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18-15-1004. Petition — Appraisal — Summons.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
18-15-1004. Petition — Appraisal — Summons.
(a) Whenever any levee or drainage district deems it necessary to take, use, or appropriate any right-of-way, land material, or other property for levee, drain, ditch, or canal purposes pursuant to this section, §§ 18-15-1001 — 18-15-1003, and §§ 18-15-1005 — 18-15-1010, or when the right-of-way, land material, or other property has already been entered upon by it or has already been used, taken, or appropriated, then the levee or drainage district, by its president, secretary, attorney, or other authorized agent, may file a petition with the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the property is situated, describing as near as may be practical the property taken or proposed to be taken and asking that the appraisers make an award to the owners of land or property.
(b)(1) When the petition is filed, a copy of it shall be delivered to each of the appraisers. It shall then be the duty of the appraisers to assemble at some convenient time, enter upon the land or property which has been appropriated or is intended to be appropriated, and ascertain:
(A) The fair market value of the land appropriated, or intended to be appropriated;
(B) The damage which the construction of the levee will cause by the obstruction of natural drainage, not to exceed the cost of artificial drainage; and
(C) The inconvenience of passing over the levee, ditch, drain, or canal or the cost of removing the houses.
(2)(A) The appraisers shall reduce their findings to writing, giving the amount they award:
(i) Per acre for the land appropriated;
(ii) For inconvenience of crossing the levee, ditch, canal, or drain; and
(iii) For the destruction of crops and houses or the cost of removing the houses upon the right-of-way.
(B) The a
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 18-15-1004
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
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Stable record: arkansas_code:legal_authorities:18-15-1004
Source file: gov.ar.code.title.18.odt
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: f1bd164431718bd6b436b8dd89a93511588d9dd0968cd68d5cf6da14bf07b9f1
Source location: content.xml paragraph 4435
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18-15-1004. Petition — Appraisal — Summons.
(a) Whenever any levee or drainage district deems it necessary to take, use, or appropriate any right-of-way, land material, or other property for levee, drain, ditch, or canal purposes pursuant to this section, §§ 18-15-1001 — 18-15-1003, and §§ 18-15-1005 — 18-15-1010, or when the right-of-way, land material, or other property has already been entered upon by it or has already been used, taken, or appropriated, then the levee or drainage district, by its president, secretary, attorney, or other authorized agent, may file a petition with the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which the property is situated, describing as near as may be practical the property taken or proposed to be taken and asking that the appraisers make an award to the owners of land or property.
(b)(1) When the petition is filed, a copy of it shall be delivered to each of the appraisers. It shall then be the duty of the appraisers to assemble at some convenient time, enter upon the land or property which has been appropriated or is intended to be appropriated, and ascertain:
(A) The fair market value of the land appropriated, or intended to be appropriated;
(B) The damage which the construction of the levee will cause by the obstruction of natural drainage, not to exceed the cost of artificial drainage; and
(C) The inconvenience of passing over the levee, ditch, drain, or canal or the cost of removing the houses.
(2)(A) The appraisers shall reduce their findings to writing, giving the amount they award:
(i) Per acre for the land appropriated;
(ii) For inconvenience of crossing the levee, ditch, canal, or drain; and
(iii) For the destruction of crops and houses or the cost of removing the houses upon the right-of-way.
(B) The appraisers shall sign the report and file it with the clerk of the circuit court.
(3) However, any levee or drainage district may have the appraisers go on the land and make the appraisal as provided in this section prior to filing its petition in court. Thereafter, if it becomes necessary to file the petition with the clerk of the circuit court of the county, the report of the appraisers may then be filed.
(c)(1) The clerk shall immediately issue a summons directed to the sheriff of the county, together with a copy of the award attached to the summons, commanding him or her to serve the owner if he or she resides in the county or, if the land belongs to a minor, an individual with mental illness, or an estate, to serve the summons upon the guardian, curator, executor, or administrator of the owner and make return thereof.
(2) However, if the owner is a nonresident of the county or is unknown to the officers of the levee or drainage district, it shall be the duty of the clerk to publish a warning order in some newspaper published in the county for four (4) insertions. The warning order may be in the following form and shall be dated and signed by the clerk:
“To (name of supposed owner) and all other persons having any claim or interest in and to the following described land, situated in County, Arkansas, namely: (here describe the land over which the levee or drainage passes according to U.S. Surveys). You are hereby warned to appear in this court within thirty (30) days, and file exceptions to the award which has been filed in this office by the levee and drainage appraisers of this county for the appropriation of the portion of the hereinbefore described land, for the construction or intended construction of a levee, ditch, canal, or drain, as the case may be, over and across the same.”
