Title 69, Waters, Waterways, Drains And Levees

The board of directors shall employ a competent engineer to take charge and supervision of the construction of such improvement work, contracting with the engineer for compensation for services in such sum or at such rate as may be agreed upon, and to be paid as other expenses of…

The board of directors shall require the engineer to give bond, in such sum as it may deem proper, for the faithful performance of duties, such bond to be payable to the county or state, for the use of the improvement district, and filed with the county clerk and recorded in the …

The engineer in charge of the construction shall furnish the contractor monthly estimates of the amount of work done on each section, and upon filing the estimates with the county clerk, the county mayor shall draw a warrant in favor of such contractor for eighty percent (80%) of…

When the work is completed to the satisfaction of the board of directors and the engineer, and so certified by the engineer and the board, and such certificate is filed with the county clerk, then the county mayor shall draw a warrant in favor of the contractor for the balance du…

All warrants shall be drawn upon the county trustee as ordinary county warrants are drawn, but shall be payable only out of the fund provided for the district, and shall so state upon their face.

After the main improvement in any drainage district, or drainage and levee district, has been completed, the board of directors, if it deems necessary for the protection of the district, and for the proper maintenance of the efficiency of the improvement, may employ a competent p…

Whenever the making of an improvement across a public highway necessitates the building of a bridge over the highway, the county shall build and construct the same and pay all costs of the bridge out of the county bridge fund, if such a fund is provided, and, if not, out of the g…

The owner of any land or lot that has been assessed for the payment of the cost of the location and construction of any ditch, drain, or watercourse shall have the right to use it as an outlet for lateral drains from the land or lot.

The drainage district, or drainage and levee district, or the directors thereof, has the right to control the manner in which lateral drains are emptied into the main ditch, drain, or watercourse, in order to prevent such main ditch or drain from being filled or blocked by silt o…

The district, or the directors thereof, have a like right to control the manner in which any creek or branch shall empty or be emptied into the main ditch, drain, or watercourse, in order to prevent such from being filled or blocked by silt or sand, brought in by such creek or br…

An owner desiring to exercise the right to use the ditch, drain, or watercourse, as an outlet for lateral drain or drains, before doing so, shall make application to the board of directors of the district in which the land is situated, to designate the place and manner in which t…

(a) If a controversy arises among any of the landowners, as to the location or character of any lateral drain or ditch between or across the lands of such owners, any one (1) or more of such landowners may, by petition, make application to the board to locate the ditch or drain a…

(a) The damages assessed shall be a lien upon tracts of land in the district of the owner or owners respectively affected by the improvement, against whom the damages are assessed, but this lien shall be inferior to the lien of the general assessment, which lien shall be enforced…

Any landowner against whom such damages have been assessed, or who is aggrieved by the action of the board of directors, shall have the right to appeal from the action of the board of directors to the next term of the circuit court, upon giving bond in double the amount of the da…

If the appeal is only as to the matter of damages, the work of constructing the laterals, ditch, or drain shall not be delayed by the appeal; provided, that the other parties interested make a bond payable to the state of Tennessee for the use and benefit of the parties appealing…

The assessment shall be collected by the county trustee as county taxes are collected, except as provided in this section, and the funds so collected shall be kept as a separate fund, and shall be paid out only for purposes properly connected with such improvement on the order or…

The improvement in the drainage districts provided for in this chapter may consist solely, if so desired by those concerned, in the changing in whole or in part of the course or channel of a natural watercourse, or in straightening, as far as practicable, such watercourse and cle…

(a) It is unlawful for any person, or corporation, in any way, to injure, damage, or obstruct the rights-of-way, ditches, canals, or other improvements of any drainage district, levee district, and drainage and levee district in the state. (b) Any person or corporation that viola…

If, after the district has been created, and the commissioners for the assessment of benefits have made their report, and the report has been acted upon, and confirmed by the court, and the time for an appeal from the confirmation has elapsed, and no appeal has been taken, it app…

(a) The assessment, the collection of the assessment, and the delinquencies, if any, shall be collected and enforced in the same manner, all as provided in this part, and by law, and the compensation of the trustee for collecting and paying over the assessment shall be the same a…

When an assessment is collected, it shall constitute a fund for the payment of costs and expenses.

The amount collected by the trustee shall be paid to the county clerk, upon the order or warrant of the county mayor; and when it has been so paid, the clerk will pay out the amount to the parties entitled, under the order of the county court.

The county trustee, before receiving the assessment book, and proceeding to the collection of the assessments, and the clerk, before receiving the funds from the trustee, shall, respectively, enter into a bond, in double the amount that will come into their hands, respectively, p…

If the district contains lands that lie in more than one (1) county, then the provision in § 69-5-111 applicable to the county clerk and the trustees shall likewise apply to the county clerk and trustees in the proceeding provided for in §§ 69-5-804 and 69-5-805.

