CHAPTER 409

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 21-29 and 21-31, as amended, of the Code
of Virginia so as to delete from its provisions the procedures for
dividing an existing soil conservation district; and to amend the Code
of Virginia by adding a new section numbered 21-81.1, providing
procedures for dividing such an existing district. CH 426]

Approved March 29, 1958

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 21-29 and 21-31, as amended, of the Code of Virginia be
amended and reenacted, and that the Code of Virginia be amended by add-
ie Fie section numbered 21-81.1, the amended and new sections being
as follows:

§ 21-29. The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall examine the appli-
cation and statement and, if he finds that the name proposed for the district
is not identical with that of any other soil conservation district of this
State or so nearly similar as to lead to confusion or uncertainty, he shall
receive and file them and shall record the application in an appropriate
book of record in his office. If the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall find
that the name proposed for the district is identical with that of any other
soil conservation district of this State, or so nearly similar as to lead to
confusion and uncertainty, he shall certify such fact to the State Soil Con-
servation Committee, which shall thereupon submit to the Secretary of the
Commonwealth a new name for the district, which shall not be subject to
such defects. Upon receipt of such new name, free of such defects, the
Secretary of the Commonwealth shall record the application, with the name
so modified, in an appropriate book of record in his office. When the appli-
cation and statement have been made, filed, and recorded, as herein pro-
vided, the district shall constitute a governmental subdivision of this State
and a public body corporate and politic. The Secretary of the Common-
wealth shall * make and issue to the supervisors a certificate, under the
lesser seal of the Commonwealth, of the due organization of the district
and shall record such certificate with the application and statement. The
boundaries of such district shall include the territory as determined by the
Committee as aforesaid, but * shall not include any area included within
the boundaries of another soil conservation district organized under the
provisions of this chapter , except in the case of the division of an existing
district as provided in this article. The name of any soil conservation dis-
trict may be changed if a petition for such change is subscribed by twenty-
five or more landowners from each county comprising the district and
adopted by resolution of the supervisors at any regular meeting. The super-
visors shall submit a copy of such resolution to the Committee and, if the
Committee concurs, it shall present the resolution, together with a state-
ment certifying its concurrence, to the Secretary of the Commonwealth
who, if it be free from such defects as outlined herein, shall file the reso-
lution and issue a new (or amended) certificate of organization.

§ 21-31. Petitions for including additional territory within an exist-
ing district * may be filed with the Committee and the proceedings herein
provided for in case of petitions to organize a district shall be observed
in the case of petitions for such inclusion. * The Committee shall prescribe
the form for such petitions, which shall be as nearly as may be in the form
prescribed in this article for petitions to organize a district. Where the total
number of landowners in an area proposed for inclusion shall be less than
twenty-five, or being more than twenty-five and a majority of all such
owners sign a petition for inclusion, the petition may be filed when so
signed and in such case no referendum need be held. In referenda upon
petitions for such inclusion, all owners of lands lying within the proposed
additional area shall be eligible to vote. *

§ 21-81.1. Petitions to divide an existing district for the purpose of
reorganizing the territory along new district lines may be filed with the
Committee for their approval or disapproval. Such a petition may be filed
upon being subscribed by twenty-five landowners from each county of the
district desiring to be divided from the existing district and concurred in
by the district board of supervisors. The Committee shall prescribe the
form for such petitions, which shall be as nearly as may be in the form
prescribed in this article for petitions to organize a district. Should the
Committee approve the petition it shall hold a hearing, after giving notice
thereof in a newspaper of general circulation in each county of such dis-
trict, upon the question of the desirability and necessity, in the interest of
the public health, safety and welfare, of the division of such district.

After such hearing, if the Committee shall determine, upon the facts
presented at such hearing and upon such other relevant facts and informa-
tion as may be available, that there is need, in the interest of public health,
safety and welfare, for the division of such soil conservation district, it
shall make and record such determination and shall define by metes and
bounds or by legal subdivisions the boundaries of the district described in
the petition. The Committee shall appoint two supervisors for the new
district composed of the counties in which the petitioners reside in accord-
ance with § 21-27. With the exception of the provisions relating to refer-
enda, §§ 21-28 and 21-29 shall be applicable to the newly created district.
If the Committee shall determine after such hearing, and after due
consideration of the relevant facts that there is no need for a soil conser-
vation district to function in the territory considered at the hearing, it
shall make and record such determination and shall deny the petition.