NRS555.217. Change of boundaries: Petition; notice and hearing; resolution; ratification by board of county commissioners.

      1.  The boundaries of a weed control district may be changed in the manner prescribed in this section or in subsection 3 of NRS 308.080, but the change of boundaries of the district does not:

      (a) Impair or affect its organization or its rights in or to property, or any of its rights or privileges whatsoever.

      (b) Affect or impair or discharge any contract, obligation, lien or charge for or upon which it or the owners of property in the district might be liable or chargeable had the change of boundaries not been made.

      2.  The owners of lands may file with the board of directors a petition in writing praying that those lands be included in or excluded from the district. The petition must describe the tracts or body of land owned by the petitioners, and the petition shall be deemed to give the consent of the petitioners to the inclusion in or the exclusion from the district of the lands described in the petition. The petition must be acknowledged in the same manner that conveyances of land are required to be acknowledged.

      3.  The board of directors of the district may, on its own motion or upon petition of any person other than the owner, initiate proceedings for the inclusion of land in the district. A petition filed with the board of directors for this purpose must be in writing and must describe the tracts or body of land proposed to be included, allege that the lands described contain certain weeds that are harmful to owners of land in the district and request that the lands be included in the district.

      4.  Areas proposed for inclusion in a weed control district need not be located in the same county as other portions of the district and need not be contiguous to other portions of the district.

      5.  The secretary of the board shall give notice of filing of the petition, or initiation of proceedings by the board, to the owner or owners of the lands described in the petition or motion of the board and shall cause notice to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the lands described are situated. The notices must require all persons interested to appear at the office of the board at the time specified in the notice and show cause in writing why the request should not be granted.

      6.  The board shall at the time specified in the notice, or at the time or times to which the hearing may be adjourned, proceed to hear the request and all written objections presented to show cause why the request should not be granted. The failure of any person interested to show cause in writing must be considered an approval by that person of the inclusion in or the exclusion from the district of the lands as requested.

      7.  Upon conclusion of the hearing the board by resolution shall approve the request, subject to ratification by the board of county commissioners of the county in which the lands are situated if the request is for the inclusion of lands, or deny the request. In the case of proceedings initiated pursuant to subsection 3, the board may approve the inclusion in the district of the described lands only if it determines that the lands contain weeds that are harmful to owners of land in the district. The board may defer adoption of the resolution to a special meeting or its first regular meeting after conclusion of the hearing, whichever is sooner.

      8.  A copy of the resolution, adopted pursuant to subsection 7, must be filed with the board of county commissioners of each county in which all or a part of the district is located.

      9.  No action of the board of directors approving the inclusion of lands within the district becomes effective unless it is ratified by the board of county commissioners of the county in which the lands are situated. The board of county commissioners may ratify the action at any time after the filing of the resolution, but if the board has neither ratified the action nor denied ratification within 90 days after the date the resolution was filed pursuant to subsection 8, the action of the board of directors shall be deemed ratified.

      (Added to NRS by 1973, 1076; A 1981, 1643; 1997, 482)