Sec. 46. (a) When a regulated drain is obstructed or damaged by logs, trees, brush, unauthorized structures, trash, debris, excavating, filling, or pasturing livestock, or in any other way, the county surveyor shall immediately remove the obstruction and repair any damage.

     (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if the obstruction or damage is caused by an owner of land affected by the drain, the county surveyor shall first mail a notice to the owner, with return receipt requested, requiring the owner to remove the obstruction and repair the damage. If the owner fails to comply within ten (10) days after receipt of the notice, the surveyor shall perform the work, and the cost of the work shall be paid out of the annual maintenance fund of the drain if one has been established, or, if no such fund has been established, out of the general drain improvement fund.

     (c) If the obstruction or damage has been caused by the acts or omissions of an owner of land affected by the drain, the board may, after a hearing with written notice served on the owner, add an amount sufficient to pay for the damage to the next annual assessment made against the land of the owner. The board shall certify the assessment to the county auditor in the same manner as any other assessment.

     (d) If the obstruction or damage is caused by the acts or omissions of a person other than the owner of land affected by the drain, the board may bring an action against that person in court. The board is entitled to recover the reasonable value of removing the obstruction and repairing the damage, plus a reasonable attorney‘s fee.

[Pre-Local Government Recodification Citation: 19-4-6-2.]

As added by Acts 1981, P.L.309, SEC.101.