State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Illinois > Chapter225 > 1386 (225 ILCS 660/1) (from Ch. 5, par. 2751‑1) Sec. 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Specialty Farm Product Buyers Act. (Source: P.A. 87‑171.) |
(225 ILCS 660/5) (from Ch. 5, par. 2751‑5) Sec. 5. Enforcing official. This Act shall be administered by the Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, who is referred to in this Act as the "Director". (Source: P.A. 87‑171.) |
(225 ILCS 660/10) (from Ch. 5, par. 2751‑10) Sec. 10. Definitions. When used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires: "Specialty farm product" includes all unprocessed agricultural, horticultural, and viticultural products of the soil and other agricultural products prescribed by Department in rules, but shall not include fruits, grains, dairy products, livestock and meats, poultry, and timber products. "Person" means any individual, partnership, cooperative, association, firm, or corporation. "Buyer" means a person who is engaged in the business of buying specialty farm products from a producer by contract, who solicits or receives shipments of specialty farm products under a consignment agreement or promise to pay for them on the basis of current market prices upon receipt or at a price bearing some specified premium above or below established market quotations, who accepts any specialty farm products in trust from their owner for the purpose of resale or processing, or who sells or offers for sale, on commission, any specialty farm product. "Buyer" does not include bona fide retail grocery merchants having a fixed or established place of business in Illinois. "Producer" means any person, firm, individual, partnership, cooperative, association, or corporation that grows specialty farm products within Illinois. "Agent" means any person who, on behalf of any buyer, buys, receives, contracts for, or solicits any specialty farm products from or sells specialty farm products for their owner or who negotiates the consignment of any specialty farm product on behalf of any buyer. "Broker" means any person engaged in the business of negotiating sales and purchases of farm products for, or on behalf of, the vendor or the purchaser, respectively. "Department" means the Illinois Department of Agriculture. "Registrant" means the person who has applied and is registered under this Act. (Source: P.A. 87‑171.) |
(225 ILCS 660/15) (from Ch. 5, par. 2751‑15) Sec. 15. Application for registration. No person shall engage in business as a specialty farm product buyer in the State of Illinois without being registered with the Department. Application for a registrant to engage in business as a specialty farm product buyer or the renewal of the registration shall be filed with the Department along with a current financial statement and shall be in a form prescribed by the Department. The application shall set forth the name of the applicant, the principal officers if the applicant is a corporation or the active members of a partnership if the applicant is a partnership, the location of the principal office or place of business of the applicant and the locations in this State at which the applicant proposes to engage in business as a specialty farm product buyer, the kind of specialty farm product the applicant proposes to buy and handle; the names and addresses of any agents of the applicant, and any additional information as the Department, by regulation, may require. Registration shall be for a period of one year. (Source: P.A. 87‑171.) |
(225 ILCS 660/20) (from Ch. 5, par. 2751‑20) Sec. 20. Registration fee requirement. The application for registration to operate as a specialty farm product buyer and each annual renewal shall be accompanied by a fee of $100. (Source: P.A. 87‑171.) |
(225 ILCS 660/25) (from Ch. 5, par. 2751‑25) Sec. 25. Prompt payment. The registrant shall pay producers for specialty farm products purchased within 30 days of the date the specialty farm products are sold to a buyer or his or her designated agent, or other period of time as agreed upon, in writing, and signed by the purchaser and the specialty farm product producer. If payment is made under a written contract on or after the occurrence of an event at an unspecified time in the future, prompt payment shall mean 30 days from the date on which the producer knew or reasonably should have known of the occurrence of the event. Failure of a specialty farm product buyer to comply with this Section constitutes grounds for registration suspension or revocation or subjects the violator to the penalties of Section 40. (Source: P.A. 87‑171.) |