An appeal may be taken to the circuit court of the county from the order of the county court fixing the assessment of benefits upon the lands in the same manner and time as provided in part 5 of this chapter for appeals from the assessment of damages, including the provisions as …

(a) Any landowner, tenant, or encumbrancer who appeals from an order fixing the assessment of benefits shall execute bond, with security, for costs and damages, and the oath provided by law for poor persons shall not be allowed in lieu of any such bonds. (b) Such appeal shall not…

When any appeal is taken from any order of the county court made in any proceedings before it under this chapter, the county court may employ counsel to represent the interests of the levee or drainage district affected by such appeal, on the trial thereof in the appellate courts…

(a) (1) At any time after the main improvement or improvements in any district have been completed, it shall be made to appear to the county legislative body, by the petition of the board of directors of the district, supported by satisfactory proof, that a special fund is needed…

Where any assessments made and levied under this chapter cannot, for any reason, be enforced, and part of the work has been done, the county court shall proceed as to any or all lands benefited by the improvement in the same manner as if the appraisement and apportionment of bene…

After a district is ordered established, if it is found that any parcel of land within its limits has been overlooked, or is not reported for assessment, or it is found that any owner or encumbrancer of any parcel of land has not been properly brought before the court, such mista…

The assessments provided to be collected for the purposes provided in this part shall be entered upon a book to be provided by the county clerk, at the expense of the county, for this purpose, in a similar manner to that in which taxes are entered upon the tax books, such books s…

When voluntary sales of any property located within any drainage district have been made, it shall be the duty of the vendee of the sales to report the sales to the trustee who shall make the change in the drainage assessment book, and thereafter make the collection or assessment…

When voluntary sales of a part of any tract so assessed shall be made, it shall be the duty of the vendor to file a petition in the county court of the county in which the cause was instituted, establishing the drainage district against the purchaser, setting out the facts, and t…

If any tract of land is sold, as provided, for the collection of the assessment, the clerk of the court having cognizance of such cause shall certify to the clerk of the county, where the suit establishing the drainage district was instituted, a copy of the decree, and the decree…

It is the duty of the trustee to collect the assessments along with other taxes upon the lands, which shall be credited to the account of the drainage district; and it is the duty of the county trustee, within ten (10) days after any drainage tax is delinquent, to give written no…

The assessment levied under this chapter shall become due and payable, and shall be delinquent at the same time as state and county taxes become due and delinquent. On November 15 after such assessments become delinquent, a penalty of ten percent (10%) of the amount of such asses…

The assessments provided for, when made and levied, shall be and become valid liens upon such lands so assessed as state and county taxes are liens upon lands.

When assessments have been due and delinquent for sixty (60) days, bills may be filed in the chancery court or circuit court of the county, in which the lands lie, upon which such assessments are due and delinquent, for the collection thereof out of such lands by a sale thereof i…

Bills in chancery shall be filed in the name of the county in which the lands are situated for the use of the improvement district for the benefit of which the assessments were made, and against the owners, if known, and, if unknown, against them as such; and the owners of all la…

When it is desired by the board of directors, or other interested party entitled to sue, to file such bill, the county trustee, upon request, shall make out a statement or list, showing all the lands upon which such assessments are so delinquent, and the names of the owners there…

Suits in chancery shall be proceeded with as other suits are in the chancery court, except that the court may hear the case as to any one (1) or more of the defendants, whether ready to be heard as to other defendants or not, and so proceed to sale and final decree as to any one …

All tax assessors, in assessing for public taxes any tract of land lying partly within the limits of a drainage district or drainage and levee district and partly outside of the limits of such district, shall assess that part of the tract lying within the limits of such district …

When a sale is ordered in a suit pursuant to the preceding sections, and is made and reported, the clerk and master shall report what public taxes are a lien upon any tract so sold in favor of the state, county, or any municipality, and the court shall see that this is done. Any …

Upon confirmation of a sale of land by the chancery court, it shall divest title out of the owner and vest it in the purchaser; provided, that the owner of the land shall continue in possession, and shall be entitled to the rents and profits thereof until the expiration of two (2…

When any sale pursuant to the preceding sections has been made by decree of the chancery court, it shall be made for cash, and the owners of lands so sold shall have two (2) years from the date of the confirmation of such sale in which to redeem the same by paying to the clerk an…

In proceedings in chancery court pursuant to this part, the attorney or solicitor employed and attending to the suit shall be allowed as a fee ten percent (10%) of the amount found due as an assessment or assessments on each tract of land decreed sold, which fee shall be charged …