N.D. Cent. Code § 61-05-10
The department of water resources shall examine the petition, maps, papers, and data pertaining to the proposed irrigation district and shall fix a time and place for hearing the petition. A notice stating the petition will be heard, and stating the time and place of hearing, must be filed with the county auditor of each county in which the proposed district is located. The notice must be published once each week for two consecutive weeks in the newspapers of general circulation where the district is located and in the official newspaper of each county in which the district is located. The date set for the hearing on the petition may not be less than twenty days after the first publication of the notice. Before the hearing the department shall review the maps, preliminary designs, and feasibility study and shall prepare, or shall cause to be prepared a summary report showing the probable cost of the proposed irrigation works and the practicability and feasibility of the plan of irrigation suggested or proposed by petitioners for the irrigation of the lands within the district. A copy of the report must be filed with the county auditor of each county in which the proposed irrigation district is situated, and the report must be open to public inspection. The department of water resources also shall submit the report to the electors of the proposed district at the meeting set for hearing the petition for the organization of the proposed district.
N.D.C.C. § 61-05-10