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Whenever a petition, signed by fifty-one percent or more of the owners of land who own fifty-one percent or more of the land, within a proposed drainage project, according to the county-land book or books or to the latest assessment lists of the county or counties in which such project is located, or by the heirs, guardians, conservators or executors of estates or by those having color of title, or by those in adverse possession, or by the officers of corporations, whose lands will be affected by or assessed for the expense of the proposed improvements, shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of any county in which a part of the lands are located, setting forth that any specific body or district of land in the county or adjoining counties, described in such a way as to convey an intelligent idea as to the location of such land, is subject to overflow, or too wet for cultivation, or in need of drainage, and the public benefit or utility or the public health, convenience or welfare, will be promoted by draining, ditching or leveeing the same, or by changing or improving the natural watercourse or courses; and setting forth therein, as far as practicable, the starting point, route and terminus and lateral tile or open branches, of the proposed improvement, and there is filed therewith a bond for the amount or product of ten dollars multiplied by the square root of the estimated number of acres within the bounds of the proposed project, signed by two or more sureties or by some lawful and authorized surety company, to be approved by the clerk, and conditioned for the payment of all costs and expenses incurred in the proceedings in case the court does not grant the prayer of the petition, the clerk shall issue a summons, to be served on all the defendant landowners, including any railway company, who have not joined in the petition and whose lands are affected or included in the proposed drainage district, to show cause, if any there be, why the lands in the proposed drainage project should not be drained or leveed. Code 1919, § 1738; 1920, p. 608; 1924, p. 707; 1926, p. 605; 1954, c. 642; 1997, c. 801 .
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