Directors - Duties - Elections

C.R.S. tit. 37, art. 21
in effect

C.R.S. § 37-21-101 Directors to exercise powers

37-21-101. Directors to exercise powers. The board of directors is vested with all powers necessary to accomplish the purposes for which the district was organized, including the power to optimize drainage and recharge of water within the district. No enumeration of particular powers granted shall be construed to impair any general grant of power specified in this article, nor shall the grant of particular powers be construed to limit any such general grant to a power of the same class as the particular powers so enumerated.

C.R.S. § 37-21-102 Meetings of directors

37-21-102. Meetings of directors. The board of directors shall hold a regular meeting in the office of the drainage district on the first Tuesday in January, April, July, and October and such special meetings as may be required for the proper transaction of business. Special meetings shall be called by the president of the board or any director. All special meetings of the board shall be held at locations which are within the boundaries of the district or which are within the boundaries of any county in which the district is located, in whole or in part, or in any county so long as the meeting location does not exceed twenty miles from the district boundaries. The provisions of this section governing the location of meetings may be waived only if the proposed change of location of a meeting of the board appears on the agenda of a regular or special meeting of the board and if a resolution is adopted by the board stating the reason for which a meeting of the board is to be held in a location other than under the provisions of this section and further stating the date, time, and place of such meeting.

C.R.S. § 37-21-103 Meetings public - quorum

37-21-103. Meetings public - quorum. Meetings of the board of directors shall be public, and two directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. On all questions requiring a vote there shall be a concurrence of at least two directors. The record of the board shall be open to the inspection of the public during business hours.

C.R.S. § 37-21-104 President - secretary - district treasurer - seal

37-21-104. President - secretary - district treasurer - seal. The board of directors shall elect a president from the members of the board and shall appoint a secretary and a district treasurer and adopt a drainage district seal.

C.R.S. § 37-21-105 Directors - election

37-21-105. Directors - election. The regular election of directors of drainage districts shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of each alternate year, at which three directors shall be elected. The three persons receiving the highest number of votes shall be the directors for the next succeeding two years and until their respective successors are elected and qualified.

C.R.S. § 37-21-106 Directors to qualify

37-21-106. Directors to qualify. Each director shall take an oath or affirmation in accordance with section 24-12-101 and file the director's official bond in the office of the county clerk and recorder of the county where the organization of the district was effected.

C.R.S. § 37-21-107 Failure of director to qualify

37-21-107. Failure of director to qualify. In the event that a person elected as director of a drainage district fails or refuses to qualify within the time prescribed in this article, a vacancy shall exist and the board of county commissioners of the county where the office of the drainage district is located shall appoint a director who shall hold the office until the next regular district election, and, upon filing his oath and bond, the term of office of the director whose successor was to be elected shall end.

C.R.S. § 37-21-108 Director's bond

37-21-108. Director's bond. Each director shall execute a bond in the penal sum of two thousand dollars with sureties approved by the county judge of the county where said organization was effected and file the same in the office of the county clerk and recorder of said county. Said bond shall be in the form prescribed by law for county officers, making the drainage district obligee therein.

C.R.S. § 37-21-109 Directors - secretary - salary

37-21-109. Directors - secretary - salary. Each director shall receive as compensation for his services a sum not in excess of six hundred dollars per annum, as fixed by the board. No director shall receive any compensation as an officer, engineer, attorney, employee, or other agent of the district. Nothing contained in this article shall be construed as preventing the board from authorizing the reimbursement of any director for expenses incurred and appertaining to the activities of the district. The salary of the secretary shall be fixed by resolution of the board.

C.R.S. § 37-21-110 Powers of board

37-21-110. Powers of board. The board of directors is authorized to take conveyances or assurances in the name of the drainage district for all property acquired by it and to institute and maintain any actions, proceedings, and suits necessary or proper in order fully to carry out the provisions of articles 20 to 30 of this title or to enforce, maintain, protect, or preserve any rights, privileges, and immunities created or acquired in pursuance thereof.

C.R.S. § 37-21-111 Right to enter upon land in district

37-21-111. Right to enter upon land in district. The directors, agents, and employees of the drainage district have the right to enter upon any land in the district to make surveys and to locate drainage ditches and laterals.

C.R.S. § 37-21-112 Office of district

37-21-112. Office of district. The office of the drainage district shall be located in the county where the organization is effected, at some fixed place to be determined by the board of directors of the drainage district.

C.R.S. § 37-21-113 Property to vest in district

37-21-113. Property to vest in district. The title to property acquired under the provisions of articles 20 to 30 of this title shall vest in such drainage district in its corporate name. Said property shall be held by such district in trust for, and is hereby dedicated and set apart for, the uses and purposes set forth in articles 20 to 30 of this title and shall be exempt from taxation. The board of directors is authorized to hold, use and acquire, manage, occupy, and possess said property.

C.R.S. § 37-21-113.5 Sale of district property

37-21-113.5. Sale of district property. The board of directors of such drainage district has the power to sell and transfer by proper conveyance any real estate or personal property belonging to the district when, in the opinion of the board, such property is no longer needed by such district; except that no parcel of real estate with a fair market value of more than twenty-five thousand dollars shall be sold or transferred unless the question of the proposed sale or transfer is submitted to the qualified voters of the district at an election held thereon and is approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the district voting at such election. Such election shall be held in the same manner as an election for dissolution of the district pursuant to the provisions of article 29 of this title insofar as such provisions are practicable.

