§ 2-16-617 — Failure to pay assessments - Extensions - Exemption

(a) (1) A cotton grower who fails to pay when due and upon reasonable notice any assessment levied under this subchapter shall be subject to a per-acre penalty as established in the State Plant Board's rules in addition to the assessment. (2) A cotton grower who fails to pay all assessments, including penalties, within thirty (30) days' notice of penalty shall destroy any cotton plants growing on his or her acreage which is subject to the assessment. Any such cotton plants which are not destroyed shall be deemed to be a public nuisance, and the public nuisance may be abated in the same manner as any public nuisance. (b) The Department of Agriculture may petition the circuit court of the judicial circuit in which the public nuisance is located to have the nuisance condemned and destroyed, with all costs of destroying to be levied against the grower. This injunctive relief shall be available to the department notwithstanding the existence of any other legal remedy, and the department shall not be required to file a bond. (c) (1) In addition to any other remedies for the collection of assessments, including penalties, the department may secure a lien upon cotton subject to the assessments. (2) (A) If the cotton was grown on a cost-share basis, the lien may be perfected on the landowner's share and the grower's share of the cotton. (B) Any buyer of cotton shall take free of the lien if he or she has not received written notice of the lien from the department or if he or she has paid for the cotton by a check in which the department is named as joint payee. (3) The amount of the lien on the cotton shall reflect the landowner's and grower's proportionate share of the assessment. (d) (1) (A) No gins in the State of Arkansas shall gin any cotton for any cotton grower from Arkansas or from any other state unless and until that grower files with the respective gin a certificate of compliance issued by the department certifying that the grower has paid all fees, assessments, penalties, and costs imposed and required under this subchapter, unless a grower has been granted an extension by the department in compliance with subsection (e) of this section. (B) It is the responsibility of each grower to procure a certificate of compliance or proof that an exemption for compliance has been granted from the department by September 1 of each successive crop year and to file same with a gin. (2) (A) Any gin that gins cotton for any cotton grower who has not filed a current valid certificate of compliance issued by the department shall be assessed a penalty to be established by department rules. (B) Any cotton grower will be subject to having a lien placed on the following year's crop for any unpaid assessments or penalties incurred in the previous year. (e) (1) The board shall by rule establish a procedure in which a cotton grower can apply for exemption from payment of any assessment or penalty imposed in this section, on the basis that the payment of the assessment or the penalty will impose undue financial hardship on the grower, and shall prescribe the criteria to be used in determining undue financial hardship. (2) (A) Any cotton grower who wishes to request an exemption from payment of the assessment, or the penalty, or both, shall apply for the exemption on forms prescribed by the department. (B) A separate application must be filed for each calendar year for which the cotton grower seeks an exemption, and each such application shall contain information on which the grower relies to justify an exemption on the basis of undue financial hardship. (C) The application form shall include an oath or affirmation of the applicant as to the truth of all information contained in or accompanying the application. (3) (A) The department shall forward each completed exemption application form and any information accompanying the form to the cotton growers' organization certified under § 2-16-612 . (B) The certified cotton growers' organization shall determine whether each applicant qualifies for a hardship exemption based on the information contained in or accompanying the application form. (4) If the certified organization determines that the payment of the assessment or the penalty, or both, would impose undue financial hardship on a cotton grower who has applied for an exemption, the organization may: (A) Exempt the cotton grower from payment of the assessment or the penalty, or both; or (B) Permit the cotton grower to pay the assessment or penalty, or both, on an installment payment plan and prescribe the payment schedule. (5) Upon making a determination on any application for exemption, the certified organization shall notify the board of its determination, which shall be binding on the applicant. (6) Upon receipt of notice of a determination by the organization, the board shall promptly notify the affected cotton grower of the determination. (7) If an exemption is denied, the assessment and penalties for the year in which the application is made will be due at the time they would otherwise have been due if the application had not been filed or within thirty (30) days after the date the notice of the adverse determination is received by the cotton grower, whichever is later.

Legislative History

Amended by Act 2023, No. 691,§ 33, eff. 7/1/2023. Amended by Act 2023, No. 691,§ 32, eff. 7/1/2023. Amended by Act 2023, No. 691,§ 31, eff. 7/1/2023. Amended by Act 2023, No. 691,§ 30, eff. 7/1/2023. Amended by Act 2023, No. 691,§ 29, eff. 7/1/2023. Acts 1991, No. 710, § 17; 1993, No. 854, § 6; 1995, No. 529, §§ 3, 4; 2003, No. 1726, § 2.