all landowners’ meetings; provided, however, that when in any year a district shall fail to have a quorum at its annual meeting called pursuant to ORS 547.110 then the quorum for the annual meeting for the succeeding year shall be at least 35 percent of the acreage represented.

SECTION 2. ORS 547.110 is amended to read:

547.110. 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, after giving 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 [supervisor] 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 of the land having benefits attributed to the land shall be entitled to vote at the annual meetings held under the provisions of this section.

SECTION 3. Section 4 of this 2003 Act is added to and made a part of ORS 547.105 to 547.150.

SECTION 4. (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.

Approved by the Governor June 4, 2003

Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 5, 2003

Effective date January 1, 2004

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