# Title 61 — Waters

## Chapter 61-06 — Government of Irrigation Districts

### § 61-06-01. Board of directors of irrigation district - Terms - Vacancies.

If an irrigation district contains less than twenty thousand irrigable acres [8093.72 irrigable
hectares] of land and is not divided into precincts or divisions, the board of directors consists of
five directors who must be residents of the state and electors of the district and must be elected
at large. Two directors elected at the election for the organization of the district serve until the
first Tuesday in April following the first regular district election, and three serve until the first
Tuesday in April following the second regular election.
If an irrigation district contains twenty thousand irrigable acres [8093.72 irrigable hectares]
or more, it must be divided into five or seven divisions or precincts, as the case may be, and
one director must be elected from and by the electors of each division or precinct.
If an irrigation district contains twenty thousand irrigable acres [8093.72 irrigable hectares]
or more and is divided into five divisions or precincts, the board of directors of the irrigation
district consists of five directors. Two directors elected at the election for the organization of the
district serve until the first Tuesday in April following the first regular district election, and three
directors serve until the first Tuesday in April following the second regular district election.
If an irrigation district contains twenty thousand irrigable acres [8093.72 irrigable hectares]
or more and is divided into seven divisions or precincts, the board of directors of the irrigation
district consists of seven directors. Three directors elected at the election for the organization of
the district serve until the first Tuesday in April following the first regular district election, and four
directors serve until the first Tuesday in April following the second regular district election.
The terms of office of the directors elected at the first election for the organization of the
district must be determined by lot at their first meeting. Directors elected at subsequent
elections serve for four years and until their successors are duly elected and qualified. In case
the office of any director becomes vacant, the remaining members of the board shall fill the
vacancy by appointment. A director appointed to fill a vacancy serves the unexpired term of the
director whose office that director has been appointed to fill. If vacancies occur in the offices of a
majority of the directors of an irrigation district, the remaining members and the director of the
department of water resources shall fill the vacancies; and if the offices of all the directors
become vacant, the director of the department of water resources shall appoint the members of
the board who shall serve until the next regular election of the district. The successors of the
appointed directors must be elected to serve the unexpired term of the directors whose offices
became vacant. The unexpired term of office that each director elected in this manner fills must
be determined by lot.
### § 61-06-02. Directors elected subsequent to organization assume office - Time - Term.

The directors elected subsequent to the organization of the district shall assume the duties
of their office the first Tuesday in April after their election and shall hold office until their
successors are elected and qualified.
### § 61-06-03. Oath and bond of boards of directors - Filing.

After receiving a certificate of election each director shall take the oath prescribed for civil
officers, and shall be bonded in the sum of one thousand dollars. The oath of office and bond
must be filed in the office of the department of water resources.
### § 61-06-04. Meeting of directors - Organization - Officers - Quorum - Term of officers.

The directors elected at the first election in an irrigation district shall meet at the time and
place designated by the department of water resources and organize by selecting one of their
members as chairman of the board. A temporary secretary must be designated until a
permanent secretary of the board has been appointed. After the organization of the board, a
majority of the directors constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business of the board. The
board shall appoint and fix the compensation of a secretary, a treasurer, and an assessor of the
district and other officers or employees as the board deems necessary for the efficient conduct

of the district's business. Officers and employees appointed by the board shall hold office at the
pleasure of the board. The office of secretary, assessor, and treasurer may be held by the same
person. Each succeeding board of directors shall choose or appoint officers as provided in this
section.
### § 61-06-05. Official bonds of assessor, district treasurer, and other employees -

Approval and filing of bonds.
The assessor must be bonded in the amount of five hundred dollars, and the district
treasurer must be bonded in an amount not less than double the amount of money that may
come into the treasurer's hands, the amount to be determined by the board of directors but not
be less than one thousand dollars. Other employees and appointed officers must be bonded in
amounts prescribed by the board. The official bonds of the assessor, treasurer, and other
officers and employees must be approved by the board and filed in the office of the department
of water resources.
### § 61-06-06. District organized under provisions of chapter appointed fiscal agent of the

United States.
In case any district organized under the provisions of this chapter is appointed fiscal or
other agent of the United States or is authorized by the United States to make collections of
money for and on behalf of the United States in connection with any federal reclamation or
irrigation project, the treasurer and each director shall furnish an additional official bond in such
amount as the secretary of the interior may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the
duties of office and the faithful discharge by the district of its duties as fiscal or other agent of
the United States under any such appointment or authorization. Such additional bonds may be
sued upon by the United States or by any person damaged by failure of such officer or district
fully, promptly, and faithfully to perform the duties imposed by law.
### § 61-06-07. Form of official bonds provided for in chapter - Obligee in bond.

