KRS 262.789: Discontinuance of district -- Procedures -- Consequences.

(1) If the board of a watershed conservancy district fails to meet over the course of one

(1) year or longer or if it fails to prepare and fund a budget as required by KRS

262.760(1), any soil and water conservation district or fiscal court in which any part

of the watershed conservancy district lies may initiate proceedings to discontinue

the watershed conservancy district board under subsection (2) of this section.

Periods of inaction by boards of watershed conservancy districts that began prior to

April 4, 2 024, shall be included in the determination of whether a watershed

conservancy district board may be discontinued under this section.

(2) To initiate the discontinuance of a watershed conservancy district board, the soil

and water conservation district boa rd or fiscal court shall send a notice of intent to

discontinue the watershed conservancy district board to all directors who are still

serving terms on the board and shall publish the same notice in a newspaper of

general circulation in the area served by the watershed conservancy district

pursuant to the requirements of KRS Chapter 424. The notice shall include

information on how a landowner who pays any tax imposed by the watershed

conservancy district may request a public hearing on its discontinuance w ithin

thirty (30) days of the first publication of the notice.

(3) If a public hearing on the proposed discontinuance is requested, the soil and water

conservation district board or fiscal court proposing the discontinuance shall hold

the public hearing wi thin thirty (30) days of the request. At the public hearing,

public comments may be made on the reasons for and consequences of the

proposed discontinuance. The public hearing may be part of a regularly scheduled

meeting of the soil and water conservation district board or the fiscal court

proposing the discontinuance.

(4) (a) Within thirty (30) days after a public hearing is held pursuant to subsection

(3) of this section, the soil and water conservation district board or the

members of the fiscal court pr oposing the discontinuance shall vote on

whether the watershed conservancy district board should be discontinued. If

no public hearing was requested, the proposing entity shall hold the

discontinuance vote within thirty (30) days after the expiration of th e time

period to request a public hearing under subsection (2) of this section.

(b) If the result of the vote held under paragraph (a) of this subsection is in favor

of discontinuance, then within thirty (30) days of the vote, all other soil and

water conservation district boards and fiscal courts where any portion of the

watershed conservancy district lies shall hold votes on discontinuing the

watershed conservancy district board. The watershed conservancy district

board shall be discontinued if all voting entities concur to discontinue it. Any

voting entity that fails to hold a vote within the thirty (30) days following the

initial vote shall be deemed to have voted in favor of discontinuance. If any of

the voting entities vote to not discontinue the water shed conservancy district

board, it shall not be discontinued for at least one (1) year.

(5) If a watershed conservancy district board is discontinued under this section, the

boundaries of the watershed conservancy district previously governed by that boar d

shall remain intact, and the landowners within the boundaries of the watershed

conservancy district shall continue to contribute revenue to the soil and water

conservation district or districts in which the watershed conservancy district lies

pursuant to KRS 262.793.

(6) Upon the effective date of the discontinuance of a board of a watershed

conservancy district, the board of the soil and water conservation district in which

the watershed conservancy district lies shall assume all of the former watershed

conservancy board's rights and responsibilities established in KRS 262.700 to

262.795. If the watershed conservancy district lies in more than one (1) soil and

water conservation district, then the boards of all of those soil and water

conservation distric ts shall assume all rights and responsibilities of the former

watershed conservancy board jointly.

(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a discontinued watershed

conservancy district board from being reestablished and reassuming its rig hts and

responsibilities pursuant to the requirements of KRS 262.700 to 262.795.