88.17(4)(4)Ownership of or interest in lands sought to be drained does not disqualify a person from acting as a member of the drainage board, but any board member may request the court to, and the court may in its discretion, appoint a suitable person to act in a member’s place when the board is considering matters pertaining to the particular drainage district in which the member is interested.
88.17(5)(5)When all its members have been duly sworn and qualified, the drainage board is a permanent body corporate and is subject to all rules of law applicable to public corporations.
88.17(6)(6)The board shall organize by election one of its members president and another of its members secretary. A majority of the board constitutes a quorum to do business. In the absence of a quorum, any member present may adjourn any meeting and make announcement thereof.
88.17(7)(7)Each board member shall be reimbursed for actual and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of the member’s duties and, in addition, shall receive as compensation for actual and necessary services a per diem in an amount determined by the drainage board, not to exceed $40. In addition, the county board may reimburse drainage board members for actual and reasonable expenses incurred in performance of duties on behalf of the county.
88.17(8)(8)Each board member shall keep an accurate record of services rendered and expenses incurred by the member, together with the date thereof and the district for which services were rendered or in connection with which expenses were incurred. Board members shall file their bills for compensation and expenses with the county treasurer. Each bill shall indicate the district to which specific items are to be charged or the proportion of the bill to be paid by specified districts. The county treasurer, as treasurer of drainage districts, shall pay the bill if funds are available for that purpose and shall charge the accounts of the respective drainage districts liable for the bill in accordance with the order allowing the bill.
88.17(9)(9)The court may by order abolish the drainage board if there no longer are any drainage districts in the county.
88.17 HistoryHistory: 1977 c. 449; 1991 a. 316; 1993 a. 456; 1995 a. 201; 2017 a. 115.
88.17 NoteNOTE: 1993 Wis. Act 456, which substantially affected this section, contains extensive explanatory notes.
88.17288.172Limited liability of drainage board members.
88.172(1)(1)Except as provided in subs. (2) and (3), a drainage board member is not liable to any other person for damages, settlements, fees, fines, penalties or other monetary liabilities arising from a breach of, or failure to perform, any duty resulting solely from his or her status as a drainage board member, unless the person asserting liability proves that the breach or failure to perform constitutes any of the following:
88.172(1)(a)(a) A willful failure to deal fairly with any person in connection with a matter in which the drainage board member has a material conflict of interest.
88.172(1)(b)(b) A violation of criminal law, unless the drainage board member had reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was lawful or no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful.
88.172(1)(c)(c) A transaction from which the drainage board member derived an improper personal profit.
88.172(1)(d)(d) Willful misconduct.
88.172(2)(2)Except as provided in sub. (3), this section does not apply to any of the following:
88.172(2)(a)(a) A civil or criminal proceeding brought by or on behalf of any governmental unit, authority or agency.
88.172(2)(b)(b) A proceeding brought by any person for a violation of state or federal law if the proceeding is brought under an express private right of action created by state or federal statute.
88.172(3)(3)Subsection (2) does not apply to a proceeding brought by a governmental unit, authority or agency in its capacity as a private party or contractor.
88.172 HistoryHistory: 1993 a. 456.
88.172 NoteNOTE: 1993 Wis. Act 456, which created this section, contains extensive explanatory notes.
88.1888.18County treasurer to serve as treasurer of drainage districts.
88.18(1)(1)The county treasurer shall serve as treasurer of all drainage districts under the jurisdiction of the drainage board. All moneys collected for or payable to any such drainage district shall be turned over to or paid to the county treasurer and shall be paid out by the treasurer only upon proper warrants of the drainage board. The county treasurer may retain for the benefit of the county a portion of the interest received on drainage district funds held by the county treasurer, not to exceed the cost to the county treasurer of providing services to the drainage board under this chapter, the cost to the zoning administrator of maintaining drainage board records under s. 88.19 and the cost to the zoning administrator of providing copies of drainage board records to the drainage board.
88.18(2)(2)The county treasurer shall keep a separate account for each drainage district in which the treasurer shall charge such district with all amounts paid out on its behalf pursuant to sub. (1) and shall credit the district with:
88.18(2)(a)(a) All sums received in payment of drainage assessments of that district, including penalties and interest on the sums.
88.18(2)(e)(e) All other sums received on account of the drainage district other than interest received on drainage district funds held by the county treasurer.
88.18(3)(3)The drainage board may appoint a treasurer who shall act as the deputy of the county treasurer. The drainage board may assign any part or all of the county treasurer’s duties under this chapter to the drainage board treasurer. The drainage board treasurer shall be reimbursed for actual and reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of the treasurer’s duties in the same manner as provided for drainage board member expenses under s. 88.17 (8). The drainage board shall require a bond from the drainage board treasurer in an amount, set by the board, that is sufficient to exceed the greatest amount of funds expected to be held in his or her custody, and with the sureties that the drainage board requires. The bond shall be conditioned in substantially the same form as the ordinary bond required from the county treasurer, with the necessary changes.
88.18 HistoryHistory: 1987 a. 378; 1991 a. 316; 1993 a. 456.
88.1988.19Board to keep records.
88.19(1)(1)It is the duty of the secretary of the board to keep records of all drainage proceedings. The secretary shall also maintain a minute book in which the secretary shall enter the minutes of the board meetings. The secretary shall be compensated for such services under s. 88.17 (7) and (8).