Title XXII, Levees, Drainage, and Reclamation of Lands

As used in this chapter unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Appraisers" means the board of appraisers appointed by the court. (2) "Board" means the board of drainage commissioners of the district. (3) "District" or "drainage district" means any drainage, levee or reclamat…

All boards established under this chapter shall comply with the provisions of KRS 65A.010 to 65A.090.

Any county may, in accordance with the procedures of KRS 65.182, establish, organize, and provide for the operation and maintenance of drainage, levee and reclamation districts.

(1) The county judge/executive shall divide the district into three (3) precincts as nearly equal in area as practicable, following owners' property lines, and immediately upon such division he shall appoint a temporary secretary to act for the district board. The secretary for t…

(1) The board shall furnish its secretary with the necessary office room, furniture, fixtures, stationery, maps, plats, typewriter, and postage. The board shall meet as often as necessary for the proper discharge of duties at whatever places these duties require within the county…

fund. (1) As soon as a district is referred to it by the court, the board shall levy a uniform tax of not more than fifty cents ($0.50) per acre upon each acre of land within the district, as shown by the viewers' report, to be used to pay the expenses incurred in establishing th…

Within thirty (30) days after any district has been organized and referred to it, the board shall employ an attorney to advise it and to act for the district. This attorney shall conduct all actions in court where the district is interested, and advise the board and its employees…

The board may appoint a competent person as superintendent of drainage, who shall be subject to the orders of the board. He shall look after and keep clean, open and in good condition all public drains and other improvements under the charge of the board. The superintendent shall…

(1) Attorneys selected by the petitioners to prepare and file ex parte petitions for the establishment of any district shall faithfully perform the duties of attorney in such proceedings, aid in the preparation of all reports of the viewers, and do any other work necessary until …

Statement of accounts -- Issue and form of warrant -- Interest on unpaid warrants. (1) The treasurer of the board in any county shall hold the office of treasurer of all districts organized in that county, and shall receive and receipt for all the drainage assessments collected b…

The board shall keep a well-bound book entitled "Record of Board of Drainage Commissioners of .... County, Kentucky," in which shall be recorded the minutes of all meetings, proceedings, certificates, bonds given by all employees, accounts and expenditures allowed and orders paid…

report of officers. The board shall keep a correct account of the time spent by it, by the engineer, superintendent and all other employees, and of each item of expense incurred in connection with the district, and charge it to the district for which it was done. If the expense i…

engineers. (1) When the board undertakes to establish or construct any improvement, it shall appoint a competent civil engineer as chief engineer, who may be an individual or a corporation, and who shall engage such assistants as the board approves. The chief engineer shall have …

Election of chairman. (1) The report of the chief engineer shall be known as the "plan for reclamation." When it is filed, the board shall meet and receive and adopt it, with any modifications determined upon. After the plan has been adopted, the board shall refer the proceeding …

improvement. (1) Within ten (10) days after being sworn as provided by KRS 268.260, the appraisers shall begin their duties. They may at any time call upon the attorney of the district for legal advice and information relative to their duties, and the chief engineer or one (1) of…

(1) When the report of the appraisers is filed the secretary shall cause a notice to be sent to each landowner named in the report whose property is shown to be affected by the proposed improvement. (2) The notice given by the secretary shall be substantially as follows: "In re d…

abandon improvement -- Action of board -- Appeal. (1) When the hearing is completed, the board shall determine the correctness of the classification and assessment of benefits to each piece of property involved. If no objections are raised to the report of the appraisers, the rep…

(1) That portion of any piece of property not taken for use of the district shall be assessed for the benefits accruing thereto. (2) When any property is acquired by any district, and the price has been paid or secured to the owner or paid to the clerk of the court by the board, …

When the decision of the board becomes final, the board may borrow any money necessary to carry on the business and work of the district, not exceeding seventy-five percent (75%) of the aggregate assessed benefit as shown by the corrected report of the appraisers. To secure the p…

assessment -- Maximum district assessment. (1) Within thirty (30) days after the contract for the improvement is let for all the work provided for under the plan for reclamation, or, if the improvements are made directly by the board, as soon as the cost can be ascertained, the b…

The drainage assessment record provided for in KRS 268.340 shall be in substantially the following form: "Drainage Assessment Record of ________ (drainage), (levee), (reclamation) district, located in the County of __________, Kentucky. The board of drainage commissioners of ____…

Determination of objection -- Final order. (1) As soon as the drainage assessment record is completed, the board shall deliver the copies to and file them with the county clerk in which county the district is organized. The clerk shall receive them, and, beginning within five (5)…

Bond -- Duties of county clerk -- Warrants for payment. (1) The board of drainage commissioners may, if in their judgment it seems best, issue bonds on behalf of any district under their control, not to exceed ninety percent (90%) of the total amount of the minimum district asses…

value conclusive as to benefits. (1) If bonds are issued or money borrowed, the interest charges thereon shall not be considered a part of the cost of improvement in determining whether or not the cost of improvement is equal to or more than the benefit to the property in the dis…

