(a)The Department of Agriculture shall be responsible for investigating and determining the eligibility of mares and Illinois conceived and foaled horses and Illinois foaled horses to participate in Illinois conceived and foaled and Illinois foaled races. The Department of Agriculture shall also qualify stallions to participate in the Illinois Standardbred and Thoroughbred programs.
(b)The Director of the Department of Agriculture or his authorized agent is authorized to conduct hearings, administer oaths, and issue subpoenas to carry out his responsibilities concerning the Illinois Standardbred and Thoroughbred programs as set forth in Sections 30 and 31.
(c)The Director of the Department of Agriculture or his authorized agent shall, after a hearing, affirm or deny the qualification of
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(a) The Department of Agriculture shall be responsible for investigating and determining the eligibility of mares and Illinois conceived and foaled horses and Illinois foaled horses to participate in Illinois conceived and foaled and Illinois foaled races. The Department of Agriculture shall also qualify stallions to participate in the Illinois Standardbred and Thoroughbred programs. (b) The Director of the Department of Agriculture or his authorized agent is authorized to conduct hearings, administer oaths, and issue subpoenas to carry out his responsibilities concerning the Illinois Standardbred and Thoroughbred programs as set forth in Sections 30 and 31. (c) The Director of the Department of Agriculture or his authorized agent shall, after a hearing, affirm or deny the qualification of a stallion for the Illinois Standardbred or Thoroughbred program. The decision of the Director of the Department of Agriculture or his authorized agent shall be subject to judicial review under the Administrative Review Law. The term "administrative decision" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in Section 3-101 of the Administrative Review Law. (d) If the determination is made that a standardbred stallion is not owned by a resident of the State of Illinois or that a transfer of ownership is a subterfuge to qualify a standardbred stallion under the Act, or that a standardbred stallion owner, manager, or person associated with him or her has knowingly participated in the arrangements for transporting semen from a standardbred stallion registered under this Act out-of-state, the Director of the Department of Agriculture or his authorized agent shall immediately publish notice of such fact in publications devoted to news concerning standardbred horses, announcing the disqualification of such stallion or his foals. From January 1, 2018 until January 1, 2022, the Director of Agriculture or his or her authorized agent shall not publish notice announcing the disqualification of such stallion or his foals on the basis that a stallion owner, manager, or person associated with him or her has knowingly participated in the arrangements for transporting semen from a standardbred stallion registered under this Act out of State. If any person owning any stallion, mare or foal is found by the Director of the Department of Agriculture or his authorized agent to have willfully violated any provision of this Act or to have made any false statements concerning such person's stallion, mare or foal, then no animal owned by such person is eligible to participate in any events conducted pursuant to Sections 30 and 31. (e) Any person who is served with a subpoena, issued by the Director of the Department of Agriculture or his authorized agent, to appear and testify or to produce documents and who refuses or neglects to testify or produce documents relevant to the investigation, as directed in the subpoenas, may be punished as provided in this Section. (f) Any circuit court of this State, upon petition by the Director of the Department of Agriculture or his authorized agent, may compel the attendance of witnesses, the production of documents and giving the testimony required by this Section in the same manner as the production of evidence may be compelled in any other judicial proceeding before such court. Any person who willfully swears or affirms falsely in any proceeding conducted pursuant to this Section is guilty of perjury. (g) The fees of witnesses for attendance and travel in the course of any investigation shall be the same as the fees of witnesses before the circuit courts of this State. (h) The Department shall have authority to promulgate rules and regulations for the enforcement of Sections 30, 31 and 33.1 of this Act. Conditions and purses shall not be subject to Section 5-40 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act but shall be set and published from time to time.