Title 85, Title 85

Commissioners having charge of any completed drain, ditch, levee, or other work constructed under any drainage law of the state of Montana, whether now in force or repealed, shall be authorized, in the case of an emergency, to make such repairs as may be necessary for the preserv…

(1) The commissioners shall, on or before the first Tuesday of March of each year, file with the clerk of court having jurisdiction a report in which they shall specify in detail: (a) the emergency repairs which they have made during the preceding year; (b) the labor and repairs …

(1) Whenever, in the judgment of the commissioners of any drain district or drainage district, it is necessary or will be beneficial to such district to make any alteration and/or any addition to the drainage system of such district, they shall file a petition with the clerk of t…

Upon the filing of a petition under 85-8-401, a judge of the district court shall set the petition for hearing and direct the clerk of court to give notice of the hearing. The notice must contain a concise statement of the proposed alteration or addition and the estimated cost of…

(1) A landowner or corporation may, at any time prior to 5 days before the date fixed for the hearing under 85-8-402, file objections to the petition. A copy of the objections must be delivered to the attorney for the commissioners, if they have an attorney of record, or to the p…

A party interested in the hearing under 85-8-402 who is aggrieved by the order of the court may appeal from the order to the supreme court of Montana within 30 days after the entry of the order. If an appeal is not taken within the time limit, the order of the court made upon the…

Any lands within a drainage district, which district is not bonded or indebted and which lands have not been and will not in the future be benefited by the drainage system of the district and which lands do not contribute water to seep other lands in the district, may be excluded…

An action for the exclusion of lands from any such drainage district may be brought in the district court of the county wherein said lands are situated by the owner or owners in fee of said lands, who shall be designated as the plaintiff or plaintiffs, and in said action the memb…

(1) Said action shall be commenced by filing in the office of the clerk of the district court a complaint which must contain: (a) the title of the action, the name of the court and the county in which the action is brought, and the names of the parties to the action; (b) a statem…

(1) Upon the filing of the complaint the clerk of the court shall issue a summons which shall contain, in addition to the matters specified in Rules 4 and 12(a), Montana Rules of Civil Procedure, a brief statement of the relief demanded and a description of the lands sought to be…

The same rules relative to the filing of answers and replies relative to other causes of action affecting the title to real property shall apply in actions to exclude lands from a drainage district, and all issues arising may be tried by the court without a jury.

If the issue shall be found in favor of the plaintiff, the court may make its order describing the lands to be excluded from the district, and a certified copy of the same shall be filed in the office of the county recorder of the county wherein the lands are situate. From and af…

Appeals may be taken from the orders and judgments of the district court to the supreme court of the state of Montana in the same manner as appeals in other causes of action affecting the title to real property.

(1) Whenever any drained lands outside a drainage district are receiving the benefits of the drains of said district, by direct or indirect, natural or artificial connection therewith, the commissioners of said district may report said facts to the court and ask that said lands, …

(1) If the court shall find that said lands or any of them are receiving the benefits of any such drain, ditch, or levee, the court shall so find in writing and shall order said lands to be annexed to and made a part of said district and benefits to be assessed against the same b…

The commissioners shall, after the time for appeal is past, assess against each parcel, tract, and easement of the annexed lands reasonable and just benefits and shall assess against these lands for construction and repairs such sums as are just. If lands similarly situated and b…

The commissioners shall file their report and assessments in court. The court shall, by order, require said owners to show cause at a time and place therein fixed, not less than 20 days after the service of said order, why said report and assessments should not be confirmed. On t…

The commissioners may: (1) borrow money, not exceeding the amount of assessment for the cost of construction and additional assessments, as provided in 85-8-367 and 85-8-368, unpaid at the time of borrowing, for the construction or repair of any work which they shall be authorize…

Before the issuance of said notes or bonds, the commissioners shall pass a resolution providing for the issuance of such notes or bonds. Said resolution shall fix the rate of interest which said notes or bonds shall bear, the time of payment, and, if redeemable before maturity, t…

Upon execution, the notes or bonds must be deposited with the county treasurer, who shall register the notes or bonds in a book for that purpose that documents the number and amount of each note or bond, its date, the date payable and redeemable, where payable, and the person to …

In case any moneys derived from bonds sold to pay for the original construction of said improvement, now or hereafter, remain on hand after the work is completed in original construction and paid for and not raised for damages unpaid for, such residue may be used in the maintenan…

The court may, on the petition of the commissioners, authorize them to refund any lawful indebtedness of the district by: (1) taking up and canceling all of its outstanding notes and bonds, as fast as they become due or before, if the holders thereof will surrender the same; and …

