Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 280.23 (2026)

Drain commissioner; jurisdiction; drains in more than one county; outlet only in another county.

✓ current as of July 2026

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THE DRAIN CODE OF 1956

Act 40 of 1956

280.23 Drain commissioner; jurisdiction; drains in more than one county; outlet only in another county.

Sec. 23.

The commissioner shall have jurisdiction over all drains within his county, including those heretofore established and now in process of construction. Drains extending into more than 1 county, or affecting lands in more than 1 county, shall be established and constructed in accordance with the provisions of this act regulating the establishment and construction of drains traversing more than 1 county or affecting lands in more than 1 county. Nothing in this act shall be construed as depriving a drain commissioner of jurisdiction or as making any drain an intercounty drain, merely because a drain extends into another county for the purpose of securing a proper outlet and not for the purpose of draining any lands in the other county: Provided, such extension is approved by the drain commissioners and the board of supervisors of each affected county. The portion of any such drain extending into another county shall not be considered in determining the number of signers required to a petition to locate, establish and construct.

History: 1956, Act 40, Imd. Eff. Mar. 28, 1956 ;-- Am. 1958, Act 64, Imd. Eff. Apr. 11, 1958

PopularName Notes:

Act 40

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases, 1978–2018 · leading case: Carthan v. Snyder Case No. 16-CV-10444 (In re Flint Water Cases), 329 F. Supp. 3d 369 (E.D. Mich. 2018).

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Carthan v. Snyder Case No. 16-CV-10444 (In re Flint Water Cases), 329 F. Supp. 3d 369 (E.D. Mich. 2018). “§ 280.23. A "drain" includes: the main stream or trunk and all tributaries or branches of any creek or river, any watercourse or ditch, either open or closed, any covered drain, any sanitary or any combined sanitary and storm sewer or storm sewer or conduit composed of tile,…”

Jackson Cnty. Drain Comm'r v. Vill. of Stockbridge, 717 N.W.2d 391 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 2× “MCL 280.23 provides: The commissioner shall have jurisdiction over all drains within his county, including those heretofore established and now in process of construction.”

Toth v. Waterford Twp., 274 N.W.2d 7 (Mich. Ct. App. 1978). “If additional rights of way and releases of damages are necessary, the commissioner is to follow the same procedures which apply when such rights of way and releases are needed in connection with a new drain.”

Est. of James Dudley v. St Clair Co Off. of Drain Comm'r (Mich. Ct. App. 2015). “10 and MCL 280.23. Maintenance of the drain constituted the discharge of a governmental function.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.