All official bonds provided for in this chapter shall be in the form prescribed by law for official
bonds of county officers except that the obligee named in such bond shall be the irrigation
district.
### § 61-06-08. Officers or employees bonded in state bonding fund - Assessment

payment.
Every elective or appointive officer or employee of whom a bond is required under the
provisions of this chapter shall be deemed to be bonded in the state bonding fund upon the
giving of notice of such election or appointment by the secretary of the district to the
administrator of the fund. Upon notification of the amount of the assessment, the secretary of
the district shall remit the payment.
### § 61-06-09. Regular election of irrigation districts - Mail ballot elections.

The regular election of irrigation districts must be held on the second Tuesday in February
in each even-numbered year. The board of directors of an irrigation district may hold a regular or
special election by mail ballot. If the board determines to hold an election by mail ballot, the
board shall notify the electors of the district that the election will be held by mail ballot and that
no polling places will be open for the election.
### § 61-06-10. Notice of election after district is organized - Contents - Form.

Within thirty-five days of, but at least twenty-five days before, any regular or special election
held in an irrigation district, the secretary of the board of directors shall publish a notice of the
election in the newspaper or newspapers of general circulation where the district is located and
in the official newspaper of each county in which the district is located. The notice must specify
the matters to be voted upon and if the election is to be held by mail ballot. If the election is not
held by mail ballot, the notice must specify the location of the polling place or places and the

time of opening and closing of the polling places. The notice must be in substantially the
following form:
Notice is given that on _____________, ______, an election will be held for the purpose of
electing ________ members of the board of directors and for the purpose of voting upon the
questions submitted by the directors of the district. (The election will be held by mail ballot.)
or (The election will be held at ___________. Polls will be opened at one p.m. and will be
closed at five p.m. of that day.) Notice is further given that any elector desiring to have the
elector's name appear on the ballot must file a request in writing with the secretary of the
district not less than twenty days before the election.
### § 61-06-11. Board of election of irrigation district - Failure of member of election board

to be present.
Before the date of the regular election, the board shall appoint from the electors of the
district one clerk and two judges who shall constitute the board of election. If the board fails to
appoint a board of election, or if the members appointed do not attend at the opening of the mail
ballots or the opening of the polls on the day of election, the electors of the district present at
that hour may appoint the members of the election board or fill the place of an absent member.
The board of directors, in its order or resolution appointing the members of the board of election,
shall designate the time and place where the mail ballots will be opened or where the election
will be held.
### § 61-06-12. Candidates at election - Filing names.

Any person desiring to be a candidate at an irrigation district election shall file that person's
name with the secretary of the board not less than twenty days before the election. The
secretary shall contact each candidate for the purpose of verifying the candidate's willingness to
be a candidate at the election.
### § 61-06-13. Ballot at irrigation district elections - Contents - Mail ballots.

1. At least fifteen days before an election in an irrigation district, the secretary shall
prepare and have printed an official ballot containing the names of all candidates
which have been filed with the secretary. The ballot must:
a. Be headed "Official Ballot";
b. Contain all names thus filed;
c. Show the name of the district;
d. State the number of individuals to be voted for;
e. Have blank spaces below for writing in other names; and
f. State any question or resolution submitted to the electors by the board of
directors.
2. The provisions of this chapter do not prevent an individual desiring to be a candidate
at the election and who has failed to file as provided in this chapter, from furnishing
stickers to be attached to the ballot by the electors. The stickers may not be over
one-half inch [1.27 centimeters] in width and must have printed thereon one name
only.
3. If the election is not held by mail ballot any elector who will be absent from the
irrigation district on the day of the election may vote an absent voter's ballot at that
election. The secretary shall provide the official ballot to any elector who applies for an
absent voter's ballot, and the absent voter shall submit the absent voter's ballot to the
secretary of the district, along with an affidavit that the ballot submitted represents the
elector's vote at the election, on or before the day of the election. An absent voter's
ballot must be the official ballot, and the ballot and affidavit must be actually delivered
to the secretary or the election board before the polls close on election day. The
secretary shall submit any absent voters' ballots to the election board on the day of the
district election.
4. If the board of directors of the irrigation district determines to hold the election by mail
ballot, the secretary of the board of directors shall mail an official mail ballot with a

return identification envelope and instructions sufficient to describe the voting process
to each elector on the fifteenth day before the election. The voting instructions must
contain a statement informing the elector that the elector is entitled to complete the
mail ballot in secrecy. The secretary shall mail the ballot by first-class mail, addressed
to the address of the elector and placed in an envelope that is prominently marked "Do
Not Forward". The return identification envelope must include an affidavit for the
elector to certify that the ballot submitted represents the elector's vote. An elector
entitled to cast more than one vote must be provided separate ballots for each vote to
which the elector is entitled, and a return envelope with instructions sufficient to keep
the ballots secret. An elector may obtain a replacement ballot if a mail ballot is
destroyed, spoiled, lost, or not received by the elector by signing a sworn statement
that the ballot was destroyed, spoiled, lost, or not received and delivering the
statement to the secretary of the district no later than four p.m. on the day before the
election. An elector voting by mail ballot shall either deliver the mail ballot to the
secretary of the district before five p.m. on the day of the election or mail the ballot,
which must be postmarked no later than the day before the election.
### § 61-06-14. Oath required of members of election board - Chairman of election board to

administer.
Before opening the polls at an irrigation district election or opening mail ballots, each
member of the election board shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will perform my duties as judge or clerk (as the case
may be) according to law and to the best of my ability.
The oath or affirmation may be administered by any director of the district or any officer
authorized to administer oaths. The board of directors shall designate one of the judges as
chairman of the election board and the chairman of the election board may administer and
certify all oaths or affirmations taken by other members of the election board and shall
administer and certify all oaths or affirmations required during the progress of the election.
### § 61-06-15. Opening and closing hours of polls at irrigation district elections.

