{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-262.789","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 262.789","heading":"Discontinuance of district -- Procedures -- Consequences.","body":"(1) If the board of a watershed conservancy district fails to meet over the course of one\n(1) year or longer or if it fails to prepare and fund a budget as required by KRS\n262.760(1), any soil and water conservation district or fiscal court in which any part\nof the watershed conservancy district lies may initiate proceedings to discontinue\nthe watershed conservancy district board under subsection (2) of this section.\nPeriods of inaction by boards of watershed conservancy districts that began prior to\nApril 4, 2 024, shall be included in the determination of whether a watershed\nconservancy district board may be discontinued under this section.\n(2) To initiate the discontinuance of a watershed conservancy district board, the soil\nand water conservation district boa rd or fiscal court shall send a notice of intent to\ndiscontinue the watershed conservancy district board to all directors who are still\nserving terms on the board and shall publish the same notice in a newspaper of\ngeneral circulation in the area served by  the watershed conservancy district\npursuant to the requirements of KRS Chapter 424. The notice shall include\ninformation on how a landowner who pays any tax imposed by the watershed\nconservancy district may request a public hearing on its discontinuance w ithin\nthirty (30) days of the first publication of the notice.\n(3) If a public hearing on the proposed discontinuance is requested, the soil and water\nconservation district board or fiscal court proposing the discontinuance shall hold\nthe public hearing wi thin thirty (30) days of the request. At the public hearing,\npublic comments may be made on the reasons for and consequences of the\nproposed discontinuance. The public hearing may be part of a regularly scheduled\nmeeting of the soil and water conservation district board or the fiscal court\nproposing the discontinuance.\n(4) (a) Within thirty (30) days after a public hearing is held pursuant to subsection\n(3) of this section, the soil and water conservation district board or the\nmembers of the fiscal court pr oposing the discontinuance shall vote on\nwhether the watershed conservancy district board should be discontinued. If\nno public hearing was requested, the proposing entity shall hold the\ndiscontinuance vote within thirty (30) days after the expiration of th e time\nperiod to request a public hearing under subsection (2) of this section.\n(b) If the result of the vote held under paragraph (a) of this subsection is in favor\nof discontinuance, then within thirty (30) days of the vote, all other soil and\nwater conservation district boards and fiscal courts where any portion of the\nwatershed conservancy district lies shall hold votes on discontinuing the\nwatershed conservancy district board. The watershed conservancy district\nboard shall be discontinued if all voting  entities concur to discontinue it. Any\nvoting entity that fails to hold a vote within the thirty (30) days following the\ninitial vote shall be deemed to have voted in favor of discontinuance. If any of\nthe voting entities vote to not discontinue the water shed conservancy district\nboard, it shall not be discontinued for at least one (1) year.\n(5) If a watershed conservancy district board is discontinued under this section, the\nboundaries of the watershed conservancy district previously governed by that boar d\nshall remain intact, and the landowners within the boundaries of the watershed\nconservancy district shall continue to contribute revenue to the soil and water\nconservation district or districts in which the watershed conservancy district lies\npursuant to KRS 262.793.\n(6) Upon the effective date of the discontinuance of a board of a watershed\nconservancy district, the board of the soil and water conservation district in which\nthe watershed conservancy district lies shall assume all of the former watershed\nconservancy board's rights and responsibilities established in KRS 262.700 to\n262.795. If the watershed conservancy district lies in more than one (1) soil and\nwater conservation district, then the boards of all of those soil and water\nconservation distric ts shall assume all rights and responsibilities of the former\nwatershed conservancy board jointly.\n(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a discontinued watershed\nconservancy district board from being reestablished and reassuming its rig hts and\nresponsibilities pursuant to the requirements of KRS 262.700 to 262.795.","path":["KRS Chapter 262"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54496","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:53:12Z","sha256":"2d43b14884781040a5ff1b3efc7865be73169978511b35fe24dc667a965da041","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-262.785","next":"us-ky/krs-262.790"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}