48-2010

48-2010. Board of directors; qualifications;
term; appointment; election; conversion; reorganization;
compensation; expenses

A. A sanitary district having an area of one hundred sixty acres or more shall be
governed by a board of directors with not less than three members. Members of the board
of directors shall be qualified electors of the district. Immediately after the first
regular election held subsequent to the enactment of this section by a sanitary district
organized and existing prior to such enactment, the directors shall meet and divide
themselves by lot into two classes as nearly equal in number as possible. Directors of
the first class shall serve for a term of four years, and directors of the second class
for a term of two years, and until the directors' successors are elected and
qualified. Thereafter at each regular election one director for each expired term shall
be elected, and shall hold office for a term of four years, and until the director's
successor is elected and qualified. The dates of elections and of expiration of terms of
the initial directors shall be specified in the petition for establishment of the
district. Except for an election to reorganize a sanitary district, candidates for
directors shall file nominating petitions with the board of supervisors as prescribed by
title 16, chapter 3. If only one person files or no person files a nominating petition
for an election to fill a district office, the board of supervisors may cancel the
election for the position and appoint the person who filed the nominating petition to
fill the position. If no person files a nominating petition for an election to fill a
district office, the board of supervisors may cancel the election for that office and
that office is deemed vacant and shall be filled as otherwise provided by law. A person
who is appointed pursuant to this section is fully vested with the powers and duties of
the office as if elected to that office.

B. A director who resides in an area which is deleted from the sanitary district
during the director's term of office shall continue to serve until the next regular
election, and until the director's successor is elected and qualified. If the director's
term does not expire at that time, a new qualified director shall be elected to serve out
the unexpired portion.

C. A sanitary district having an area of less than one hundred sixty acres shall be
governed by the board of supervisors of the county in which the district is located, and
the board of supervisors shall be the board of directors of the district. On receipt of
a petition that contains the signatures of twenty-five per cent or more of the qualified
electors residing in the district that are verified by the county recorder and that
requests that the district be converted and administered by its own board of directors,
the board of supervisors shall call an election on the conversion of the sanitary
district. The election may be held on any consolidated election date as prescribed in
section 16-204. The sanitary district shall reimburse the county for the expenses of the
sanitary district election. The petition for the conversion of the district shall specify
either three or five as the number of directors for the converted sanitary district. The
board of supervisors shall give notice of the election by posting copies of the order of
election in three public places within the district not less than twenty days prior to
the date of the election and if a newspaper is published within the county having a
general circulation within the district, the order shall be published in the newspaper
not less than once a week during each of the three calendar weeks preceding the calendar
week of the election. The ballot for the election shall state "convert from a sanitary
district administered by the county board of supervisors to a sanitary district
administered by a local board of directors consisting of (insert three members or five
members, as appropriate) - yes", "convert from a sanitary district administered by the
county board of supervisors to a sanitary district administered by a local board of
directors consisting of (insert three or five members, as appropriate) - no". The ballot
shall also allow each elector to indicate the elector's choice for board members in the
event of conversion. Within twenty days after the election, the board of supervisors
shall meet and canvass the returns, and if it is determined that a majority of the votes
cast at the election were in favor of converting the sanitary district, the board shall
enter that fact on its minutes, declare the district duly converted and announce the
names of those elected to the district board.

D. The board of supervisors shall make an order calling an election to decide
whether to reorganize a sanitary district that has a board consisting of three members as
a sanitary district that has a board consisting of five members when a petition
containing the signatures of twenty-five per cent of the qualified electors residing
within the district and requesting that the district be reorganized is filed with the
board except the board of supervisors shall not call for a reorganization election to
expand the number of directors on the district board more frequently than once every two
years. The election may be held on any consolidated election date as prescribed in
section 16-204. The sanitary district shall reimburse the county for the expenses of the
sanitary district election. The board of supervisors shall give notice of the election by
posting copies of the order of election in three public places within the district not
less than twenty days prior to the date of the election and if a newspaper is published
within the county having a general circulation within the district, the order shall be
published in the newspaper not less than once a week during each of the three calendar
weeks preceding the calendar week of the election. The ballot for the election shall
state "shall the current three member sanitary district board be reorganized to a five
member board - yes or no". The ballot shall also allow each elector to indicate the
elector's choice for two additional board members in the event of reorganization. Within
twenty days after the election, the board of supervisors shall meet and canvass the
returns, and if it is determined that a majority of the votes cast at the election were
in favor of reorganizing the sanitary district as a district with a five member board,
the board shall enter that fact on its minutes, declare the district duly reorganized and
announce the names of those elected to the district board.

E. Each director of a sanitary district shall receive not more than one hundred
fifty dollars per month or a lesser amount as set by the board of directors of the
district plus necessary traveling expenses, but members of the board of supervisors when
serving as directors of a sanitary district shall receive no compensation for attending
meetings but shall be reimbursed for their necessary expenses. No director shall receive
compensation, other than expenses, for attending more than four meetings of the board
during a calendar month.

F. For a district that is not governed by the board of supervisors, if a vacancy
occurs on the district board due to death, disability, resignation or any other cause,
the board of directors of the sanitary district shall appoint a qualified elector of the
district to fill the office for the remaining portion of that term, except that if the
remaining directors do not constitute a quorum, the county board of supervisors shall
make the appointment to fill the vacancy.