MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2020 Regular Session

To: Conservation and Water Resources; Appropriations

By: Representative McLeod

House Bill 1345

AN ACT TO CREATE NEW SECTION 51-15-108, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW COUNTIES OUTSIDE THE PAT HARRISON WATERWAY DISTRICT TO JOIN THE DISTRICT BY MEETING CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 51-15-103 AND 51-15-107, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH INCLUDE PROVISIONS RELATING TO REQUIREMENTS FOR COUNTIES WHO DESIRE TO JOIN THE PAT HARRISON WATERWAY DISTRICT, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING PROVISIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

     SECTION 1.  The following shall be codified as Section 51-15-108, Mississippi Code of 1972:

51-15-108.  (1)  A county that is not a part of the Pat Harrison Waterway District and is described in subsection (2) of this section may join the district, with a unanimous resolution adopted by the board of supervisors of such county, by filing a petition, as provided in Section 51-15-107, in the Chancery Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, and conforming to the requirements as provided in Sections 51-15-103 through 51-15-118.

     (2)  A county in which the Pascagoula River, Leaf River, Chickasawhay River or Tallahala Creek are located, or a county having tributaries to such streams or that borders on such streams, may join the Pat Harrison Waterway District.

     SECTION 2.  Section 51-15-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     51-15-103.  (1)  The Pat Harrison Waterway Commission may * * *hereafter be organized in this state in the manner provided for under the provisions of this article * * *, in the manner hereafter provided for.  This water management district shall be an agency of the state and a body politic and corporate, and may be composed and is composed of the following counties * * *, to‑wit:  Clarke, Covington, * * * Forrest, George, Greene, Jackson, * * * Jasper, Jones, * * * Lamar, Lauderdale, Newton, Perry, Smith, Stone and Wayne.

(2)  A county that desires to be included in the Pat Harrison Waterway District, after the original formation of the district, may join the district in the manner provided for in Section 51-15-108.

     SECTION 3.  Section 51-15-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     51-15-107.  (1)  The Pat Harrison Waterway Commission, acting through its members who favor bringing the counties they represent into the Pat Harrison Waterway District, or other counties having Pascagoula River, Leaf River, Chickasawhay River, or Tallahala Creek tributaries, shall petition the chancery court of Forrest County, Mississippi, to organize and establish the Pat Harrison Waterway District, and shall set forth in the petition:

          ( * * *1a)  The counties to be included in the Pat Harrison Waterway District * * *.  Each member of the Pat Harrison Waterway Commission, as created by virtue of Sections 51‑15‑1 through 51‑15‑9, and any county through which the Pascagoula, Leaf, and Chickasawhay Rivers and Tallahala Creek run, or other counties having tributaries to such streams or which border on said streams, may be included in the district.;

          ( * * *2b)  The necessity and desirability for the developments and construction of suitable facilities * * *.; and

          ( * * *3c)  A general description of the purposes of the contemplated works, and a general description of the plan. 

     The petition shall be filed with as many copies as there are parties defendant. 

     The board of water commissioners of the State of Mississippi shall be made a party defendant, and the chancery clerk shall furnish the board * * *of water commissioners with a copy of the petition with attached exhibits.  Each county named in the petition shall be joined as a party defendant by service of process on the president of the board of supervisors * * *thereof, and the chancery clerk shall furnish a copy of the petition to each such president.  * * *Whenever any A municipality that is located in a county to be included in the district, having a population * * *according to the most recent federal census of ten thousand (10,000) or more * * * is included in such proposed district, such municipality according to the most recent federal decennial census, shall be made a party defendant. 

 * * *It shall not be necessary that any Landowners who are located in the counties to be included in * * *said proposed the district be named in the petition, or are not required to be made * * *parties party defendants, or be named in the petition.  The chancellor of the Chancery Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, shall have jurisdiction of the entire waterway district for the purposes of this article * * *.  Such, and this jurisdiction may be exercised * * *by the chancellor in term time or in vacation, as provided in this article.

(2)  A county that desires to be included in the Pat Harrison Waterway District, after the original formation of the district, may join the district in the manner provided for in Section 51-15-108.

     SECTION 4.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.

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