Missouri Revised Statutes













Chapter 275

Commodity Associations

←275.320

Section 275.330.1

275.340→

August 28, 2015

Procedure after petition received.

275.330. 1. When the director receives a petition for permission to

establish a commodity merchandising council he shall:



(1) Determine the legal sufficiency of the petition;



(2) Establish a list of producers of such agricultural commodity or make

any such existing list current;



(3) Hold a public hearing or hearings on the proposed program;



(4) Publish a notice to producers of the commodity to be affected

advising them:



(a) That a petition has been filed with the director;



(b) The time and place or places of the public hearing or hearings;



(c) That a referendum may be held to establish a commodity merchandising

council; and



(d) That to be eligible to vote in the referendum the producer must

register. The director shall give notice in not less than three publications

devoted to agriculture and each of which has a statewide circulation of not

less than seventy-five thousand, at least one month prior to the hearing.

The fees for the publication of notice shall be advanced in cash to the

director by the representative group and no publication of notice shall be

paid for by state funds;



(5) Provide forms to enable producers to register, which forms shall

include the producer's name, mailing address, and the yearly average quantity

of such commodity produced or handled by him in the three years preceding the

date of the notice, or in such lesser period as a producer has produced or

handled the commodity in question;



(6) Approve the petition, in whole or as revised, or disapprove the

petition depending upon the determinations made after public hearing;



(7) After approval of a petition, hold a referendum among the producers

of the commodity to determine whether or not the merchandising council is to

be established.



2. The director shall determine the sufficiency of the petition within

twenty-one days after it is submitted to him and shall publish notice of the

public hearing and registration requirements giving at least ten days' notice

prior to public hearing and thirty days' notice to register prior to the

referendum.



3. If a majority of the votes cast are in favor of adoption, and if

those producers voting in favor of adoption represent a majority of the

production of all registered producers casting votes, the petition is adopted.



4. If the required percentage by number and by production of those

voting is in favor of the adoption of the proposal in the petition, the

director shall declare the proposal to be adopted.



5. A proposal to change the amount of the fee to be collected or to

make other major changes may be made by a two-thirds vote of the council or

by petition of twenty-five percent of the commodity producers. The proposal

shall then be submitted to referendum under which the same percentages by

number and production shall be required for approval as were required for

establishment of the original merchandising program. However, the council,

by two-thirds vote, may lower the amount of the fee to be collected, or may

thereafter increase the amount of the fee to not more than the rate originally

approved without a referendum vote. Such increase or decrease of fees shall

not become effective except at the beginning of the next state fiscal year.



6. A proposal to terminate the commodity merchandising program may be

made by a majority of the council or by petition of ten percent of the

registered commodity producers. The proposed termination shall be submitted

to referendum under which a simple majority of those voting shall be required

for termination.



7. No referendum to set up a merchandising council in a particular

commodity, or to change the amount of fee, or to make other major changes, or

to terminate a commodity merchandising council may be held within twelve

months of a referendum conducted for a similar purpose for the same commodity.



(L. 1969 S.B. 65 § 5, A.L. 1973 S.B. 92, A.L. 1977 S.B. 330,

A.L. 1979 S.B. 43)







Top



Missouri General Assembly



Copyright © Missouri Legislature, all rights reserved.