OAG 40-90.

• Case Date: October 22, 1940
• Court: Oregon

Oregon Attorney General Opinions 1940. OAG 40-90. 99OPINION NO. 40-90[20 Or. Op. Atty. Gen. 99]State lands within proposed soil conservation district may not be eliminated in voting upon question of organization. Tenants by entireties have but one vote in such elections. Tenants in common may vote on basis of individual interests. Husband or wife owning undivided portion may vote, but not the spouse. Persons holding unrecorded contracts for purchase of land entitled to vote.October 22, 1940.Mr. Wm. L. Teutsch, SecretaryState Soil Conservation Committee. Dear Sir: Under date of October 16, 1940, you state that at the election to determine whether or not a soil conservation district should be formed there were 146,810 acres involved, of which 133,470 acres were in private ownership, 6,820 acres were owned by the state, and 6,520 acres were owned by the county 100in which said proposed district is located; that the number of votes for the creation of the district was 86, representing 99,049 acres, and the number voting against the district was ten votes, representing 3,316 acres. You request my opinion whether or not this district can be legally created by eliminating the state lands from consideration in the voting. Section 3, paragraph (10), of chapter 555, Oregon Laws, 1939, pursuant to which the election was held, provides:

" 'Landowner' includes any person, firm, or corporation, the state, any county within the state, or municipality, shown by records of the county to be the owner of ten (10) acres or more of lands or having such land under contract to purchase, lying within a district organized under the provisions of this act."

Section 5, paragraph A, of the act provides, among other things:

"Any twenty-five (25) or more landowners or the owners of more than seventy (70) per cent of the acres of land lying within the limits of the territory proposed to be organized into a district may file a petition with the state soil conservation committee asking that a soil conservation district be organized to function in the territory described in the petition."

Paragraph C of said section provides, among other things:

"* * * All owners of lands lying within the boundaries of the territory, as determined by the state soil conservation committee, shall be eligible to vote in such referendum. Only such landowners as

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