When a petition for detachment is submitted to the circuit court by someone other than the district's board of directors, the district shall be named as a defendant and a copy of the petition shall be served upon the district by certified or registered mail at least 35 days before the hearing.

Current law requires notice of the petition to detach to be published in a newspaper in each county containing any portion of the proposed territory. The act instead requires that notice be published in a newspaper in the county in which the hearing will be held as well as in a newspaper with circulation in the proposed territory.

The act adds the district itself as an allowable entity to make an exception or objection to a proposed detachment. The act modifies the language required to be posted in the newspaper to mirror the statutory requirements.

This act is identical to the truly agreed to HCS/SB 196 (2009).

ERIKA JAQUES