§ 38-20-206 — Sale of livestock - procedure

(1) A lienor who receives a
judgment on an agistor's lien may proceed to sell such livestock necessary to
satisfy the lien. The sale shall take place not more than forty-five days after entry
of judgment at the nearest public livestock market in this state. In addition:

(a) The lienor shall provide notice to the owner at least fifteen days before
any sale. The notice shall include the time and place of the sale and a description of
the livestock to be sold. Such notice shall be served by:

(I) Publication in one newspaper published in the county of the lienor's
residence; or

(II) Posting in three public places within the county of the lienor's residence
and delivering a copy to the owner or the owner's agent. If a copy is to be delivered
to the owner's agent and such agent does not reside in the county of the lienor's
residence, a copy of the notice shall be published in a newspaper published in the
county of the agent's residence, or, if no newspaper is published in such county, a
copy shall be mailed to such agent's place of residence.

(b) The purchaser shall receive a transfer of the registration papers for the
purchased livestock by the public livestock market and the pertinent organization
or registry.

(c) The public livestock market shall:

(I) Pay to the agistor from the sale proceeds the reasonable cost of the
foreclosure, notice, sale, and the reasonable and necessary charges incurred by the
agistor for preserving, maintaining, feeding, boarding, pasturing, caring, and
keeping the livestock up to the date of the sale. The reasonable cost of keeping the
livestock up to the date of the sale shall not exceed five dollars per head per day.

(II) Forward the remainder of the sale proceeds and render any unsold
livestock to the court for distribution to the owner or the owner's agent. If the owner
and the owner's agent are not known and there are sale proceeds to be forwarded,
such proceeds shall be returned to the board. The board shall deposit such
proceeds in its estray fund and make a record of such deposit, identifying the
livestock and stating the amount realized from the sale. The board shall pay
proceeds from the estray fund to any secured party that has filed a lien against the
livestock sold and has submitted a claim for payment to the board. Such payments
shall be made only to the extent of the amount owed to the secured party. Such
record shall be open to public inspection.

(2) (a) When livestock are in danger of serious and immediate decay or
waste, or are likely to rapidly depreciate in value pending foreclosure proceedings,
or where the keeping of such livestock will be attended with great expense, the
lienor may, upon providing such notice as the court may require, apply to the court
for an immediate sale. The court, in its discretion, may order that the livestock be
sold and that the sale proceeds be deposited with the clerk of the court pending
further order of such court.

(b) Upon receiving an application pursuant to paragraph (a) of this
subsection (2), a court may, upon good cause shown, require the lienor to post bond
for such amount as the defendant may be entitled for damages sustained in the
event of wrongful foreclosure. Such bond shall be secured by two or more sureties,
one corporate surety authorized to do business in this state, or a cash bond,
whichever is approved by the court.

(3) The lienor may purchase the livestock and may bid all or any portion of
the fair market value of the lien.

(4) When the livestock cannot be sold in one day, the sale may be continued
on a day-to-day basis. Upon completion of the sale, the public livestock market
shall file a bill of sale with the court that entered judgment of foreclosure. Such bill
of sale shall include the amount for which each animal was sold and the name of
each purchaser. The court shall record such bill of sale in its docket and shall
preserve the original.

Legislative History

Source: L. 96: Entire part added, p. 1390, � 11, effective July 1.