Viewers-appointment duties.

Section 3. That section 3050 of the Compiled Laws of Oklahoma, 1909, be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 3050. If the commissioners shall find that the proposed drain or improvement is necessary for sanitary or agricultural purposes, or will be conducive to the public health, or a public utility, they shall cause to be entered upon their records such finding, and they shall so certify to the judge of the district court of such county, and request that he appoint three disinterested freeholders from the regular jury list of names prepared for the district court, who shall not be interested in the construction of said work and not of kin to any person interested therein, and thereupon the judge of the district court shall immediately cause ten days' notice to be given in some newspaper printed and of general circulation in the county, of the said application for appointment of viewers, and at the time stated therein shall appoint three such disinterested freeholders from the regular jury list of names of his court, and shall cause the names of such viewers so appointed to be certified to the board of county commissioners, and the said county commissioners shall thereupon cause an order to be entered on their records authorizing and directing the three viewers so appointed, and the county surveyor or any expert surveyor or engineer employed by them to go upon the line described in the order, and if only the general route has been located, to establish the precise location thereof, where in their judgment the proposed improvement will prove more efficient, to survey and level such described or established line, and set a stake at every one hundred feet, numbering down stream, mark the intersections and boundaries of lands, township, range and county lines, bench-marks, and road and railroad crossings; to determine the dimensions and form of the proposed drain, levee or other improvement and what disposition shall be made of excavated earth; to establish the number of cubic yards of earth or other substance to be removed and the cost per cubic yard of each section of one hundred feet, and for the whole work, and to make report, profile, and plat of the same; together with a schedule of all lots and lands and of public and corporate roads and railroads, together with the names and residences of the owners, that will be benefited, damaged, or condemned by or for the improvements, and the damage or benefit to each tract of forty acres or less, and make separate estimate of the cost of location and construction, and apportion the same to each tract in pro

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portion to the benefits or damages that may result to each. If so ordered by the commissioners they shall also apportion and allot the construction or expense of same of the number of lineal feet and cubic yards of said work to each lot or tract of land, road, or railroad, in proportion to the estimate of benefits or damages as above described. They shall specify the manner and time in which the improvements shall be made and completed, the number of floodgates, waterways, farm crossings, bridges, and the dimensions thereof, and note the county and township lines and railroad crossings. The plat shall be drawn upon a scale sufficiently large to represent all the meanderings of said improvements, and shall distinctly show the boundary lines of each lot or tract of land, and each road or railroad to be benefited and taxed thereby, the name of the owner or owners of each tract of land and of any interest therein, so far as they are able to ascertain the same; the authority or company having in charge, owning or controlling each public or corporate road or railroad, the distance in feet through each tract or parcel of land, together with such other matters as the viewers or surveyors may deem material. Such profile shall show the surface, the grade line and grade, if any, fixed, and the viewers and surveyors shall make and file with the report an itemized bill of costs made in the discharge of their duties. Such report shall be made and filed in the office of the county clerk within thirty days after said survey and levees are completed.

Report of viewers adoption and alteration-condemnation of land.

Section 4. That section 3053 of the Compiled Laws of Oklahoma, 1909, be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 3053. If the commissioners shall find that due notice has been given, they shall examine the report of the surveyor and viewers, and if it shall appear that the assessments of the cost of location and construction and of damages and benefits to each tract are correct, and that the apportionment of the cost of location and construction is in proportion to the benefits or damages of each tract, fair and just, the same shall be approved and confirmed; if the commissioners shall find that the apportionments so reported are unjust or erroneous, they may, by an order of record, amend the report upon the evidence so as to make the apportionments fair and just in proportion to the benefits or damages; if the commissioners shall, upon petition of fifty per cent of the resident land owners or the owners of fifty per cent of the total acreage of the land embraced in such district, at any time before the completion of such drain or other improvement. find that the location or specification of any such drain or improvement should be changed, they may, by an order of record, change such location and dimensions, and may acquire the right of way for any such drain or improvement by gift, grant, purchase or condemnation proceedings. And when land is taken by condemnation, the procedure shall be the same as for the condemnation of land for railroad purposes.

Assessments-benefits, damages, costs.