If the election is not held by mail ballot, the polls must be open at one p.m. of the election
day and must be kept open until five p.m. of the same day.
### § 61-06-16. Canvass of ballots - Delivery of materials to directors.

Immediately after five p.m. on the day of the election, the election board publicly shall open
and canvass the ballots cast and shall declare the result of the canvass. A mail ballot may be
counted only if the ballot is returned in the return identification envelope and is signed by the
elector. The chairman shall wrap securely all lists, tally sheets, oaths and affirmations, and other
documents relating to the progress of the election and shall deliver the same to the secretary of
the board of directors of the district.
### § 61-06-17. Compensation of members of election board.

Each member of the election board for an irrigation district election shall receive
compensation as fixed by the board of directors for the member's services.
### § 61-06-18. Return and canvass of votes by board of directors.

The board of directors of the district shall meet at its usual place of meeting within thirty
days after each election and canvass the returns. If all the returns have not been received, the
canvass shall be postponed from day to day until all the returns have been received. The
canvass shall be made in public and by opening the returns and ascertaining the vote for each
person voted for, and declaring the result thereof, and also ascertaining the vote for and against
each and every question or proposition voted upon, and declaring the result thereof.

### § 61-06-19. Secretary of board of directors to declare result of election - Contents.

1. The secretary of the board of directors, as soon as the result of the election is
declared, shall record the election results including:
a. The whole number of votes cast in the district.
b. The names of the persons who received votes.
c. Each question voted upon.
d. The number of votes cast for each person.
e. The number of votes cast for and against each question.
2. A copy of the statement of election results must be recorded in a permanent record of
the board. The statement must be signed by the secretary of the board and
authenticated by the seal of the district. A copy of the signed and authenticated
statement must be filed with the county auditor of each county in which the irrigation
district is situated, and another copy must be mailed to the department of water
resources.
### § 61-06-20. Board of directors to declare results of election - Secretary to issue

certificates of election.
The board of directors shall declare elected the person having the highest number of votes
cast for each office and shall declare the result of the election as to each question voted upon at
the election. The secretary immediately shall make out and deliver to each person elected a
certificate of election, signed by the secretary and authenticated with the seal of the district.
### § 61-06-21. Meetings of board - Regular and special - Quorum - Records of board.

The board shall hold regular meetings in its office or usual place of meeting in January,
March, July, and November of each year. The board by rule or bylaw authorized by section
meetings as it shall deem needed. The board also may hold special meetings as may be
required for the transaction of the district's business. A majority of the members of the board
constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business. Special meetings shall be called by the
secretary upon the order of the chairman of the board or upon the request in writing of two
members. The order must be entered of record on the minutes of the meeting and notice of
such special meeting shall be delivered or mailed to each member of the board at least five
days prior to the date of such special meeting. A special meeting of the board may be called at
any time by the chairman without notice and the meeting thus called shall be legal and valid if all
members of the board of directors are present. A concurrence of at least a majority of the board
is necessary on any question requiring a vote. All records of the board must be open to the
inspection of any elector during business hours.
### § 61-06-21.1. Transactions of irrigation districts made public records - Grounds for

removal of director or officer.
The minutes of all meetings, and all contracts, agreements, leases, and other business
transactions of the board of directors of an irrigation district shall be public records and open to
inspection by any person interested, or that person's attorney or agent, at all reasonable times.
The terms of any proposed agreement or contract with federal or state agencies shall be
deemed a business transaction open to public examination. Refusal on the part of any director
or officer of an irrigation district to permit examination of the records of the irrigation district or to
give any information available concerning business transactions of the district shall be grounds
for removal of such director or officer in an action brought in the district court.
### § 61-06-22. Directors and officers - Salary, mileage, and expenses.

The compensation for each director per day while performing duties as a member of the
board must be fixed by the board of directors but may be no more than sixty-two dollars and fifty
cents per day. The allowance for meals and lodging expenses must be at the same rate and
under the same conditions as provided for state officials and employees. The allowance for
travel expenses must be at the same rate as provided by section 11-10-15 and must be

evidenced by a subvoucher or receipt in a manner determined by the board of directors. The
salary of the secretary, assessor, and treasurer must be determined by the board of directors.
### § 61-06-23. Officers not to be interested in contract - Penalty.

Repealed by S.L. 1975, ch. 106, § 673.
