common drains as outlets to lateral drains; and the owners of land outside the drainage districts or another drainage district may connect with the ditches of the district already made, by the payment of such amount as they would have been assessed if originally included in the district, or if such connection shall, by increase of water, require an enlargement of the district ditches, then the outside owners of land so connecting or other drainage district, as may be, shall pay the cost of such enlargement. If individual land owners outside the district shall so connect, they shall be deemed to have voluntarily applied to be included in the district, and their lands benefited by such drainage, shall be treated, classified and taxed like other lands within the district. Drainage commissioners may at any time enlarge the boundaries of their districts by attaching new areas of land which are involved in the same system of drainage and require for outlets the drains of the district made or proposed to be made, as the case may be, on petition of as great a proportion of the land owners of the area to be added as is required for an original district. All changes thus made in the district shall be duly noted and shown upon the map, and recorded in the drainage record. The commissioners shall proceed to classify the lands thus added to the district, and such lands shall be classified, and assessed or taxed with their fair proportion of the costs of the work done, or to be done, in like manner, and upon the same basis as it would have been made had the new area been included in the district at its organization.

§ 2. WHEREAS, an emergency exists, therefore, this Act shall be in force from and after its passage.

(HOUSE BILL No. 77. APPROVED JUNE 11, 1917.)

AN ACT to amend an Act to provide for the construction, reparation and protection of drains, ditches and levees across the lands of others for agricultural, sanitary and mining purposes, and to provide for the organization of drainage districts," approved and in force May 29, 1879; as amended by an Act approved June 30, 1885, in force July 1, 1885; as amended by an Act approved June 4, 1889, in force July 1, 1889; as amended by an Act approved June 24, 1895, in force July 1, 1895; as amended by an Act approved May 10, 1901, in force July 1, 1901; as amended by an Act approved May 14, 1903, in force July 1, 1903; as amended by an Act approved and in force May 29, 1909; as amended by an Act approved and in force June 27, 1913; as amended by an Act approved June 28, 1915, in force July 1, 1915 by adding thereto a section to be numbered section 65a.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That an Act entitled, "An Act to

amend an Act to provide for the construction, reparation and protection of drains, ditches and levees across the lands of others for agricultural, sanitary and mining purposes, and to provide for the organization of drainage districts," approved and in force May 29, 1879; as amended by an Act approved June 30, 1885, in force July 1, 1885; as amended by an Act approved June 4, 1889, in force July 1, 1889; as amended by an Act approved June 24, 1895, in force July 1, 1895; as amended by an Act approved May 10, 1901, in force July 1, 1901; as amended by an Act approved May 14, 1903, in force July 1, 1903; as amended by an Act approved and in force May 29, 1909; as amended by an Act approved and in force June 27, 1913; as amended by an Act approved June 28, 1915, in force July 1, 1915, be and the same is hereby amended by inserting in and adding to said Act a section to be numbered as section 65a, and which said section 65a shall read as follows:

§ 65a. When any river or other stream or watercourse in this State constitutes the common outlet for two or more drainage districts heretofore or hereafter organized under any of the laws of this State, and also constitutes the outlet for the drainage of lands not organized into a drainage district, and when it will be a benefit to the lands included in said drainage districts and to said lands not so included but having said river or watercourse as the outlet for drainage, for agricultural or sanitary purposes, that said river, watercourse or other stream or any portion thereof constituting such common outlet be deepened, widened or otherwise improved or that the channel thereof be changed or straightened, an outlet drainage district may be organized in the manner provided in this Act for the organization of drainage districts, and all lands benefited by so deepening, widening or otherwise improving or by changing or straightening the channel of such river or watercourse may be included within the boundaries of such outlet drainage district, and it shall not constitute any objection to the inclusion of any lands in such outlet drainage district that said lands had been theretofore included in a drainage district organized under the general provisions of this Act, or under any other law of this State. That commissioners of such outlet drainage district may be appointed at the time and in the manner and with the qualifications provided in this Act for the appointment of commissioners of drainage districts, and except as herein limited with like powers and duties: And, provided, further, that special assessments may be levied on the lands or other property included in said outlet district, and which will be benefited by the improvements or other work proposed in said outlet district in the same manner as assessments for benefits are provided in levee and drainage districts organized under this Act, to pay the costs of constructing such improvements or other work, together with the cost of all proceedings therefor. But neither said outlet drainage district nor its commissioners or officers shall have any right to make any assessments against any of the lands included in said outlet drainage district for any purpose except to deepen, or widen or otherwise improve the channel of said river or watercourse so constituting an outlet for the drainage of the lands included in said outlet drainage district or to change or straighten the channel thereof, nor to

construct any other drainage work except to deepen, widen, or otherwise improve the channel of such river or watercourse or to change or straighten the channel thereof: And, provided, further, that in so far as may be, except as herein limited and restricted, all the provisions of this Act with reference to drainage districts organized thereunder shall apply to an outlet drainage district so organized under this section: And, provided, further, that when it becomes necessary said outlet drainage district may acquire lands for right of way for any improvement constructed by it in the same manner as drainage and levee districts organized under this Act may acquire right of way and may so acquire said right of way either within or without the boundaries of an organized drainage district theretofore organized: And, provided, further, that no outlying drainage district organized under this section shall remove, destroy, appropriate or use any levee, drain ditch or part thereof, or other work of any drainage district organized under any laws of this State without paying such drainage district just compensation therefor. In case the commissioners of said outlet drainage district and the corporate authorities of any such drainage district shall be unable to agree upon the compensation to be paid to such drainage district, the same may be ascertained and enforced by any proper proceedings in any court. of competent jurisdiction. Upon payment of such compensation, said outlet district shall have the right to appropriate such levees, ditches, drainage or other work within the boundary of such outlet district for and in connection with the purposes for which said outlet district is organized.

