Senate Bill 2592

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 51-15-103 AND 51-15-107, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW CERTAIN COUNTIES TO JOIN THE PAT HARRISON WATERWAY DISTRICT AND TO ESTABLISH A PROCEDURE THEREFOR; TO AMEND SECTION 51-15-118, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT WITHDRAWALS FROM THE PAT HARRISON WATERWAY DISTRICT BE EFFECTIVE AT THE CLOSE OF THE FISCAL YEAR IN WHICH THE WITHDRAWING COUNTY MEETS ALL OF ITS OBLIGATIONS UNDER LAW; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 51-15-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

51-15-103. The Pat Harrison Waterway Commission may hereafter be organized in this state under the provisions of this article, in the manner hereafter provided for. This water management district shall be an agency of the state and a body politic and corporate, and may be composed and is composed of the following counties, to wit: Clarke, Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Lamar, Lauderdale, Newton, Perry, Smith, Stone, * * *~~and~~ Wayne, Hancock, Harrison, Pearl River, Wilkinson, Amite, Pike, Walthall, Marion, Adams, Franklin, Lincoln, Lawrence, Jefferson Davis, Jefferson, Copiah, Simpson, Claiborne, Scott and Leake.

SECTION 2. Section 51-15-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

51-15-107. The Pat Harrison Waterway Commission, acting through its members who favor bringing the counties they represent into the Pat Harrison Waterway District, or other counties having Pascagoula River, Leaf River, Chickasawhay River, or Tallahala Creek tributaries, or the Counties of Hancock, Harrison, Pearl River, Wilkinson, Amite, Pike, Walthall, Marion, Adams, Franklin, Lincoln, Lawrence, Jefferson Davis, Jefferson, Copiah, Simpson, Claiborne, Scott and Leake, shall petition the Chancery Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, to organize and establish the Pat Harrison Waterway District and shall set forth in the petition:

(1) The counties to be included in the Pat Harrison Waterway District. Each member of the Pat Harrison Waterway Commission, as created by virtue of Sections 51-15-1 through 51-15-9, and any county through which the Pascagoula, Leaf, and Chickasawhay Rivers and Tallahala Creek run, or other counties having tributaries to such streams or which border on said streams, and the Counties of Hancock, Harrison, Pearl River, Wilkinson, Amite, Pike, Walthall, Marion, Adams, Franklin, Lincoln, Lawrence, Jefferson Davis, Jefferson, Copiah, Simpson, Claiborne, Scott and Leake, may be included in the district.

(2) The necessity and desirability for the developments and construction of suitable facilities.

(3) A general description of the purposes of the contemplated works, and a general description of the plan.

(4) The Counties of Hancock, Harrison, Pearl River, Wilkinson, Amite, Pike, Walthall, Marion, Adams, Franklin, Lincoln, Lawrence, Jefferson Davis, Jefferson, Copiah, Simpson, Claiborne, Scott and Leake shall follow the procedures as the original member counties followed by a petition being filed in the Chancery Court of Forrest County and the procedure specified by Chapter 15, Title 51, Mississippi Code of 1972.

The petition shall be filed with as many copies as there are parties defendant.

The Board of Water Commissioners of the State of Mississippi shall be made a party defendant, and the chancery clerk shall furnish the Board of Water Commissioners with a copy of the petition with attached exhibits. Each county named in the petition shall be joined as a party defendant by service of process on the president of the board of supervisors thereof, and the chancery clerk shall furnish a copy of the petition to each such president. Whenever any municipality having a population according to the most recent federal census of ten thousand (10,000) or more is included in such proposed district, such municipality shall be made a party defendant.

It shall not be necessary that any landowners in the counties to be included in said proposed district be named in the petition, or be made parties defendant. The Chancellor of the Chancery Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, shall have jurisdiction of the entire waterway district for the purposes of this article. Such jurisdiction may be exercised by the chancellor in term time or in vacation, as provided in this article.

SECTION 3. Section 51-15-118, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

51-15-118. From and after July 1, 1999, the board of supervisors of any county that is included in the Pat Harrison Waterway District may elect to withdraw such county from the district. The withdrawing county shall be responsible for paying its portion of any district bonds, contractual obligations, and any other indebtedness and liabilities of the district that are outstanding on the date of such county's withdrawal from the district. The withdrawing county's portion of such liabilities, obligations and indebtedness shall be determined through an independent audit conducted by a certified public accountant. The board of supervisors of the withdrawing county shall provide the sum that is required by this section either by appropriation from any available funds of the county or by levy. Such board of supervisors may borrow funds as needed to satisfy the withdrawing county's portion of the liabilities, obligations and indebtedness of the district as required herein. No withdrawal shall become effective until the close of the fiscal year in which the county has satisfied its obligations under this section.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.