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Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
18-15-1001. Purpose.
It is expressly declared to be the purpose of this section and §§ 18-15-1002 — 18-15-1010 to enable levee and drainage districts in the State of Arkansas to acquire rights-of-way, borrow pits, and such other lands or rights as may be necessary for the purpose of extending, relocating, or draining any additional canal or ditch in any existing drainage district and for the purpose of extending, relocating, resetting, and enlarging any levee constructed by any levee district in the State of Arkansas without extending the boundaries of the district and without subjecting the lands of any drainage or levee district to taxation or special assessments because of the benefits that will accrue to the district and the lands therein by reason of the additional improvement contemplated, especially with funds of the United States Government, except such additional assessments as may be required on the lands of the district for the purpose of obtaining money with which to meet the requirements of the federal government in providing rights-of-way, borrow pits, and such other rights as the local agencies may be required to provide or furnish.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 18-15-1001
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 18-15-1001. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
18-15-1003. Appraisers.
(a)(1) Circuit judges of all counties in which it becomes necessary to condemn right-of-way for the purpose of constructing levees, ditches, drains, or canals, upon the application of the president or secretary of any levee or drainage district, shall appoint three (3) disinterested resident landholders of the county, to be known as appraisers, to assess damages for the appropriation of land for levee and drainage purposes.
(2) The appraisers shall hold their offices for the term of one (1) year and until their successors are duly appointed and qualified. In the event of a vacancy in the office or the removal by an appraiser from the county for which he or she was appointed, then it shall be the duty of the circuit judge, as soon as notified of the vacancy, to fill the unexpired term of the office by appointment.
(3) The appointment shall be made in writing by the circuit judge of the county in which it is necessary to construct a levee, ditch, canal, or drain and shall be filed with the circuit court clerk by the judge, who shall record the appointment in a book to be kept by him or her for that purpose.
(b)(1) The appraisers shall each take an oath before the clerk of the circuit court in their respective counties that they will make a just and true award of the compensation to be paid any landholder, or other person.
(2) The oath shall be recorded in the book provided for the record of the appointment of the appraisers and shall authorize the appraisers severally to enter upon the discharge of their respective duties.
(c) The compensation shall be:
(1) The cash market value of the lands appropriated or intended to be appropriated for either levee, drain, ditch, or canal purposes;
(2) The damage resulting to other lands of the s
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 18-15-1003
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 18-15-1003. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
18-15-1005. Exception — Trial — Injunction.
(a)(1) If no exception is filed by the owner within ten (10) days after service of summons or within ten (10) days of the last date of the publication of the warning order, or by the levee or drainage district within ten (10) days after award is filed, then it shall be the duty of the clerk of the circuit court to call the court's attention to the award, and failure to file exception thereto after notice having been given as provided.
(2) Upon this information, the court shall proceed to enter a judgment condemning the property and land for the right-of-way purposes and a judgment in favor of the owner of the land against the levee or drainage district for the amount awarded by the appraisers.
(b) However, in case exceptions are filed by either party within the time prescribed in this section, it shall be the duty of the clerk to docket the cause.
(c) The petition originally filed by the levee or drainage district and the award of the appraisers shall constitute all necessary pleadings in the proceedings, and, in case a trial is demanded or requested by either party, the question shall be tried as other common law cases are tried.
(d)(1) The owner of the land shall be entitled to recover the:
(A) Value of the land appropriated or intended to be appropriated;
(B) Obstruction to natural drainage not to exceed the amount necessary to construct artificial drainage;
(C) Damage occasioned by the inconvenience of crossing the levee, ditch, canal, or drain from one (1) portion of the land to the other; and
(D) Value of any crops or houses on the right-of-way or the cost of removing the crops or houses.
(2) However, whenever any levee or drainage district shall cause any land or property to be appraised, as provided
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 18-15-1005
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 18-15-1005. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
18-15-1010. Fees.
(a) The appraisers provided for in this section and §§ 18-15-1001 — 18-15-1009 shall be entitled to receive as compensation for viewing and appraising the land and property and making award of the damage therefor the sum of five dollars ($5.00) per day for each day in which the appraisers are actually engaged in this service. The sum shall be paid by the levee or drainage districts, as the case may be.
(b)(1) In the event that there are exceptions filed to the award of any board or appraisers, the fees for conducting a trial of the cause shall be the same as are prescribed in ordinary proceedings in the common law court.
(2) The fees shall be paid by the levee or drainage district in all cases in which the judgment of the circuit court is in excess of the award made by the appraisers. The landowners shall pay the cost accruing when the judgment of the circuit court does not exceed the amount awarded by the appraisers.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 18-15-1010
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 18-15-1010. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.