APPROVED June 11, 1917. 1

AGRICULTURAL AND SANITARY PURPOSES-REPAIRING LEVEES WITH U. S. GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE.

1. Amends section. 37, Act of 1879.

§ 37. As amended, provides commissioners may levy assessment to realize funds to be used in connection with an appropriation from the Government of the United States to repair, enlarge or strengthen levees near any river.

(HOUSE BILL No. 600. APPROVED JUNE 11, 1917.)

AN ACT to amend an Act entitled, "An Act to provide for the construction, reparation and protection of drains, ditches and levees, across the lands of others, for agricultural, sanitary and mining purposes, and to provide for the organization of drainage districts," approved and in force May 29, 1879, as subsequently amended, by amending section 37 thereof.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That an Act entitled, "An Act to provide for the construction, reparation and protection of drains, ditches and levees, across the lands of others, for agricultural, sanitary and mining purposes, and to provide for the organization of drainage districts," approved and in force May 29, 1879, as subsequently amended, be and is hereby amended by amending section 37 thereof to read as follows:

§ 37. Said commissioners may use money arising from the collection of assessments or coming into their hands, as such commissioners, for the purpose of compromising suits and controversies arising under this Act, and in the employment of all necessary agents and attorneys, in organizing said district, and for conducting other proceedings, in law or in equity, for the same, and for the purpose of constructing or repairing or maintaining any ditch, ditches, drains, levee or levees within said district or outside of said district, necessary to the protection of the lands and complete drainage of the same within said districts: Provided, that the commissioners shall use such money under the direction of approval of the court; and assessments from time to time may be levied on the land within any district when it shall appear to the court that the previous assessment or assessments have been expended or are inadequate to complete such work, or are necessary for maintenance or repair, or when it shall become necessary for the construction of one or more pumping plants, or other additional work, or the completion of any work already commenced within any drainage district to insure the protection or drainage of the lands in said district, under the direction and order of the court, or to pay obligations incurred for the current expenses of said district or in the keeping in repair and protection of the work of such district, or to pay obligations incurred for the completion of any part of the work of said district, as originally planned, contracted for and already commenced within any drainage district to insure the protection or drainage of the lands in said district, or when it shall become necessary to realize funds in order that any district organized under this Act may avail itself of financial assistance from any appropriation made by the Government of the United States for the purpose of repairing, enlarging, or strengthening any levee or levees, adjacent to or near any river, on a petition of a majority of the land owners within said district. who are of lawful age and represent at least one-third in area of such land, or on a petition of one-third of such adult land owners who represent a majority (major portion) in area of such lands, or on the petition of the commissioners accompanied by an itemized statement of accounts made by the commissioners under oath, showing the moneys received by the district and the manner in which they have been expended, together with the plats and profiles of such additional work and estimated cost of the same; two weeks previous notice of the time set for the hearing of said petition in the manner required by section three (3) of this Act having been given. Upon the hearing of such petition the court may grant the prayer of the same, and cause the jury to be impaneled to make said assessment, as well as an assessment for an annual amount of benefits for maintaining and operating such pumping plant or plants and for keeping such additional work in repair, with like proceeding; and notice as near as may be, as in cases of original assessments of damages and benefits under this Act, and such additional assessment or assessments, when made, shall have the same force and effect and be collected in the same manner as original assessments.

APPROVED June 11, 1917.

AGRICULTURAL AND SANITARY PURPOSES.

1. Amends section 15a, Act of 1885.

(SENATE BILL NO. 546.

§ 15a. Effect of organization of drainage districts-elec

tion-offices-vacancy.

APPROVED JUNE 21, 1917.)

AN ACT to amend section 15a of an Act entitled, "An Act to provide for drainage for agricultural and sanitary purposes, and to repeal certain Acts therein named," approved June 27, 1885, in force July 1, 1885, as subsequently amended.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That section 15a of an Act entitled, "An Act to provide for drainage for agricultural and sanitary purposes, and to repeal certain Acts therein named," approved June 27, 1885, in force July 1, 1885, as subsequently amended, be amended so as to read as follows:

§ 15a. Upon the organization of any drainage district as provided in section 15 of this Act, the duties and obligations of the commissioners of highways, as said drainage commissioners of such district shall cease as soon as drainage commissioners shall have been elected and qualified as herein provided. It shall be the duty of the town clerk to call an election in each district in his township, including the new districts organized during the previous year, by giving ten (10) days' notice that an election will be held (specifying time and place), said notices shall be posted in three (3) conspicuous places in said districts. Elections shall be held in the several drainage districts organized under this Act on the second Saturday in March of each year, between the hours of 2:00 and 6:00 o'clock p. m.[:] Provided, however, that in case the town clerk shall at any time fail, refuse or neglect to give the notice herein required and by reason thereof no election is held on the second Saturday of March, as aforesaid, then the clerk shall, upon the demand of any drainage commissioner or any person interested, call an election for such purpose and give notice, and said election may be held at any time in such case after the second Saturday of March of each year, and the commissioners elected at such election shall be the drainage commisisoners of said district, and in case of the expiration of the term of office of any commissioner, or all of them, a new set of commissioners may be elected as the case may be under the notice as aforesaid.

At the first election in each district there shall be elected three (3) commissioners, one for one year, one for two years, and one for three years, and annually thereafter, one drainage commissioner shall be elected who shall hold his office three years, and until his successor is elected and qualified. Every adult owner of land in the district, whether residing within or without the district, shall be a voter, and if a resident. of the county in which the district or any part thereof lies, eligible to the office of drainage commissioner. Said elections shall be conducted after the manner provided by law governing school elections. Commissioners of highways shall act as judges and clerk of the first election held in any district; thereafter the drainage commissioners shall act