(1) Subject to 15-10-420 and on or before the third Monday in August of each year, the commissioners shall certify to the department of revenue a correct list of all the district lands in each county and the owners of the lands, together with a statement of the amount of the tota…

Where lands of any district lie in more than one county, the district taxes or assessments collected in all other counties shall be remitted to the county treasurer of the county wherein the court having jurisdiction of said district is located, on or before January 1 of each yea…

The rules of law applying to the collection of taxes and sale of land for taxes shall, unless in conflict with this chapter, apply to the collection and sale of lands for drainage assessments. Delinquent sales of land for unpaid taxes and assessments shall be made in the same man…

At the time of the confirmation of the assessments as provided in 85-8-347, the court may order the assessment for construction of new work to be paid in not more than 15 annual installments of such amounts and at such times as will be convenient for the accomplishment of the pro…

(1) From the time of the entry of an order under 85-8-611, assessments for construction of new work and additional assessments and interest on the assessments are a lien upon the lands assessed until paid. An owner of land or a corporation assessed for construction may, at any ti…

Assessments against all public corporations or any private corporation not owning land within the district shall be payable to the county treasurer wherein the court having jurisdiction of the district is located, on or before September 1 of each year.

When commissioners shall fail to certify to the county treasurer of the proper county any one or more drainage assessments for construction or repair or additional assessment against any lands (including improvements where benefited) in said district at the proper time, they may …

Subject to 15-10-420, if in the first assessment for construction the commissioners reported to the court a smaller sum than is needed to complete the work of construction or if in any year an additional sum is necessary to pay the lawful indebtedness of the drainage district, fu…

Omission to assess benefits, to assess for construction, to make additional assessments, to make assessment for repairs, to award damages to any one or more tracts of land or easements in a drainage district or to assess benefits, assess for construction, assess for repairs, or m…

In case the court decides that any land should not have been assessed for drainage purposes or that any assessment is void, the commissioners of the district shall: (1) levy an additional assessment on all of the assessable lands, irrigation ditches, railroads, corporations, and …

Whenever any lands from which surface or seepage water enters any drain or upon which or through which surface or seepage water has been prevented from flowing because of the construction of any drain have not been included within the drainage district that constructed the drains…

Each and every sum assessed for construction, for additional assessment, or for repairs against any land or against any corporation, as soon as such assessment is confirmed by the court, shall be and is declared to be a judgment of the district court in favor of said drainage dis…

No bonds or other money obligations issued by any drainage district shall be adversely affected by any subsequent change in assessments of benefits.

In case of omission to assess any corporation or land that should be assessed for benefits, construction, repairs, or additional assessments or to award damages, said omitted party and the owner of omitted land may in writing agree with the commissioners of said district what the…

The collection of any assessments made by the commissioners for construction and confirmed by the court shall not be restrained or obstructed by reason of any omission, imperfection, or defect in the organization of any district or in any proceedings occurring prior to the order …

(1) A vote of the persons on the assessment rolls in any existing district is required to make Chapter 409, Laws of 1973, applicable to a district. (2) Chapter 409, Laws of 1973, does not confer on districts created for drainage purposes only the authority to levy assessments on …

(1) The purpose of this part is to confer certain additional powers on drainage districts already created or to be created under the laws of the state of Montana for the purposes of cooperating with the government of the United States and landowners in flood prevention and the co…

To the end that soil and water conservation measures may be improved, flood prevention and drainage programs strengthened, and the land and water economy of the state stabilized, the following additional powers are conferred upon presently existing drainage districts or new distr…

Before the additional powers granted by this part shall become applicable to any presently existing drainage district in this state, the commissioners of such district shall file a petition in the district court requesting such additional powers as set forth herein and proper not…

In areas not presently within the boundaries of an existing drainage district, the landowners may proceed to organize a drainage district for carrying out the purposes of this part, and such organization of such district may be carried out for said purposes according to the proce…

All drain districts of the state of Montana organized prior to March 1, 1921, and continued in existence pursuant to section 100, Chapter 129, Laws of 1921, shall continue their existence as drain districts under and pursuant to all of the provisions of drainage district laws, an…

Ten percent of the adult owners or legally authorized agents or representatives of minor owners of lands within any drainage district heretofore created and organized and in existence on February 27,1925, may file a petition with the proper district court to have such district di…

In case of failure to serve any notice of any proceeding or hearing provided for in this chapter upon any person or corporation, such person or corporation may appear in open court and waive such defect of service or may waive it by filing in court or delivering to the commission…