Section 5. That section 3054 of the Compiled Laws of Oklahoma, 1909, be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 3054. All lands benefited by the public drain, levee or improvements shall be assessed in proportion to the benefits for the construction thereof, whether the improvements pass through said lands or not, and the viewers, in calculating the benefits to land not traversed by such drain, shall not consider what benefits will be derived after some other drain or drains shall be constructed, but only the benefits that will be received by the construction of the public drain, and the value of the outlet thereby afforded for the drainage of said land. No assessment shall be made for the benefit to any land upon any other principle than that of such benefits derived, and all the assessments shall be made on the basis of benefits accorded by reason of the construction of the improvement and of giving an outlet for drainage, and the expense of such improvements shall be prorated among the various tracts included in the whole acreage benefited, in proportion to the benefits to each tract accorded. In estimating damages the viewers and commissioners shall take into consideration the land and drains appropriated and the direction of the drain across the land. The estimate for location expenses shall include the amount of costs reported by the viewers, and reasonable provision for properly inspecting and receiving the work, and all fees of officers, as herein provided, including making of record and executing all orders and processes of the commissioners, together with the fees of clerks, engineers, and other experts, and the fees for all publications required by this act.

Exceptions-hearing-appeal-drainage commissioner.

Section 6. That section 3057 of the Compiled Laws of Ok

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lahoma, 1909, be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 3057. Any person whose lands are affected by the proposed improvements may, on or before the day set for hearing before the commissioners, file exceptions to the apportionments made by, and the action of the viewers, upon any claim for compensation or damages. The commissioners may hear testimony and examine witnesses upon all questions made by such exceptions and for that purpose may compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of other evidence, and its decision upon each of the exceptions shall be entered of record; if the exceptions be sustained, the cost of hearing the same shall be paid as other location expenses are paid; and if the same be overruled, such exception shall be taxed against the person filing the exceptions. Any person aggrieved may appeal from the order of the commissioners, and upon such appeal there may be determined either or any of the following questions; First: whether just compensation has been allowed for property appropriated, and second, whether proper damages have been allowed for property; third, and whether the property for which an appeal is prayed has been assessed more than it will be benefited, or more than its proportionate share of the cost of the improvements. The commissioners shall grant the appeal, if the appellant shall, within ten days of the date of the order appealed from, file a written application for an appeal, specifying therein the matter appealed from, verified by affidavit, and the application shall, thereupon, be recorded in the office of the county clerk. The commissioners, if in session, and if in vacation, the county clerk, shall fix the amount of bond to be given by the appellant; provided, however, that no bond shall be required for any appeal from an assessment of damages, or in any matter relating to the condemnation of any lands or properties whatever, but appeals in such cases shall be allowed without bond upon application therefor; and in other cases the appellant shall, within ten days thereafter, file with the county clerk a bond payable to the State of Oklahoma, in an amount not less than that previously fixed, with at least two good and sufficient freehold sureties, conditioned to pay all costs of the appeal if the appeal be denied or dismissed. If the clerk approve the bond, he shall thereupon make and certify a transcript of the proceedings had before the commissioners relating to all matters involved in the appeal, and transmit the same, together with all original papers in the cause, on file in his office, to the clerk of the district court within thirty days from the date of the approval of said bonds.

In all cases where damages are assessed or condemnation proceedings are taken in any manner, the county commissioners shall cause to be paid to the owner, or into the district court for the owner, such compensation as may be determined by such viewers; provided, that nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any appellant to stay the proceedings before the commissioners, or to prevent progress in the work of constructing such public drains and improvements. A drainage commissioner shall be appointed, who shall from time to time inspect such drains and improvements as herein authorized to be constructed, with a view of keeping the same in repair and cleaned out, or to keep willows, brush, and other debris or obstructions out of said drain, ditch or other improvement, and he shall perform such other duties as may be provided by this act. Said drainage commisioners shall be appointed by the commissioners upon the recommendation of the resident owners of the property to be taxed within such district, having power of recommendation in proportion to the acreage affected or benefited thereby; provided, that he shall have in any event the endorsement of at least twenty per centum of the resident owners of the land or property included within said district. In all suits in the district courts for condemnation or other proceedings, whether brought for or against such drainage district the same shall be brought in the name and under the direction of said drainage commissioner; provided, that no appeal shall be prosecuted and no writ of certiorari shall be sued out or other judicial procedure had for the review of any judgment or confirmation unless such appeal shall be prayed, or such writ sued out within twenty days after the judgment or confirmation which it is desired to review.

Emergency.

Section 7. For the preservation of the public peace, health and safety an emergency is hereby declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval.

Approved March 24, 1910.