The board of county commissioners shall, at a minimum, consider the following criteria in awarding rural access infrastructure grants:

1. (1) Traffic use of the highway;
2. (2) Public safety;
3. (3) Residential, commercial, recreational, and other uses of the highway;
4. (4) Cost of the project;
5. (5) Length of detour if the project is not completed;
6. (6) Number of residences, farms, and ranches served by the project;
7. (7) Contribution from the township or others to the project and the ability of the township to fund the project without utilizing the rural access infrastructure fund;
8. (8) Confirmation the project is not located on a no maintenance road;
9. (9) Hydrological impact;
10. (10) If the highway does not terminate into a field entrance, driveway, single residence, farm, or ranch;
11. (11) The application, or group of applications, that best serves the citizens of this state; and
12. (12) Any other matters deemed applicable by the board of county commissioners. The decisions of the county commissioners must be final and nonappealable. However, a denied application may be submitted in a subsequent year.

Source: SL 2021, ch 129 , § 5, eff. Mar. 25, 2021; SL 2024, ch 106 , § 2.