(1) Any new school district organized under the provisions of this article has the power and authority to contract bonded indebtedness in the same manner and under the same procedure for the issuance of bonds as is provided by law for the issuance of such bonds by other school districts.
(2) Any new school district has the power to issue refunding bonds for the purpose of refunding outstanding indebtedness of said new school district in the same manner and procedure as is provided by law for the issuance of such bonds by other school districts.
(3) Any new school district has the power to issue refunding bonds for the purpose of refunding outstanding indebtedness of old school districts, which old school districts have been reorganized or dissolved, and included within said new school district and which indebtedness has been assumed by said new school district pursuant to section 22-30-125. Such refunding bonds shall be issued in the same manner as if the indebtedness being refunded were indebtedness originally contracted by the new school district under the provisions of this article.
(4) Any new school district has the power to issue refunding bonds for the purpose of refunding outstanding bonded indebtedness of old school districts, which old school districts have been reorganized or dissolved, and included within said new school district, and which indebtedness has not been assumed by the new school district, in the same manner as if the indebtedness being refunded were indebtedness originally contracted by the new school district under the provisions of this article, except for the following particulars:
(a) Said bonds shall be designated as refunding bonds of the old school district which contracted the original indebtedness in the first instance. The refunding bonds shall be payable from the same funds which are to be derived from the same source as would have been used to pay the original bonds of the old school district if no refunding thereof had ever occurred.
(b) The covenants and agreements in and relating to such refunding bonds shall be made and entered into by the new school district as successor to the old school district, and all necessary actions shall be taken by the board of education of the new school district as successor to the board of education of the old school district.
(5) Whenever any old school district has been reorganized and parts thereof included within two or more new school districts, and whenever an old school district has been dissolved and parts thereof included in two or more other school districts, under the provisions of this article, and said old school district has outstanding bonded indebtedness, the refunding of such outstanding indebtedness of said former school district shall require affirmative action by a majority of the members of the boards of education of each new school district within which any part of the lands formerly included within said old school district are now included, except as is provided in this article to the contrary.
(6) Any school district from which land has been detached and included within any other school district, by reorganization or any other lawful means, and which school district has retained its lawful corporate existence subsequent to the detachment of such land from said school district shall be specifically exempted from the requirements and provisions of subsection (5) of this section, and the board of education of said school district from which land has been detached may refund its bonds to which such detached land is subject with or without concurrence or action by the board of education of the school district within which said detached land is then included.
Source: L. 92: Entire article R&RE, p. 513, � 1, effective June 1.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former � 22-30-130 as it existed prior to 1992.
22-30-128. Detachment and annexation of territory - exemptions from school district organization planning process. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this article, where territory in a school district has been erroneously included on the property tax rolls of an adjoining school district for at least one year and the error was unintentional, said territory may be detached and annexed to said adjoining school district as provided in this subsection (1) and subsections (2) to (6) of this section, without complying with the school district organization planning process as specified in this article.
(2) (a) The boards of education of the detaching and annexing school districts specified in subsection (1) of this section shall each adopt a resolution agreeing to the detachment and annexation of the territory erroneously included on the annexing school district's property tax rolls. The resolutions shall include a legal description of the territory to be detached and annexed and a legal description of the new boundaries of the school districts following detachment and annexation. The proposed new school district boundaries shall correspond to the legal description of the territory to be detached and annexed.
(b) Following adoption of the resolutions, the boards of education of the school districts shall submit to the commissioner a certified copy of their respective resolutions and a map of the detaching and annexing school districts after the proposed detachment and annexation of territory. The commissioner shall approve the resolutions if the commissioner or his or her designee determines that they comply with the provisions of this section.
(3) (a) After approval of the resolutions by the commissioner, except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section, the board of education of the detaching school district shall call for and establish the date of a special school district organization election wherein the eligible electors who reside within the territory proposed to be detached and annexed shall vote upon the detachment and annexation. The board of education of the detaching school district shall name a designated election official who shall be responsible for conducting the election.
