Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 280.463 (2026)

Petition to locate, establish, and construct county drain; determination; filing and contents of petition; notice; certified copy of resolution; authorizing execution; order of determination.

✓ current as of July 2026

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THE DRAIN CODE OF 1956

Act 40 of 1956

280.463 Petition to locate, establish, and construct county drain; determination; filing and contents of petition; notice; certified copy of resolution; authorizing execution; order of determination.

Sec. 463.

(1) Before filing a petition under this section, the legislative body of a public corporation shall first determine whether the drain project contemplated may necessitate the levy of a special assessment, fee, or charge under section 490. If the legislative body determines that a special assessment, fee, or charge may be made under section 490, before filing a petition under this section, the legislative body shall proceed as provided in section 489a.

(2) If it is necessary for the public health to locate, establish, and construct a county drain, a petition for that purpose may be filed with the county drain commissioner signed by 2 or more public corporations which will be subject to assessments to pay the cost of the drain. The petition shall state that it is filed pursuant to this chapter and shall describe the location and route of the proposed drain sufficiently to determine with reasonable certainty the areas to be serviced by the drain.

(3) Not more than 20 days after the petition is filed, the county drain commissioner shall notify each public corporation which may be subject to an assessment or in which is located any of the areas to be drained, as described in the petition, that a petition was filed.

(4) A certified copy of the resolution of the governing body of each signer authorizing the affixing of the signature of the governing body to the petition shall be attached to the petition. The petition may be filed in more than 1 counterpart. For a petition filed by a county, the county board of commissioners shall authorize the execution of the petition, and for a petition filed by the state, the state transportation commission shall authorize the execution of the petition. As provided in section 423, an order of determination of the water resources commission shall also serve as a petition made pursuant to this chapter.

History: 1956, Act 40, Imd. Eff. Mar. 28, 1956 ;-- Am. 1968, Act 333, Imd. Eff. July 14, 1968 ;-- Am. 1973, Act 208, Imd. Eff. Jan. 11, 1974 ;-- Am. 1979, Act 135, Eff. Mar. 27, 1980

PopularName Notes:

Act 40

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases, 1959–2019 · leading case: Downriver Plaza Grp. v. Southgate, 513 N.W.2d 807 (Mich. 1994).

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Downriver Plaza Grp. v. Southgate, 513 N.W.2d 807 (Mich. 1994). · cites it 2× “[6] MCL 280.463; MSA 11.1463. [7] MCL 280.473 et seq.”

Ashley Ann Arbor, LLC v. Pittsfield Charter Twp., 829 N.W.2d 299 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012). “In the instant action the township filed such a petition with the Washtenaw County drain commissioner. The commissioner then designated a three-member drainage board pursuant to MCL 280.”

Barak v. Oakland Cnty. Drain Comm'r, 633 N.W.2d 489 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001). “Clearly, it is within the township’s ability to designate whether it seeks to locate, establish, and construct a drain pursuant to § 462 and § 463, MCL 280.463, or to assume jurisdiction “over all or a specified part of the bed, tributaries, banks and flood plains of a river,…”

Butcher v. Twp. of Grosse Ile, 180 N.W.2d 367 (Mich. Ct. App. 1970). · cites it 4× “On September 21, 1964, in compliance with the health commissioner’s order and after noting that *394 on September 25,1963, a petition pursuant to MCLA § 280.463 (Stat Ann 1968 Rev § 11.1463) had been filed to establish a drain district and that the drainage board had assessed…”

Twp. of Southfield v. Drainage Bd. for Twelve Towns Relief Dr., 97 N.W.2d 821 (Mich. 1959). “Said section, without change in wording, was incorporated in the drain code of 1956 as section 463 of chapter 20 (CLS 1956, § 280.463 [Stat Ann 1957 Cum Supp § 11.1463]).”

City of Sterling Heights v. MacOmb Interceptor Drain Drainage Dist (Mich. Ct. App. 2019). “” MCL 280.463. However, where only one public corporation (city, village or township) is subject to assessment, that single body may consent to have Chapter 20 apply to it, and, in that case, any petition required to be filed under Chapter 20 “shall be sufficient if signed by…”

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.