48-1012. Elected board of directors; initial members; qualifications; terms; filling vacancy; chairperson; reorganization; qualifications of electors

A. At the option of the board of supervisors after presentation of a petition requesting the establishment of a domestic water improvement district or a domestic wastewater improvement district, or on the submission of a separate petition following the establishment of an improvement district as prescribed by section 48-903, and subsequent to the approval of the county board of supervisors, the district shall be governed by an elected board of directors. The elected board shall consist of the number of members, not less than three, specified in the petition for establishment of the district. The first directors of such board shall be selected by the board of supervisors at the time the district is established. Members of the board of directors shall be qualified electors of the district and, after the members first appointed by the board of supervisors, shall be elected by the qualified electors of the district.

B. Immediately after the selection and qualification of the first directors of the board, the directors shall meet and divide themselves by lot into two classes as nearly equal in number as possible. Directors of the first class shall serve for a term of four years, and directors of the second class shall serve for a term of two years. Every director shall continue to discharge the duties of office until a successor is appointed and qualifies. Thereafter, at each regular election, one director for each expired term shall be elected and shall hold office for a term of four years, and until a successor is elected and qualifies. The dates of elections and of expiration of terms shall be specified in the petition for establishment of the district.

C. If a vacancy in the district board occurs due to death or disability or any other cause other than resignation, the board of directors of the district shall appoint a qualified elector of the district to fill the office for the remaining portion of that term. If there is a vacancy in the district board due to resignation, the district board shall accept the resignation and appoint a qualified elector to fill the remaining portion of that term of office. If the district board lacks a quorum for any reason for more than thirty days, the county board of supervisors may revoke the authority of the appointed or elected board of directors pursuant to section 48-1016.

D. The board of directors shall annually elect a chairperson from among its members.

E. If only one person files or no person files a nominating petition for election to fill a position on the board of directors of the district, the county board of supervisors, by resolution, may cancel the election for that office and appoint the person who filed the nominating petition to fill that position. If no person files a nominating petition for an election to fill a district board office, the county board of supervisors, by resolution, may cancel the election for those offices and those offices are deemed vacant and shall be filled as otherwise provided by law. A person who is appointed pursuant to this section is fully vested with the powers and duties of the office as if elected to that office.

F. The board of supervisors shall make an order calling an election to decide whether to reorganize a domestic water improvement district that has a board consisting of three members as a domestic water improvement district that has a board consisting of five members when a petition containing the signatures of twenty-five percent of the qualified electors residing within the district and requesting that the district be reorganized is filed with the board except the board of supervisors may not call for a reorganization election to expand the number of directors on the district board more frequently than once every two years. The election may be held on any consolidated election date as prescribed in section 16-204. The domestic water improvement district shall reimburse the county for the expenses of the district election. The board of supervisors shall give notice of the election by posting copies of the order of election in three public places within the district not less than twenty days before the date of the election and if a newspaper is published within the county having a general circulation within the district, the order shall be published in the newspaper not less than once a week during each of the three calendar weeks preceding the calendar week of the election. The ballot for the election shall state " shall the current three-member domestic water improvement district board be reorganized to a five-member board - yes or no" . The ballot shall also allow each elector to indicate the elector's choice for two additional board members in the event of reorganization. Within twenty days after the election, the board of supervisors shall meet and canvass the returns, and if it is determined that a majority of the votes cast at the election were in favor of reorganizing the domestic water improvement district as a district with a five-member board, the board shall enter that fact on its minutes, declare the district duly reorganized and announce the names of those elected to the district board.

G. For the purposes of either a domestic water improvement district or a domestic wastewater improvement district that is organized pursuant to this article and that serves at the time of organization a population of ten thousand persons or less, in addition to any other qualified elector of the district, any natural person who is a qualified elector of this state and who is a real property owner within the district is eligible to vote in a district election without regard to that person's residency and shall be deemed a qualified elector of the district for purposes of service on the board of directors.