(225 ILCS 660/30) (from Ch. 5, par. 2751‑30) Sec. 30. Failure to register; invalid registration, violations; injunctive relief. Any person who engages in business as a specialty farm product buyer without registering or who does not have a valid registration or is in violation of this Act or the rules and regulations or who shall impede, obstruct, hinder, or otherwise prevent or attempt to prevent the Director or his or her duly authorized agent in performance of his or her duty in connection with this Act or its rules and regulations or any specialty farm product buyer or any officer, agent, or employee of a specialty farm product buyer who refuses to permit inspection of his or her premises, books, accounts, records, or contracts as provided in this Act shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor for the first violation and a Class A misdemeanor for each subsequent violation. In case of a continuing violation or violations, each day that each violation occurs constitutes a separate and distinct offense. Any specialty farm product buyer or any officer, agent, or employee of a specialty farm product buyer who withholds records, keeps or files false records, inaccurately alters his or her records, or presents to the Department any materially false records is guilty of a Class 4 felony. It shall be the duty of each State's Attorney to whom any violation is reported to cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted and prosecuted in the circuit court without delay. Before the Director reports a violation for prosecution, he or she may give the specialty farm product buyer or the officer, agent, or employee of the specialty farm product buyer an opportunity to present his or her views at an administrative hearing. The Director may file a complaint and apply for, and the circuit court may grant, a temporary restraining order or preliminary or permanent injunction restraining any person from violating or continuing to violate any of the provisions of this Act or any rules and regulations promulgated under the Act, notwithstanding the existence of other judicial remedies. An injunction may be entered without notice and without bond. When a court of competent jurisdiction issues an order under the Administrative Review Law staying an order of the Department that suspends or revokes a specialty farm product buyer's registration or that denies the application for specialty farm product buyer registration, the court shall require the person requesting the order to provide a bond as provided for in Section 3‑111 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The bond shall be in an amount adequate to assure that producers will be paid for specialty farm products sold to the specialty farm products buyer while operating under the administrative stay. (Source: P.A. 87‑171.) |
(225 ILCS 660/35) (from Ch. 5, par. 2751‑35) Sec. 35. Rules; regulations. The Department may make rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. (Source: P.A. 87‑171.) |
(225 ILCS 660/40) (from Ch. 5, par. 2751‑40) Sec. 40. Administrative hearings; penalties. When an administrative hearing is held, the hearing officer, upon determination of a violation of this Act or rules promulgated under this Act, shall levy the following administrative monetary penalties in addition to or instead of a suspension of the registrant as provided in Section 25 of this Act; (1) $100 for allowing an unauthorized person to act | ||
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(2) $200 for not being registered with the | ||
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In the case of a second or subsequent violation within 3 years of the first offense, the penalty shall be doubled. Monetary penalties not paid within 60 days of notice from the Department shall be submitted to the Attorney General for collection or referred to the State's Attorney of the county where the violations occurred for prosecution. (Source: P.A. 87‑171.) |
(225 ILCS 660/45) (from Ch. 5, par. 2751‑45) Sec. 45. Investigations of applicants; registrants; notifications of hearing; service of notice; hearing; subpoenas; oaths. The Department may, upon its own motion, and shall, upon the verified complaint in writing of any person setting forth facts which if proved would constitute grounds for refusal, suspension, or revocation of a registration under this Act, investigate the actions of any applicant, registrant, or any person claiming to be registered under this Act. At least 10 days before the date set for hearing the Department shall, before refusing to issue or renew and before suspension or revocation of a registration, notify in writing the applicant for or holder of a registration, referred as the "respondent", that on the date designated a hearing will be held to determine whether the respondent is entitled to be registered, and shall afford the respondent an opportunity to be heard in person or by counsel. The written notice shall be served personally on the respondent or by registered or certified mail sent to the respondent's business address as shown in his latest notification to the Department. At the hearing, both the respondent and complainant shall be afforded ample opportunity to present in person or by counsel the statements, testimony, evidence and argument as may be pertinent to the charges or to any defense. The Department may continue the hearing from time to time as it deems necessary. The Department, over the signature of the Director, may subpoena any persons in this State and take testimony orally, by deposition, or by exhibit, in the same manner and with the same fees and mileage as prescribed in judicial proceedings in civil cases. Any authorized agent of the Department may administer oaths to witnesses at any hearing that the Department is authorized to conduct. (Source: P.A. 87‑171.) |
