204.604.  Petition requirements. — 1.  Any existing common sewer district organized and existing under sections 204.250 to 204.270, and any sewer district organized and existing under chapter 249, may establish itself as a reorganized common sewer district under sections 204.600 to 204.640 by first filing a petition with the county commission of the county or counties in which it was established to approve its reorganization under sections 204.600 to 204.640 if the governing body of the district has by resolution determined that it is in the best interest of the district to reorganize under sections 204.600 to 204.640.  The petition shall be ruled on by that county commission, or each county commission if the district exists in more than one county, within thirty days from the date of hearing the petition.  If the petition for the reorganized district is rejected by the county commission or any county commissions in districts existing in more than one county, no further action on the reorganized district shall take place before the county commission or commissions comprising the district or the circuit having jurisdiction over the district court.  If approved by the county commission, or each county commission if the district exists in more than one county, such petition shall specify whether the board of trustees shall be appointed by the governing body of the county or elected by the voters of the district.  Such petition shall be accompanied by a cash deposit of fifty dollars as an advancement of the costs of the proceeding, and the petition shall be signed by the trustees of the district and shall request the conversion of the district into a reorganized common sewer district.

  2.  Upon filing, the petition shall be presented to the circuit court, and such court shall fix a date for a hearing on the petition.  The clerk of the court shall give notice of the filing of the petition in some newspaper of general circulation within the existing district or closest to the existing district if there is no newspaper of general circulation within the existing district.  If the existing district extends into any other county, such notice also shall be published in some newspaper of general circulation in such other county.  The notice shall contain a description of the boundary lines of the existing district and the general purposes of the petition.  The notice shall set forth the date fixed for the hearing on the petition, which shall not be less than fifteen nor more than twenty-one days after the date of the last publication of the notice and shall be on some regular judicial day of the court where the petition is pending.  Such notice shall be signed by the clerk of the circuit court and shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation.

  3.  The court, for good cause shown, may continue the case or the hearing from time to time until final disposition.

  4.  Exceptions to the conversion of an existing district to a reorganized common sewer district may be made by any voter or property owner within the proposed district, provided that such exceptions are filed not less than five days prior to the date set for the hearing on the petition.  Such exceptions shall specify the grounds upon which the exceptions are being made.  If any such exceptions are filed, the court shall take them into consideration and shall consider the evidence in support of the petition and in support of the exceptions made.  Should the court find that it would not be in the public interest to form such a district, the petition shall be dismissed at the cost of the petitioners.  If the court finds that the conversion of the district to a reorganized common sewer district under sections 204.600 to 204.640 is in the best interests of the persons served by the existing district, then the court shall order the district's decree of incorporation amended to permit reorganization under sections 204.600 to 204.640.  The existing board of trustees for such district shall continue to serve the reorganized common sewer district until such time as new trustees shall be appointed or elected as provided for in the court's decree.  If their original terms of office are not so designated, the court shall designate such trustees to staggered terms from one to five years, so that one trustee is appointed or elected each year.  The trustees appointed by the court shall serve for the terms designated and until their successors are appointed or elected as provided in section 204.610.  The decree shall further designate the name of the district by which it officially shall be known.