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Terms Used In Michigan Laws 280.247

  • county drain commissioner: means the elected county drain commissioner or the person or persons designated to perform the duties of the elected county drain commissioner as provided in section 21 and 21a. See Michigan Laws 280.4
  • drain: whenever used in this act , shall include the main stream or trunk and all tributaries or branches of any creek or river, any watercourse or ditch, either open or closed, any covered drain, any sanitary or any combined sanitary and storm sewer or storm sewer or conduit composed of tile, brick, concrete, or other material, any structures or mechanical devices, that will properly purify the flow of such drains, any pumping equipment necessary to assist or relieve the flow of such drains and any levee, dike, barrier, or a combination of any or all of same constructed, or proposed to be constructed, for the purpose of drainage or for the purification of the flow of such drains, but shall not include any dam and flowage rights used in connection therewith which is used for the generation of power by a public utility subject to regulation by the public service commission. See Michigan Laws 280.3
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
    (1) The county drain commissioner or drainage board acting under this act may employ an attorney if the drain commissioner or drainage board, as appropriate, considers it necessary. If an attorney is employed, all attendant expenses and costs shall be charged to the drainage districts on behalf of which the attorney is employed. All attendant expenses and costs shall be paid out of the drain fund of the drainage district or the revolving drain fund. If the attendant expenses and costs are paid out of the revolving drain fund or if the drain fund of the drainage district does not have sufficient funds to pay the attendant expenses and costs, the attendant expenses and costs shall be assessed to the drainage district in the same proportion as costs of the drain were assessed as provided in chapter 7 and the collections of these assessments shall be used either to reimburse the revolving drain fund or to pay the attendant expenses and costs, as appropriate.
    (2) The county board of commissioners for a county, by resolution, may provide for the prosecuting attorney to give legal assistance to the county drain commissioner as part of the prosecuting attorney’s duties.
    (3) As used in this section, “attendant expenses and costs” means those expenses and costs incurred for a drainage district in furtherance of the duties and responsibilities of a drain commissioner or drainage board, including, but not limited to, 1 or more of the following:
    (a) Actual attorney fees.
    (b) Expert witness and consultant fees.
    (c) Money and costs expended in connection with litigation or the threat of litigation.
    (d) Payments made in satisfaction or partial satisfaction of any orders or judgments entered against a drainage district.
    (e) Money and costs expended to obtain a release, waiver, or other settlement of claims.