(b) If a special school district organization election is held pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (3) and there is no suitable polling place within the territory to be detached and annexed, the board of education of the detaching school district shall designate one or more polling places beyond the limits of said territory.
(c) If a majority of the eligible electors voting at the special school district organization election held pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (3) vote in favor of the detachment and annexation, or if no eligible electors vote in the election, the territory shall be detached and annexed upon the thirtieth day after the date of the election; except that, if the detaching and annexing school districts and the county assessor have located the territory in the annexing school district for longer than one tax year since the filing of the plat for a subdivision located within the territory, the detachment and annexation shall be effective as of the date that the approved subdivision plat was accepted for recordation and filed in the county in which the territory is located.
(4) (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, the detaching school district need not call a special school district organization election if the board of education of the detaching school district submits the resolutions required in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section and certifies to the commissioner that:
(I) Ten or fewer eligible electors reside within the territory to be detached and annexed and that each of these eligible electors has submitted to the board of education of the detaching school district a notarized statement of consent to the proposed detachment and annexation; or
(II) No eligible electors reside within the territory proposed to be detached.
(b) If no election is held as provided in paragraph (a) of this subsection (4), the proposed detachment and annexation of territory shall take effect on the thirtieth day after the commissioner's approval of the resolutions under paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of this section.
(5) After the election, as provided in subsection (3) of this section, or certification, as provided in subsection (4) of this section, the commissioner shall forward to the clerk and recorder of the county in which the election is held and to the county assessor of the county in which the territory is located copies of the resolutions submitted under this section, including the legal descriptions of the school districts after detachment and annexation, and a map of the new boundaries for the school districts.
(6) The assets and liabilities of the school district from which territory was detached pursuant to this section shall be apportioned, distributed, and paid in the manner prescribed in sections 22-30-123 and 22-30-124.
(7) Repealed.
Source: L. 95: Entire section added, p. 603, � 1, effective May 22. L. 96: (1) amended and (7) added, p. 99, � 1, effective March 20; (3) and IP(4)(a) amended, p. 66, � 26, effective July 1.
Editor's note: Subsection (7)(f) provided for the repeal of subsection (7), effective December 31, 1998. (See L. 96, p. 99.)
22-30-129. Dissolution and annexation - exemptions from the school district organization planning process. (1) Notwithstanding any provision of this article 30 to the contrary, a school district board of education and one or more of the contiguous school districts' boards of education may follow the procedures and requirements specified in this section for the dissolution and annexation of the territory of the school district if at least one of the following conditions exist:
(a) The state board, pursuant to the provisions of section 22-11-209, declares the school district is no longer accredited or directs the school district to reorganize;
(b) The school district does not provide within the schools of the school district a full twelve-grade educational program; or
(c) The school district enrolls fewer than fifty students.
(2) The local school board of the school district to be dissolved and annexed shall form an organization planning committee consisting of representation from the local school board of the dissolving school district and the local school boards of each school district that is contiguous to the dissolving school district. The local school board of the dissolving school district shall notify the commissioner when an organization planning committee is created pursuant to this section. Within sixty days after convening, the organization planning committee shall adopt a proposed plan of organization that dissolves the school district and annexes the territory of the school district to one or more of the contiguous school districts.
(3) A plan of organization adopted pursuant to this section must at a minimum address the following issues:
(a) The educational needs of students in the affected school districts, including the convenience and welfare of students;
(b) The provision of diverse educational opportunities for students;
(c) Facility use;
(d) Establishment of boundaries by legal description for the school districts that annex portions of the dissolving school district pursuant to the plan of organization;
(e) Equitable distribution of the properties and cash assets of the dissolving school district to the annexing school districts. In considering an equitable distribution of the properties and cash assets of the dissolving school district, the committee shall consider:
(I) The outstanding general liabilities and obligations of the annexing school districts;
(II) The number of students attending public school in each annexing school district before and after the dissolution and annexation;
(III) The valuation for assessment of taxable property in each affected school district;
(IV) The amount of outstanding bonded indebtedness of each affected school district;
(V) The purpose for which the bonded indebtedness in each affected school district was incurred; and
(VI) The value, location, and disposition of all real properties located in the dissolving school district.
