At least fifty affected South Dakota resident landowners, or the county commissioners of any affected county, may file a petition with the clerk of the circuit court for the affected county requesting the formation of a drainage district as provided in this chapter. The provisions of this section apply to any land bordering upon any body of water or stream forming the boundary line between this state and any other state, or any land included in a natural drainage basin along or extending across the boundary line of the state. For purposes of this section, an affected county is a county that lies within or partly within such territory, and an affected landowner is a South Dakota resident landowner who owns at least ten acres of such land as shown by the records of the register of deeds and clerk of courts of the county in which the land is situated. If the land is sold under a contract for deed, which is of record in the office of the register of deeds, both the landowner and the individual purchaser of the land, as named in the contract for deed, shall be treated as owners of the territory described in the petition.

Within ten days after the petition is filed, the court shall, by order, fix a time and place within the territory named in the petition for a hearing upon the petition. Notice of the hearing shall be published in at least one legal weekly newspaper published in each affected county, for two successive weeks, the last publication to be at least ten days before the day set for hearing.

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Source: SDC 1939, § 61.1101; SL 1964, ch 222, § 1; SDCL § 46-23-1; SL 2011, ch 165, § 505.