Determination as to bond issue. (1) When the secretary of the board receives from the clerk the copies of the assessment record, corrected by the county judge/executive and certified by the clerk, he shall notify the board which shall then meet and impress its seal on each page o…

register -- Copies to counties in district. (1) As soon as the board has adopted the resolution relative to the issue of bonds, the secretary shall prepare a district assessment register in a well-bound book and as many copies thereof as there are counties in which any part of th…

Collector's drainage assessment book. (1) In December of each year the board shall certify to the sheriff of each county in which any part of the district is located the annual installment of the assessments to become due and be collected during the succeeding year. This installm…

Delinquency penalty -- Sale of assessment lien claims. (1) The sheriff of each county of the district shall receive the collector's drainage assessment book each year. He shall promptly and faithfully demand and collect the assessments at the same time that he demands and collect…

assessments -- Collection not defeated by irregularity. (1) When ordered by the board the treasurer shall receive the annual payment of drainage assessments directly from any owner, and shall give a proper receipt. On December 1 of each year the treasurer shall certify to the she…

(1) At any time prior to the issuance of the bonds, any person may pay in one lump sum the full amount of the assessment levied against his property, less the amount added thereto to meet interest. The secretary of the board shall then enter upon the district assessment record op…

cost of bonds. If the board believes the interest and welfare of the owners will be best served by not requiring any part of the minimum district assessment to be collected for not more than five (5) years from the time the minimum and interest assessments are confirmed by the co…

If the date of collecting drainage assessments and applying the penalty for delinquency is changed by law after the issuance of any obligations for a district, and interferes with the proper discharge of the obligations, the board may, by written notice to the sheriff, require pa…

recorded -- Collection. (1) To maintain and preserve any improvement and to defray the current expenses of the district, the board may, upon the completion of any improvement and on the first Monday in December in each year thereafter, levy an assessment upon each piece of proper…

-- Use. (1) Owners in a district may be employed on maintenance work and their work credited against their maintenance assessments, within the discretion of the board or the drainage commissioners. In part or full payment for the work, printed credit slips shall be issued by the …

All drainage assessments provided for in this chapter together with all penalties for default in payment and all costs of collection shall, from the date of filing the district assessment register in the office of the county clerk until paid, constitute a lien superior to all oth…

(1) Any person who acquires title to any property affected by any proceeding under this chapter, after the filing of the petition for establishment of any district and the giving of notice thereof by the clerk of the court, shall be deemed privy to the person owning or in possess…

property. (1) In order to effect the drainage, protection and reclamation of the land and other property in any district organized under this chapter subject to assessment, to protect cities from overflow, and to promote the public health or general welfare of the community, the …

Whenever any property is going to be taken or damaged by the board pursuant to this chapter, the board may effect an agreement with the owner for compensation therefor. If no agreement is reached, the board may condemn the property pursuant to the Eminent Domain Act of Kentucky.

Supervision by chief engineer. (1) The board may construct any improvement needed to carry out the plan for reclamation. To accomplish that end the board may employ men and teams and lease, rent, hire or purchase machinery, and directly construct any improvement, by the use of ot…

acting under franchise or cause corporation to construct. (1) The board shall make all necessary bridges and culverts along or across any public highway or railroad which may be deemed necessary for the use or the protection of the work of reclamation in the district, except as p…

crossing right-of-way of railroad or other franchise corporation. If any drain is constructed in any district which crosses the right-of-way of a railroad or any corporation operating under a franchise, at any place other than at a natural depression in the earth or a watercourse…

culvert. (1) If a drain improving any channel or watercourse in a district is on the line of any natural depression or watercourse which crosses any public highway where there is no bridge or culvert or opening in the highway sufficient to allow the flow of water in the drain as …

Removal of obstructions in public drain. (1) Whenever any public drain, established and constructed under this chapter or under any statute in force prior to June 18, 1918, empties into a natural drain, the natural drain, from the mouth of the public drain to the mouth of the nat…

Any owner may use the drain as an outlet for lateral ditches from his land. If his land is separated from the drain by the land of another and they are unable to agree as to the conditions on which one may enter another's land and construct the ditch, he may file his ancillary pe…

obstruct improvement. (1) If repairs to any improvement become necessary by reason of the act or negligence of any owner or his servant, agent, or stock, by which the improvement is obstructed, any repairs necessary to restore it to its previous condition shall be made by the own…

improvements -- May levy additional assessments. (1) If the work set out in the plan for reclamation of any district is found insufficient to reclaim all of the property of the district, the board may formulate new or amended plans containing new improvements or providing for the…

Appoint appraisers -- Notice. (1) The board, or the owners of property adjacent to the district who desire to have their property made a part of the district, may file a petition with the clerk of the fiscal court organizing the district praying the court to amend its former orde…

Compensation -- Order of appraisal -- Costs. Any owner who will be affected by the proposed changes, amendments and corrections enumerated in the petition provided for in KRS 268.600, may file objections to the granting of the prayer of the petition by the date named in the notic…

If the plan for reclamation in any district relates in part to the drainage of the lands and in part to the prevention of overflowing of lands within the district from any stream or body of water coming from without the district, any stream, drain, cut or depression, or any fill,…

Appropriations by county or city to aid district. (1) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to deprive the fiscal court or other governing authority of any county or city of its jurisdiction and control over any levee or drain established or constructed under its authority. …