(f) The plan of representation for the members of the local school boards of the annexing school districts; and
(g) If the dissolving school district has bonded indebtedness obligations or liabilities, designation of each annexing school district as a successor for the purpose of administering payment of the bonded indebtedness obligations of the dissolved school district. The local board of each designated school district has the same powers, rights, duties, and responsibilities of the board of education of the dissolving school district for administering payment of the portions of the outstanding bonded indebtedness obligations and liabilities of the dissolving school district that pertain to the property annexed by the designated school district. The local board of each designated school district shall hold in trust all revenue that accrues from the tax levies to satisfy the obligations and liabilities, and all interest that may accrue to the revenue as a result of investments authorized by law, for the sole purpose of satisfying the bonded indebtedness obligations and liabilities of the dissolving school district.
(4) After the organization planning committee adopts the proposed plan of organization as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the committee shall comply with the requirements of section 22-30-115 concerning filing a copy of the proposed plan of organization with the commissioner and the local school boards of the affected school districts and giving notice of and holding public hearings on the proposed plan. After the public hearings, the organization planning committee shall comply with the requirements specified in section 22-30-116, and the committee and the commissioner shall work together to develop a final plan of organization that is mutually acceptable to both parties as provided in section 22-30-116. The organization planning committee and the commissioner shall finally adopt the plan of organization within sixty days after the last public hearing held pursuant to this subsection (4) and shall designate the plan as the final plan of organization.
(5) Within sixty days after the final plan of organization is designated, the local school boards of the affected school districts must each adopt the designated final plan of organization by written resolution. If a local school board does not adopt the final plan of organization:
(a) The planning committee is dissolved, if the final plan of organization involves only two existing school districts or is not approved by the local school boards of at least two of the affected school districts; or
(b) The planning committee may continue and prepare and submit to the commissioner a new proposed plan of organization involving only those school districts that approve the final plan of organization if the final plan of organization involves three or more existing school districts and is approved by the local school boards of at least two of the affected school districts.
(6) Following approval of the final plan of organization by all of the local school boards of the affected school districts, the county clerk and recorder in each county in which an affected school district is located shall submit to the commissioner a map and legal description of the annexing school districts. The local school boards of the annexing school districts shall make the final plan of organization available for inspection by members of the public upon request.
(7) The dissolution and annexation of a school district is effective for all purposes on the date specified in the final plan of organization; except that, for purposes of determining funding pursuant to the Public School Finance Act of 2025, article 54 of this title 22, a final plan of organization approved by the affected local school boards pursuant to this section takes effect on the next July 1 following submission of the map and legal description of the annexing school districts to the commissioner pursuant to subsection (6) of this section. The annexing school districts continue as bodies corporate in the same manner as before approval of the organization plan.
(8) If a school district that is dissolved and annexed pursuant to this section has a warrant indebtedness or outstanding liability, other than bonded indebtedness, in excess of the equivalent of one-half mill on the total valuation for assessment of the dissolving school district, then the local school board of a school district that annexes all or any portion of the dissolving school district, after the effective date of the dissolution and annexation and subject to voter approval, may levy a special tax, not to exceed one mill, against the taxable property of the dissolving school district that is annexed by the school district, the revenue from which must be applied to the retirement of the warrant indebtedness or outstanding liabilities of the dissolving school district. When the warrant indebtedness or outstanding liabilities are retired, the annexing school district shall discontinue the levy. The procedures to be followed pursuant to this subsection (8) are the same as provided in this title 22 for retirement of bonded indebtedness.
Source: L. 2019: Entire section added, (SB 19-183), ch. 111, p. 473, � 2, effective August 2. L. 2024: (7) amended, (HB 24-1448), ch. 236, p. 1528, � 32, effective May 23.