MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Municipalities

By: Representatives McBride, Morris, Henderson (9th)

ACT TO AUTHORIZE CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES TO ENTER INTO ANY AGREEMENT, CONTRACT, LEASE OR OTHER ARRANGEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES WHEREBY THE MUNICIPALITY MAY ACQUIRE OR LEASE REAL PROPERTY, WHETHER WITHIN OR OUTSIDE THE CORPORATE BOUNDARIES OF SUCH MUNICIPALITY, FOR THE PURPOSE OF DEVELOPING PARKS, TOURISM AND RECREATIONAL FACILITIES AND SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE; TO PROVIDE THAT WHERE A MUNICIPALITY ACQUIRES OR LEASES REAL PROPERTY FROM THE UNITED STATES AND THE PROPERTY IS LOCATED OUTSIDE THE CORPORATE BOUNDARIES OF THE MUNICIPALITY, THE MUNICIPALITY MAY INCORPORATE THE REAL PROPERTY INTO ITS CORPORATE BOUNDARIES; TO PROVIDE THE PROCEDURE FOR SUCH INCORPORATION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 21-1-27, 21-1-29, 21-1-31, 21-1-33, 21-1-35, 21-1-37, 21-1-39, 21-1-41 AND 21-1-65, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The purpose of Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. ____, 1999 Regular Session, is to promote the general welfare and economic development by empowering certain municipalities to (a) acquire or lease real property, whether located within or outside the corporate boundaries of such municipality, from the United States, (b) develop and use such real property, and (c) incorporate such real property. The provisions of Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. ____, 1999 Regular Session, are and shall be construed to be independent of, an alternative to and in addition to all existing laws of the state governing the authority of municipalities.

SECTION 2. As used in Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. ____, 1999 Regular Session, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) "Municipality" means any municipality located in a county in which Sardis Lake is located, in which Mississippi Highway 6 and Interstate Highway 55 intersect and having a population of five thousand (5,000) or less according to the 1990 federal decennial census.

(b) "Sardis Lake" means that certain flood control reservoir and adjacent real property in Lafayette and Panola Counties owned by the United States and operated and managed by the Department of the Army through its Corps of Engineers on the effective date of this act.

(c) The "United States" means the United States Government and the United States Department of the Army, acting by and through its Corps of Engineers, and any other agency, department or commission of the United States owning or having jurisdiction or authority, or both, over Sardis Lake or matters relating thereto.

SECTION 3. (1) Any municipality may enter into and accomplish any agreement, contract, lease or other arrangement with the United States whereby the municipality may acquire or lease real property, whether located within or outside the corporate boundaries of such municipality, for the purpose of developing and promoting parks, tourism and recreational facilities of all types, including without limitation marinas, restaurants, hotels, conference centers, golf courses, lakes, nature trails, campgrounds and similar facilities and supporting infrastructure; and the purposes set forth in any such agreement, contract, lease or other arrangement and the uses described therein of such real property shall be proper municipal purposes for such municipality.

(2) Any municipality that acquires or leases real property from the United States under subsection (1) of this section may (a) lease and sublease, and grant rights to use, easements and rights-of-way over and across, any part or all of such real property for such consideration and upon such terms and conditions as the municipality may deem appropriate for a period or periods not to exceed seventy-five (75) years, and (b) enter into and accomplish agreements, contracts, leases and subleases, and other arrangements with private individuals, firms or corporations with respect to the use and development of such real property.

(3) Any municipality that leases or subleases or grants rights to use, easements or rights-of-way over and across real property acquired or leased from the United States under subsection (1) of this section may utilize all revenues received from the rental or use of such real property or the granting of such rights, or received as a result of any term or condition in an agreement, contract, lease, sublease or other arrangement relating to such real property, for all proper municipal purposes.

SECTION 4. Any municipality that acquires or leases real property from the United States under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. ____, 1999 Regular Session, if such real property is located outside the corporate boundaries of such municipality, may incorporate such real property into its corporate boundaries by ordinance adopted for such purpose if such real property is located within the same county as the municipality, regardless of whether the real property is adjacent or contiguous to the existing corporate boundaries of such municipality.

