Organization of district, etc.

(1) If the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall determine that the operation of the proposed district within the defined boundaries is administratively practicable and feasible, any five of the petitioners who signed the petition for the creation of the proposed district may present to the Department of State an application signed by them which shall set forth (and such application need contain no details other than the mere recitals):

(a) That a petition for the creation of the district was filed with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, and that the proceedings specified in this chapter were taken pursuant to such petition; that the application is being filed in order to complete the organization of the district under this chapter;

(b) The name which is proposed for the district; and

(c) The location selected by the department to be the principal office of the supervisors of the district.

The application shall be accompanied by a statement by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which shall certify (and such statement need contain no detail other than the mere recitals) that a petition was filed, notice issued, and hearing held as aforesaid; that the department did duly determine that there is need, in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare, for a soil and water conservation district to function in the proposed territory and did define the boundaries thereof, that notice was given and a referendum held on the question of the creation of such district, and that the result of such referendum showed a majority of the votes cast in such referendum to be in favor of the creation of the district; that thereafter the department did duly determine that the operation of the proposed district is administratively practicable and feasible. The said statement shall set forth the boundaries of the district as they have been defined by the department.

(2) The Department of State shall examine the application and statement and, if it finds that the name proposed for the district is not identical with that of any other soil and water conservation district of this state or so nearly similar as to lead to confusion or uncertainty, it shall receive and file them and shall record them in an appropriate book of record in its office. If the Department of State shall find that the name proposed for the district is identical with that of any other soil and water conservation district of this state, or so nearly similar as to lead to confusion and uncertainty, it shall certify such fact to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and to the five petitioners and the petitioners shall thereupon submit to the Department of State a new name for the said district not subject to such defects. Upon receipt of such new name, free of such defects, the Department of State shall record the application and statement, with the name so modified, in an appropriate book of record in its office. The Department of State shall make and issue a certificate under the seal of the state, of the due organization of the said district, and shall record such certificate with the application and statement. The boundaries of such district shall include the territory as determined by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

(3) After 6 months shall have expired from the date of entry of a determination by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services that operation of a proposed district is not administratively practicable and feasible, and denial of a petition pursuant to such determination, subsequent petitions may be filed as aforesaid, and action taken thereon in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(4) After the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has determined that operation of a proposed district is administratively practicable and feasible and that the district boundaries are wholly located in one county, the district must be subdivided into five numbered subdivisions that match, as practicable, the boundaries of either the five county commission districts or five school board districts within the county. When neither the county commission nor the school board is subdivided into five districts, or when the district is comprised of multiple counties, the department shall subdivide the district into five numbered subdivisions as nearly equal in area as practicable to ensure geographical representation within that soil and water conservation district’s governing body.