81-4-301. Herd districts -- creation, size, and location. (1) Herd districts may be created in any county in the state of Montana upon petition of owners or possessors of 55% of the land in such district and providing 25% or more of the land in such district is in actual cultivation or being used for residential purposes. Such districts must contain 12 square miles or more, lying not less than 1 mile in width, outside of the incorporated cities, except that herd districts may be created containing not less than 6 or more than 54 square miles, lying not less than 2 miles in width, when such territory joins and is contiguous with the boundaries of a city having a population of 10,000 or more and such territory so to be created in a herd district has a suburban population of not less than 200 people.
     (2) In formation of such a district the entire holding of any owner or lessee must be included unless such owner or lessee consents that less than his entire contiguous holdings be included in the petition.
     (3) Such petition shall designate the months of the year when the herd district is effective, and upon presentation and filing of such petition, properly signed, giving the outside boundaries and description of the proposed district and the post-office address of the signers thereto, with the clerk and recorder in the county in which the said district is being created, the county commissioners of such county, upon receipt thereof, shall set a date for hearing protests and verifying the signatures thereto and shall give not less than 20 days' notice of the same by three publications in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of the proposed district. At the hearing held pursuant to such notices, the county commissioners shall examine the petition and shall cause a map to be made in order to determine the shape and regularity of the boundaries of the proposed district. The commissioners may then establish the district, but such district shall be established only in such manner that the district will be reasonably regular and symmetrical in shape or practicable in relation to the geographical features of such district. It is not required that the boundaries of any district follow section lines to meet the requirement of reasonably regular and symmetrical boundaries.
     (4) Should it appear to such county commissioners after such hearing that the signatures attached to such petition were genuine, they shall immediately declare such herd district created and established; after which the county commissioners must give notice by four weekly publications in some newspaper nearest the district of the creation of such districts, also stating the period such districts will be in effect. Such districts shall not be in effect until 30 days have expired after the order.
     (5) Upon petition of any owner or possessor of lands lying contiguous and adjoining any herd district theretofore created and upon like hearing and notice as hereinabove provided for, such lands shall be included in said herd district and become a part thereof. Should the signature of lessee appear on the petition creating or abolishing any herd district, the owner or owners of said land may appear either in person or agent and enter their protest and the board of county commissioners shall remove the name of the lessee from said petition, and no person shall be permitted to withdraw his name after the hour set for hearing same.

     History: En. Ch. 74, L. 1917; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 167, L. 1919; re-en. Sec. 3384, R.C.M. 1921; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 56, L. 1929; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 117, L. 1931; re-en. Sec. 3384, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 103, L. 1951; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 209, L. 1959; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 39, L. 1974; R.C.M. 1947, 46-1501(a); amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 488, L. 1979.