SECTION 5. Any ordinance to incorporate real property into the corporate boundaries of a municipality under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. ____, 1999 Regular Session, shall include the following provisions and shall be effective as follows:

(a) The ordinance shall accurately describe the metes and bounds of the real property to be incorporated, and only real property acquired or leased from the United States under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. ____, 1999 Regular Session, shall be subject to such incorporation.

(b) If the United States retains ownership of the real property to be incorporated by the municipality, the United States must consent to the incorporation and a written statement of such consent must be cited and included in the ordinance.

(c) The ordinance shall provide that it will not become effective until publication thereof shall have been made once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper, or newspapers, published or having a general circulation in the county in which the municipality and the real property to be incorporated are located.

(d) Subject only to the limitations of Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. ____, 1999 Regular Session, the ordinance shall become effective upon the effective date fixed therein.

SECTION 6. Any person aggrieved by a municipal ordinance adopted under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. ____, 1999 Regular Session, may appeal to the circuit court of the county in which the principal office of the municipality is located in the manner provided for appeals of judgments or decisions of municipal authorities as set forth in Section 11-51-75, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 7. Whenever the corporate boundaries of a municipality shall be enlarged under to Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. ____, 1999 Regular Session, the municipality shall, within thirty (30) days after the effective date of such ordinance, if no appeal is taken therefrom, forward to the Secretary of State a certified copy of such ordinance, which shall be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and shall remain a permanent record thereof. If an appeal is taken from such ordinance and the ordinance is affirmed, then the certified copy thereof shall be forwarded to the Secretary of State within ten (10) days after receipt of the mandate from the court notifying the municipality of such affirmance.

SECTION 8. Whenever the corporate boundaries of a municipality shall be enlarged under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. ____, 1999 Regular Session, the municipality shall furnish to the chancery clerk of the county in which the municipality is located a map or plat of the boundaries of the municipality as altered. The map or plat shall be recorded in the official plat book of the county.

SECTION 9. Section 21-1-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

21-1-27. The limits and boundaries of existing cities, towns and villages shall remain as now established until altered in the manner hereinafter provided. When any municipality shall desire to enlarge or contract the boundaries thereof by adding thereto adjacent unincorporated territory or excluding therefrom any part of the incorporated territory of such municipality, the governing authorities of such municipality shall pass an ordinance defining with certainty the territory proposed to be included in or excluded from the corporate limits, and also defining the entire boundary as changed. In the event the municipality desires to enlarge such boundaries, such ordinance shall in general terms describe the proposed improvements to be made in the annexed territory, the manner and extent of such improvements, and the approximate time within which such improvements are to be made; such ordinance shall also contain a statement of the municipal or public services which such municipality proposes to render in such annexed territory. In the event the municipality shall desire to contract its boundaries, such ordinance shall contain a statement of the reasons for such contraction and a statement showing whereby the public convenience and necessity would be served thereby.

This section shall not apply to a municipality enlarging its boundaries under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. , 1999 Regular Session.

SECTION 10. Section 21-1-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

21-1-29. When any such ordinance shall be passed by the municipal authorities, such municipal authorities shall file a petition in the chancery court of the county in which such municipality is located; however, when a municipality wishes to annex or extend its boundaries across and into an adjoining county such municipal authorities shall file a petition in the chancery court of the county in which such territory is located. The petition shall recite the fact of the adoption of such ordinance and shall pray that the enlargement or contraction of the municipal boundaries, as the case may be, shall be ratified, approved and confirmed by the court. There shall be attached to such petition, as exhibits thereto, a certified copy of the ordinance adopted by the municipal authorities and a map or plat of the municipal boundaries as they will exist in event such enlargement or contraction becomes effective.

This section shall not apply to a municipality enlarging its boundaries under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. , 1999 Regular Session.

SECTION 11. Section 21-1-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

21-1-31. Upon the filing of such petition and upon application therefor by the petitioner, the chancellor shall fix a date certain, either in term time or in vacation, when a hearing on said petition will be held, and notice thereof shall be given in the same manner and for the same length of time as is provided in Section 21-1-15 with regard to the creation of municipal corporations, and all parties interested in, affected by, or being aggrieved by said proposed enlargement or contraction shall have the right to appear at such hearing and present their objection to such proposed enlargement or contraction. However, in all cases of the enlargement of municipalities where any of the territory proposed to be incorporated is located within three (3) miles of another existing municipality, then such other existing municipality shall be made a party defendant to said petition and shall be served with process in the manner provided by law, which process shall be served at least thirty (30) days prior to the date set for the hearing.

