CHAPTER 4-16
ERADICATION OF GOPHERS, RABBITS, AND CROWS
4-16-01. Gophers defined. The word "gopher" as used in this chapter means striped
gopher, flickertail gopher, pocket gopher, and prairie dog.
4-16-02. Gopher, rabbit, and crow destruction fund - Levy - Expending. The board
of county commissioners of any county in this state, at any time fixed by law for the levy and<br>assessment of taxes, may levy a tax not exceeding the limitation in subsection 6 of section<br>57-15-06.7. The fund raised in accordance with this section must be denominated the gopher,<br>rabbit, and crow destruction fund, and shall be kept separate and distinct from other funds by the<br>county treasurer. The fund must be expended by the board as it deems best to secure the<br>abatement and extermination of gophers, rabbits, and crows.
4-16-03. Bounty offered upon petition. If a petition signed by not less than twenty
percent of the qualified electors of a county determined by the votes cast for governor at the last<br>general election is filed with the board of county commissioners asking that a bounty be offered<br>for the destruction of gophers, rabbits, or crows, the board shall offer such bounty upon the pest<br>or pests mentioned in said petition. Thereupon, the board shall publish, during the month of<br>March of each year, in the local papers of the county, the amount of bounty or reward to be paid<br>for the destruction of the pest or pests described in the petition, the manner of ascertaining the<br>number destroyed, and the procedure necessary to obtain such reward.
4-16-04.
Township may appoint person to exterminate gophers. If the board of
county commissioners of any county in this state does not offer a bounty for the destruction of<br>gophers, the township supervisors of any township within such county, upon a petition of ten<br>resident landowners therein, may appoint some suitable person or persons to poison, kill, and<br>exterminate the gophers within the township. Any person so appointed may enter, between April<br>first and July first, upon any farm, railroad right of way, grounds, or premises where there are<br>gophers, and may poison, kill, and exterminate the gophers thereon when the owner or occupant<br>thereof neglects or refuses to do so.
4-16-05. Notice to exterminate gophers - How given - Failure to exterminate. The
person appointed in a township to exterminate gophers shall give to any person on whose<br>premises gophers are found, ten days' written notice ordering the property owner to poison, kill,<br>or exterminate such gophers. If gophers are found upon the land or right of way of any railroad<br>company, such notice may be served upon its agent at the station nearest to such land or right of<br>way. If gophers are found upon land which is unoccupied and owned by a nonresident, such<br>notice must be mailed to the owner's address, or if the address is unknown, it must be posted<br>upon the land or premises where such gophers are to be exterminated.
If the work of
exterminating gophers is not done within the ten-day period, the person appointed by the<br>township supervisors shall poison, kill, and exterminate the gophers on such land or premises.
4-16-06. Person exterminating gophers - Precautions required in laying poison.
Any person exterminating gophers according to the provisions of this chapter, when poison is laid<br>out, shall use every precaution to prevent the destruction of domestic fowls or animals, or of<br>game birds, by such poison. No person may lay out poison in any pasture where there is stock,<br>nor within forty rods [201.17 meters] of any occupied dwelling or farmhouse, without the<br>knowledge and consent of the owner or occupant thereof.
4-16-07.
Compensation for exterminating gophers - Sworn statement required.
Any person appointed to exterminate gophers under the provisions of this chapter shall receive<br>as compensation the sum of two dollars and fifty cents for each ten-hour day for labor performed<br>in poisoning and exterminating gophers.
Such person shall make a sworn statement to the
township supervisors of the hours worked and the amount of poison and grain used on each tract<br>of land, and must be reimbursed for all poison and grain used in the performance of such work.
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4-16-08. Charges for gopher extermination. The maximum charge against any parcel
of land must not exceed in any one year the sum of six and one-fourth cents per acre [.40<br>hectare]. The minimum charge must not be less than one dollar against any parcel of land. The<br>amount of such charges must be paid by the township out of its general fund and charged as<br>taxes against each parcel of land on which the expense was incurred.
The expense of
exterminating gophers on state lands must be paid by the township.
4-16-09.
Charges entered as taxes - Notice required - Appearance - Appeal to
district court - Collection. Before the board of township supervisors charges the amounts<br>spent for gopher extermination as taxes against a parcel of land as provided in section 4-16-08,<br>the board shall give the owner thereof at least twenty days' notice by mail of the time when and<br>the place at which such amount will be so charged. The landowner has the right to appear and<br>show cause why such amount must not be charged as taxes. If the landowner feels aggrieved<br>by the decision of the board of township supervisors, the landowner may appeal to the district<br>court, and the appeal must be perfected and prosecuted in the manner provided in section<br>28-34-01. The county auditor shall enter the amounts upon the tax roll of the county against the<br>land on which the work has been done, and the county treasurer shall collect such amounts in<br>the same manner as taxes are collected, and shall place the same to the credit of the respective<br>townships.
4-16-10.
Extermination of gophers in unorganized townships.
In unorganized
townships, upon the petition of ten resident landowners, the board of county commissioners shall<br>appoint a person or persons to destroy and exterminate gophers. The rules and regulations<br>governing organized townships in the foregoing sections are applicable to unorganized<br>townships, except that the powers conferred upon the board of township supervisors must be<br>exercised by the board of county commissioners.
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Document Outline
chapter 4-16 eradication of gophers, rabbits, and crows
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