(1) (a) If any owner of lands adjoining or in the immediate vicinity of the boundary of an established conservation district desires to have his or her lands included within the district, the owner may petition the supervisors of the district, stating the legal description of the lands affected and the reasons why it is desired to have such lands included within the district and shall accompany the petition with two maps showing the outer boundaries of the lands petitioned to be included within the district. (b) If the supervisors find that all of the owners of the lands within such proposed addition have signed the petition and if they approve the addition of such lands to the district, they shall notify the owners of such lands, in writing, of the fact that their lands are included in the district and are entitled to the services and subject to the authority of the district. The supervisors shall cause to be filed with the county clerk and recorder of the county in which any of such land may be located a certificate describing the legal boundaries of the land and stating that such land has been added to and included within such district, and the owner of such land shall pay to the district the cost of recording such certificate. (c) When, in the opinion of the supervisors, there is public land owned by the United States government that, by reason of its topography, drainage, and other factors, should be included in the conservation district, the supervisors may file with the clerk and recorder of the county in which the land is situated a notice of inclusion of said land in the conservation district. A copy of said notice shall be served personally or by registered mail, return receipt requested, upon the head of the agency controlling said land, and, at the discretion of the board, information copies may be provided to local agency officials. Said notice shall describe the land to be included within the district and shall further state that said land shall, on the sixtieth day after personal service or delivery of said notice by registered mail, be deemed to be within the district until and unless the controlling agency files a statement with the county clerk and recorder withdrawing said land from the conservation district. (d) All costs for including any such area within a conservation district shall be paid by the district, and no assessment of any sort shall be made against said land at any time on account of its inclusion within said district. (2) In the event five or more owners of land adjoining or in the immediate vicinity of the boundary of an established conservation district desire to have their own and neighboring lands added to and included within such district, they shall first secure the written consent of the supervisors of such district and may then petition the state board substantially in the form and with the supporting data required by section 35-70-104, and thereafter the state board shall proceed as to the owners of land within the proposed addition substantially as provided in section 35-70-105 (5) and (7); except that the sole question to be voted upon at the meeting of the landowners shall be the question of whether or not the lands within the boundaries of the proposed addition to the district shall be so included. (3) If a majority of the votes cast are against such inclusion, the state board shall record the fact in its minutes, and the election shall adjourn; but, if a majority of the votes cast are in favor of such inclusion, the state board shall note that fact in its minutes and shall certify to the director of the division of local government in the department of local affairs the fact that such additional lands have been included within such district, and the director of said division shall issue his certificate describing the legal boundaries of the lands and stating that such land has been added to and included within the district. (4) Within thirty days after the date of such certificate, the supervisors of the district shall cause the same to be recorded in the books of the county clerk and recorder of the county in which the lands so added are located in whole or in part. From the date of such certificate, the lands thereby included within the district shall be entitled to the same services and subject to the same authority of the district as are other lands of the district. (5) If the boundary line common to two adjoining conservation districts divides the land of any owner so that such land lies partially within each of such districts, the owner of such land, with the written consent of the supervisors of both such districts, may have all of such land included in whichever of the two districts the owner selects and excluded from the other. No land shall be excluded from a district until and unless all lawful taxes and other charges of the district against such land have been paid. The supervisors of the district to which such land shall be transferred shall cause to be recorded in the books of the county clerk and recorder of the county in which the land so transferred lies in whole or in part a certificate of such transfer, together with the legal description of the land so transferred, and shall collect from the owner of such land the cost of recording such certificate. (6) In all proceedings as to petitions and elections under the provisions of this section, the qualifications of landowners participating therein shall be as described in section 35-70-104. (7) In the event that any lands included within a district cease to be used for agricultural purposes and are thereafter devoted exclusively to commercial or industrial uses or other uses related to urban development, or are subdivided for residential purposes, or become a part of the area included within an incorporated municipality, such lands may be withdrawn from a conservation district as follows: (a) to (d) Repealed. (e) When, in the opinion of the supervisors, lands included in a district cease to be used for agricultural purposes, the supervisors, on their own initiative, may, upon sixty days' written notice to the owner of lands involved, cause such lands to be withdrawn from the district; or the supervisors may, in lieu of such written notice, give notice of such withdrawal by publication, by causing notice of such withdrawal to be published not less than sixty days nor more than ninety days before the date on which the withdrawal of such lands from the district becomes final. (f) Said notice shall be published in one issue of a newspaper of general circulation published within the district from which such lands are to be withdrawn, and, if there is no such newspaper within said district, one publication in a newspaper of general circulation throughout the state shall be sufficient. Said notice shall also be posted in a conspicuous place in the conservation district office of the district from which such lands are to be withdrawn. The written notice or, if notice is given by publication, both the publication and the posted notice shall state the reasons for the withdrawal and the date on which the withdrawal becomes final and shall describe the lands to be withdrawn with such certainty as to enable a property owner to determine whether his or her property is included in such lands. (g) and (h) Repealed. (8) If the supervisors of one or more districts determine that the transfer of lands from one district to one or more other districts will increase the efficiency of the services provided by the districts to the owner of the land that is to be transferred, they shall proceed as follows: (a) The supervisors of the district from which the land is to be transferred and the supervisors of the district into which the land is to be transferred shall forward their written request to the state board for approval of the transfer. (b) If it is the opinion of the state board that the requested transfer is in the best interests of the districts involved, the state board shall make and record such determination and give written notices to the districts of its approval. (9) (a) After a district has been formed and is in operation, the owner of land within the district may have the owner's land withdrawn from the district by submitting a written and notarized statement of withdrawal to the supervisors of the district. Upon receipt of such statement by the supervisors, the land requested to be withdrawn shall be deemed withdrawn, and no further action shall be necessary for completion of the withdrawal; except that such land shall remain obligated for its proportionate share of the district's expenses and debts incurred prior to receipt of said statement. (b) Upon receipt of a statement of withdrawal pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (9), the supervisors shall file a certificate with the county clerk and recorder of the county in which such land is located that describes the legal boundaries of the land being withdrawn and states such land has been withdrawn from the district. The owner of the withdrawn land shall reimburse to the district any fee charged for recording such certificate. (10) No land within a conservation district shall be deemed withdrawn from the district until the procedures set forth in subsection (9) of this section have been met.
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