(a) A petition to consolidate two or more districts or to separate a district into two or more districts may be filed with the state board. The petition must be signed by the majority of each board of the affected districts or by at least 100 resident owners within the affected districts. It is not necessary to obtain the consent of fee owners in an established district before districts are consolidated or an existing district is divided. Proceedings provided for petitions to organize a district shall be followed as far as they are applicable. The state board shall prescribe the form for a petition, which shall be as nearly as possible in the form for petitions to organize a district.
(b) The eligible voters within the affected districts may vote in the referendum. The state board may not determine the administrative feasibility of consolidating or separating districts unless a majority of the votes cast in the referendum within each separate district affected, or within each separate area sought to be made a separate district, is in favor of the consolidation or separation.
(c) When districts are consolidated or separated, the corporate existence and terms of office of the officers of the old districts expire upon the issuance and recording by the secretary of state of a certificate of organization of the new districts. Upon consolidation, the rights and liabilities of the consolidating districts shall be assumed by the consolidated district. Upon separation, the rights and liabilities of the original district shall be vested in and assumed by the new districts in an equitable proportion determined by the state board. A separation does not affect the term of office for which a supervisor was elected or appointed. The supervisor shall continue to represent the district where the supervisor resides for that full term.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes