(2) Within 10 days after the date a petition is offered for filing, the county clerk or district secretary, as the case may be, shall examine the petition and determine whether it is signed by the requisite number of qualified signers. In the case of a petition required or permitted to be signed by landowners, within 10 days after the date a petition is offered for filing, the county assessor shall examine the petition and determine whether it is signed by the requisite number of qualified landowners. If the requisite number of qualified signers have signed the petition, the county clerk or district secretary shall file the petition. If the requisite number have not signed, the county clerk or district secretary shall so notify the chief petitioners and may return the petition to the petitioners.

(3) A petition shall not be filed unless the certificate of the county clerk or the district secretary is attached thereto certifying that the county clerk or district secretary has compared the signatures of the signers with the appropriate records, that the county clerk or district secretary has ascertained therefrom the number of qualified signers appearing on the petition, and that the petition is signed by the requisite number of qualified signers. In the case of a petition required or permitted to be signed by landowners, a petition shall not be filed unless the certificate of the county assessor is attached thereto certifying that the county assessor has compared the signatures of the signers with the appropriate records and that the petition is signed by the requisite number of qualified landowners.

(4) No petition for dissolution shall be accepted for filing within one year after an election held on the question of dissolution of a district. [1971 c.727 §18; 1973 c.117 §2; 1989 c.92 §4; 1991 c.70 §3; 1995 c.712 §83; 1997 c.541 §344; 1999 c.318 §47; 2011 c.8 §2]