Commissioners of Lake Fork Special Drainage District v. People ex rel. Bodman

Citations

• 138 Ill. 87
• 27 N.E. 857
• 1891 Ill. LEXIS 1108

Syllabus

<p>1. Drainage law—statute construed—connecting outside lands with ■district ditches—duty of commissioners. Section 42 of the Farm Drainage act of 1885, after providing in the first clause that “owners of land •outside the drainage district * * * may connect with the ditches of the district already made, by the payment of such amount as they would have been assessed if originally included in the district,” provides in the second clause: “If individual owners outside the district have, or shall so connect, they shall be deemed to have voluntarily applied to be included in the district, and their lands benefited by such •drainage shall be treated, classified and taxed like other lands within the district:” Held, that these two clauses, when construed together, •are mandatory, so far as the action of the commissioners is concerned, • and that the word “so,” in the second clause, refers back to the connection with the ditches of the district referred to in the first clause, •and such connection with the ditches of the district depends upon the payment of assessments.</p> <p>2. Where outside owners “so” connect with the ditches of the district, it is the duty of the commissioners to treat such connection as a voluntary application to be included in the district, and to classify and tax the lands of such owners benefited by the drainage, the same as ■other lands in the district. The acts which the commissioners are thus required to perform concern the public interest, and the exercise of the power conferred upon them may be insisted upon as a duty.</p> <p>3. Same—voluntary connection with district drains—previous finding of commissioners. The fact, that the commissioners of a district may have previously found that a party’s lands did not require the drains of the district for an outlet, will not prevent the land owner from afterward voluntarily connecting his lands with such drains. When such •connection is voluntarily made, it is an admission on the part of the •owner t