C.R.S. § 37-21-114 Construction of system - contracts

37-21-114. Construction of system - contracts. (1) The board of directors may cause surveys to be made for ditches for drainage works and rights-of-way for said district; may cause drainage or irrigation ditches, work, rights-of-way, and other property necessary for said district to be laid out, constructed, purchased, and acquired by condemnation or otherwise; and may appropriate, divert, and use waters for beneficial purposes, including any water gathered in or discharged by the works of any such district, under the same rules as to ownership, title, appropriation, priority, and adjudication of priorities as are applicable to individuals. The district shall file applications for water rights, changes of water rights, and plans for augmentation as provided in section 37-92-302. (2) The board of directors has no power to make any contract or authorize any expenditure involving more than fifty thousand dollars unless such contract or expenditure is authorized, approved, and ratified in writing by owners of land in said drainage district equal in number to a majority of the votes cast at the last district election; and no contract or expenditure involving more than one hundred thousand dollars shall be made or be binding unless the question of making said contract or expenditure has been submitted and said expenditure authorized at an election in said district. The board of directors shall not violate the spending limitations specified in section 29-1-301, C.R.S. (3) The board of directors has the power and authority, without advertising for bids as required by section 37-24-101, to enter into contracts either with the state of Colorado or with the United States, or both, jointly, for any and all surveys, plans, and specifications for a proposed drainage ditch, system, or works and also for the construction in whole or in part of such drainage ditch, system, or works. Such contracts shall provide for the payment by such drainage district to the state of Colorado or the United States, or both, as the case may be, of the actual cost of making such surveys, plans, and specifications and the actual cost of construction of such drainage ditch, system, or works, by such amounts as shall be agreed upon in such contracts. Any such contracts shall not become effective and binding upon any such drainage district until the question of making such contracts is submitted to and authorized at an election of the qualified electors of said district.

C.R.S. § 37-21-115 Notice of election

37-21-115. Notice of election. Fifteen days prior to any election held subsequent to the organization of a drainage district, the secretary shall cause notices specifying the polling place of each precinct to be posted in three public places in each precinct, giving the hour and place of holding the election, and at the same time shall post a general election notice of said election in the office of said drainage district.

C.R.S. § 37-21-116 Hours of voting

37-21-116. Hours of voting. The polls shall be opened at eight a.m. and be kept open until six p.m. of the day of election.

C.R.S. § 37-21-117 Judges of election

37-21-117. Judges of election. Prior to the time for posting said notices, the board of directors shall appoint three judges of election in each precinct, each of whom shall be a landowner within said precinct, and one of whom shall act as clerk of the election.

C.R.S. § 37-21-118 Judges - vacancies filled by voters

37-21-118. Judges - vacancies filled by voters. If the board of directors fails to appoint judges or the appointees fail to attend at the hour designated for opening the polls on the morning of election, the voters of the precinct present at that hour may appoint one or more judges to supply the places of those absent.

C.R.S. § 37-21-119 Oaths - judges and clerks

37-21-119. Oaths - judges and clerks. Any judge or clerk of election may administer and certify oaths required to be administered during the progress of an election. Before opening the polls, each judge and clerk shall take and subscribe an oath faithfully to perform the duties imposed upon him by law. Any qualified elector of the precinct may administer and certify said oath.

C.R.S. § 37-21-120 Count of ballots - returns

37-21-120. Count of ballots - returns. After the closing of the polls, the judges of election shall forthwith proceed to count the ballots and make returns of the results of the election. It is the duty of the clerk forthwith to deliver the returns duly certified to the board of directors of the drainage district, together with the ballots cast.

C.R.S. § 37-21-121 Canvass of returns

37-21-121. Canvass of returns. The board of directors shall meet at the office of the drainage district on the first Monday after an election and canvass the returns. If at the time of the meeting the returns have been received from all the precincts, the board of directors shall proceed to canvass the returns. If returns have not been received from all precincts, the canvass shall be postponed from day to day until the returns have all been received or until six postponements have been made. The canvass shall be made in public by opening the returns and counting the votes of the district for each person voted for and for or against each question submitted at such election and declaring the results thereof. The board shall declare elected the person receiving the highest number of votes for each office and shall declare the result of the vote on any question submitted to the voters.

C.R.S. § 37-21-122 Tie vote determined by lot

37-21-122. Tie vote determined by lot. In the event that at any regular or special election two or more persons receive the same number of votes and one is elected thereby, the election shall be determined by lot under direction of the county judge of the county in which the office of the drainage district is kept.

C.R.S. § 37-21-123 Statement of result

37-21-123. Statement of result. (1) As soon as the result of any election is declared, the secretary of the board of directors shall enter in the record of the board of directors and file with the county clerk and recorder of the county in which the office of said district is located a statement of the result. (2) Said statement shall contain: (a) A copy of the published notice of said election; (b) The names of the judges of election; (c) The number of votes cast in the district and in each precinct of the district; (d) The office to which each person was elected; (e) The number of votes cast in each precinct for each person; (f) The number of votes cast in the district for each person; (g) The names of the persons elected; (h) The result of any question submitted to the voters at said election.

C.R.S. § 37-21-124 Certificate of election

37-21-124. Certificate of election. The secretary shall forthwith deliver to each person elected a certificate of election, signed by the secretary and authenticated with the seal of the drainage district.

C.R.S. § 37-21-125 Vacancies

37-21-125. Vacancies. In case of a vacancy in the board of directors by death, removal, or inability from any cause to properly discharge the duties of a director, the board of county commissioners of the county where the office of said district is located shall appoint a director who shall hold his office until the next regular election in said district and until his successor is elected and qualified.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-37.docxFetched: 10/6/2026