Mississippi HB 1345: Pat Harrison Waterway District; authorize additional counties to join.

Bill Text

HB1345 (As Introduced) - 2020 Regular Session 

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 p