Bill Text: MS HB923 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Petitions for municipal annexation; require practical ingress and egress to and from public roads be included in.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2017-01-31 - Died In Committee [HB923 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2017-HB923-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2017 Regular Session
To: Municipalities; Transportation
By: Representative Boyd
House Bill 923
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 21-1-45, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT IN A PETITION FOR MUNICIPAL ANNEXATION, THE PETITION MUST CERTIFY ANY PROPERTY TO BE ANNEXED SHALL HAVE A PRACTICAL INGRESS AND EGRESS TO AND FROM A PUBLIC ROAD; TO AMEND SECTION 21-1-47, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO MAKE CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN PROPERTY OWNERS DURING AN ANNEXATION WHEN A PRACTICAL INGRESS AND EGRESS TO AND FROM A PUBLIC ROAD IS NOT PRESENT FOR WITHIN AN ANNEXATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 21-1-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-1-45. The qualified
electors of any territory contiguous to and adjoining any existing municipality
and the qualified electors of any territory which is a part of an existing
municipality, may be included in or excluded from such municipality, as the
case may be, in the manner hereinafter provided. Whenever the inhabitants of
any incorporated territory adjacent to any municipality * * * desires to be included therein,
and whenever the inhabitants of any territory which is a part of an existing
municipality * * *
desires to be excluded therefrom, they shall prepare a petition and file
same in the chancery court of the county in which such municipality is located,
which * * * the
petition shall be signed by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the qualified
electors residing in the territory proposed to be included in or excluded from
such municipality. * * *
The petition shall describe accurately the metes and bounds of the
territory proposed to be included in or excluded from such municipality, shall
set forth the reasons why the public convenience and necessity would be served
by such territory being included in or excluded from such municipality, as the
case may be, shall certify that none of the property to be annexed will fail
to have legal and practical ingress and egress to and from a public road, or if
such ingress and egress is lacking, the petition shall join such owner as a
party defendant in the time and manner required by law, and shall be sworn
to by one or more of the petitioners. In all cases, there shall be attached to
such petition a plat of the municipal boundaries as same will exist in the
event the territory in question is included in or excluded from such
municipality. No territory may be so excluded from a municipality within two (2)
years from the time that such territory was incorporated into such
municipality, and no territory may be so excluded if it would wholly separate
any territory not so excluded from the remainder of the municipality. No
petition for the inclusion or exclusion of any territory under this section
shall be filed within two (2) years from the date of any adverse
determination of any proceedings originated hereinafter under this chapter for
the inclusion or exclusion of the same territory.
SECTION 2. Section 21-1-47, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
21-1-47. Upon the filing of such a petition, all of the proceedings of this chapter with regard to proceedings in the chancery court upon petitions for the creation, enlargement, and contraction of municipalities shall apply in like manner thereto. Notice of the filing of such petition and the time for the hearing shall be given in the manner and for the length of time as is required in cases of proceedings for the creation, enlargement, or contraction of a municipality. Any parties to the proceedings aggrieved by the decree of the chancellor may appeal therefrom in the same manner and within the same time as is provided in cases of decrees on petitions involving the creation, enlargement or contraction of a municipal corporation. In all proceedings under this section, however, the municipal corporation involved and, in the case of property to be included, any owner of property to be annexed where such property will fail to have ingress and egress to and from a public road if the annexation is granted shall be made a party to such proceedings and shall be served with process in the manner provided by law at least thirty (30) days prior to the date of the hearing. If the chancellor finds from the evidence that the proposed inclusion or exclusion is reasonable and is required by the public convenience and necessity, then he shall enter a decree declaring the territory in question to be included in or excluded from the municipality, as the case may be, which decree shall contain an adjudication of the boundaries of the municipality as altered, provided that in the case of property to be included, that all property to be included will after such enlargement shall fail to have legal and practical ingress and egress to and from a public road, the property and the adjacent property that is the best route for an easement for ingress and egress to and from a public road, shall not be annexed without the consent of the property owner who does not have the access. In so doing, the chancellor shall have the right and power to modify the proposed enlargement or contraction by decreasing the territory to be included in or excluded from the municipality, as the case may be. If the chancellor shall find from the evidence that the proposed inclusion or exclusion, as the case may be, is unreasonable and is not required by the public convenience and necessity, then he shall enter a decree denying same. In any event, the decree of the chancellor shall become effective after the passage of ten (10) days from the date thereof or, in the event an appeal is taken therefrom, within ten (10) days from the final determination of such appeal. In all cases where territory is included in or excluded from a municipality under the provisions hereof, a certified copy of the decree of the chancellor shall be sent to the Secretary of State and a map or plat of the boundaries of the municipality as altered shall be filed with the chancery clerk, all as provided in Sections 21-1-39 and 21-1-41.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.