This section shall not apply to a municipality enlarging its boundaries under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. , 1999 Regular Session.

SECTION 12. Section 21-1-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

21-1-33. If the chancellor finds from the evidence presented at such hearing that the proposed enlargement or contraction is reasonable and is required by the public convenience and necessity and, in the event of an enlargement of a municipality, that reasonable public and municipal services will be rendered in the annexed territory within a reasonable time, the chancellor shall enter a decree approving, ratifying and confirming the proposed enlargement or contraction, and describing the boundaries of the municipality as altered. In so doing the chancellor shall have the right and the power to modify the proposed enlargement or contraction by decreasing the territory to be included in or excluded from such municipality, as the case may be. If the chancellor shall find from the evidence that the proposed enlargement or contraction, as the case may be, is unreasonable and is not required by the public convenience and necessity, then he shall enter a decree denying such enlargement or contraction. In any event, the decree of the chancellor shall become effective after the passage of ten (10) days from the date thereof or, in event an appeal is taken therefrom, within ten (10) days from the final determination of such appeal. In any proceeding under this section the burden shall be upon the municipal authorities to show that the proposed enlargement or contraction is reasonable.

This section shall not apply to a municipality enlarging its boundaries under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. , 1999 Regular Session.

SECTION 13. Section 21-1-35, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

21-1-35. In the event no objection is made to the petition for the enlargement or contraction of the municipal boundaries, the municipality shall be taxed with all costs of the proceedings. In the event objection is made, such costs may be taxed in such manner as the chancellor shall determine to be equitable pursuant to the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. In the event of an appeal from the judgment of the chancellor, the costs incurred in the appeal shall be taxed against the appellant if the judgment be affirmed, and against the appellee if the judgment be reversed.

This section shall not apply to a municipality enlarging its boundaries under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. , 1999 Regular Session.

SECTION 14. Section 21-1-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

21-1-37. If the municipality or any other interested person who was a party to the proceedings in the chancery court be aggrieved by the decree of the chancellor, then such municipality or other person may prosecute an appeal therefrom within the time and in the manner and with like effect as is provided in Section 21-1-21 in the case of appeals from the decree of the chancellor with regard to the creation of a municipal corporation.

This section shall not apply to a municipality enlarging its boundaries under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. , 1999 Regular Session.

SECTION 15. Section 21-1-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

21-1-39. Whenever the corporate limits of any municipality shall be enlarged or contracted, as herein provided, the chancery clerk shall, after the expiration of ten (10) days from the date of such decree if no appeal be taken therefrom, forward to the Secretary of State a certified copy of such decree, which shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of State and shall remain a permanent record thereof. In the event an appeal be taken from such decree and such decree is affirmed, then the certified copy thereof shall be forwarded to the Secretary of State within ten (10) days after receipt of the mandate from the Supreme Court notifying the clerk of such affirmance.

This section shall not apply to a municipality enlarging its boundaries under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. , 1999 Regular Session.

SECTION 16. Section 21-1-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

21-1-41. In all cases where the limits of a municipality are enlarged or contracted the municipal authorities shall furnish to the chancery clerk a map or plat of the boundaries of the municipality as altered. Such map or plat shall be recorded in the official plat book of the county.

This section shall not apply to a municipality enlarging its boundaries under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. , 1999 Regular Session.

SECTION 17. Section 21-1-65, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

21-1-65. This chapter shall apply to and govern the creation, enlargement, contraction, and abolition of all municipalities of this state hereafter, whether such municipality be operating under the code charter, under the commission form of government, under the council form of government, under the council-manager form of government, or under a special charter, and regardless of whether a different or special procedure be provided by any such special charter. However, Sections 21-1-27, 21-1-29, 21-1-31, 21-1-33, 21-1-35, 21-1-37, 21-1-39 and 21-1-41, shall not apply to a municipality enlarging its boundaries under Sections 1 through 8 of House Bill No. , 1999 Regular Session.

SECTION 18. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.