(70 ILCS 405/26a.1) (from Ch. 5, par. 131a-1)

Sec. 26a.1. Division of districts. Any 25 or more owners of lands lying within the boundaries of any district organized under this Act which lies in more than one county may file with the Department a petition proposing the division of the district into 2 or more districts along county lines. Such petition shall set forth:

(1) The name of the district proposed to be divided,

(2) The proposed names of the districts to be formed from it.

(3) The proposed boundaries of each of the districts to be formed.

The petition shall be accompanied by an inventory of the property belonging to the district and of its liabilities and a proposed plan for a division of these assets and liabilities between or among the districts proposed to be formed.

Within 30 days after such a petition is filed, the Department shall submit the proposal to the directors of the district proposed to be divided. The directors shall within 30 days thereafter adopt and submit to the Department a resolution approving or disapproving the proposed division.

If the directors disapprove the proposed division, the petition shall be denied. If the directors favor the proposed division, the Department shall give 10 days notice of the holding of a referendum by causing such notice to be published at least once in one or more newspapers having general circulation within the district and hold a referendum within the district upon the question of the proposed division. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the proposition shall be submitted in accordance with Section 28-3 of the Election Code. The proposition shall be submitted upon ballots in substantially the following form:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Place an X in the square opposite the proposition for which you wish to vote. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the division of the ....

Soil and Water Conservation District

into the .... and .... Soil and Water

Conservation Districts with the

boundaries described below.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Against the division of the ....

Soil and Water Conservation District

into the .... and .... Soil and Water

Conservation Districts with the

boundaries described below.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Here insert descriptions of proposed new districts.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Only owners or occupiers of land, or both, lying within the district are eligible to vote in the referendum. Such vote may be cast in person or by absentee ballot.

(Source: Laws 1961, p. 530.)