Iowa Code Title XI. Natural Resources [Chs. 455-485] § 468.258. Procedure at hearing

1. The board of the contained district shall first hear all objections filed against the dissolution of the district and the surrender of its improvements to the overlying district. If, at the conclusion of that portion of the hearing, that board finds that the contained district is free of debt, that the economic benefits of the continued maintenance of that district would not be commensurate with its cost, and that it would be advantageous to dissolve and discontinue the contained district and surrender its improvements and rights-of-way to the overlying district, it shall enter an order dissolving the contained district and directing the surrender of its improvements and rights-of-way, conditioned on acceptance by the overlying district.

2. Immediately thereafter, the board of the overlying district shall hear all objections filed against the acceptance of the contained district's improvements and their maintenance. If it finds that the improvements are conducive to the drainage of surface waters from agricultural lands and all other lands in the overlying district or the protection of the lands from overflow, it shall enter an order accepting the improvements and rights-of-way of the contained district.

3. Orders issued pursuant to subsections 1 and 2 shall be filed with the county auditor of the county or counties in which the affected districts are situated and noted on the drainage record.

4. If at or before the time set for the hearing there have been filed with the county auditor or auditors, if either the contained or overlying district extends into more than one county, or with the board of either district, one or more remonstrances or objections to the dissolution of the contained district, or to the acceptance of that district's improvements and rights-of-way by the overlying district, signed by owners of land and land improvements in either district aggregating sixty percent of the total assessed value of the land in that district as shown by the taxing records in the county or counties in which that district is located, the board to which the remonstrances or objections have been made shall abandon its proposed action.