1997 Florida Code
TITLE XXXV AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND ANIMAL INDUSTRY
Chapter 602 Citrus Canker Disease  
602.055   Office of Citrus Canker Claims established; duties.

602.055  Office of Citrus Canker Claims established; duties.--

(1)  There is hereby created the Office of Citrus Canker Claims within the Department of Banking and Finance. It shall be the duty of the Office of Citrus Canker Claims to notify claimants pursuant to s. 602.065 and to accept applications for claims for awards pursuant to this act.

(2)  No money shall be paid to a claimant by the Office of Citrus Canker Claims unless and until:

(a)  The claimant has signed an unqualified release of all claims for compensation and reimbursement of costs and expenses, including attorney's fees, of any type, including any and all constitutional claims, or relief of any other kind, resulting from the Citrus Canker Eradication Program;

(b)  The claimant has signed an unqualified release of all claims for compensation and reimbursement for all citrus plants destroyed, including any and all constitutional claims, or relief of any other kind, resulting from the Citrus Canker Eradication Program, except the claimant's attorney's fees and costs which shall require a separate unconditional release by the claimant. This paragraph shall be applicable only upon a determination by the Office of Citrus Canker Claims and the Department of Legal Affairs that it is in the best interest of the state to settle the claimant's attorney's fees and costs independently of the claim for compensation for citrus plants destroyed; or

(c)  A final order has been entered by the administrative law judge in an administrative hearing as described in s. 602.065 and/or s. 602.075 and the time for appeal has expired or all appellate proceedings have been concluded.

(3)  Each release required under this section shall be returned to the Office of Citrus Canker Claims by registered mail within 10 days of receipt of the release form by the claimant. Failure to return the release to the Office of Citrus Canker Claims within 10 days shall result in the suspension of the amount of interest due on the claim from the day on which the release was received by the claimant until such time as the unqualified release is properly executed and received by the Office of Citrus Canker Claims. The Office of Citrus Canker Claims, in consultation with the Department of Legal Affairs, may waive this subsection upon good cause shown by the claimant in writing as to why the release was not timely filed.

(4)  The Office of Citrus Canker Claims in consultation with the Department of Legal Affairs may, at any point in the claims process, compromise or settle any claim when such compromise or settlement is deemed to be in the best interest of the state.

(5)  The Office of Citrus Canker Claims shall design an application and other forms to administer this act, which application and forms shall not be subject to chapter 120. The application and other forms shall be designed to:

(a)  Provide information on the number and category of citrus nursery plants for which a claimant is making a claim.

(b)  Provide a place where the claimant may indicate that he or she disputes values established by s. 602.035 or the number and category of citrus nursery plants in the records of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and requests a hearing before an administrative law judge from the Division of Administrative Hearings. The form shall clearly indicate that where a claimant proceeds before an administrative law judge the state is entitled to present evidence that in the claimant's particular case the values established in s. 602.035 exceed the fair market value of the claimant's losses.

(c)  Provide a place for the claimant's explanation of why he or she disagrees with the information provided by the records of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

(d)  Notify the claimant that payment of the claim as set forth above will be conditioned upon the execution of the release required in subsection (2).

(e)  Provide a space for the claimant to indicate the amount of money already paid to the claimant by the state or Federal Government for destroyed citrus nursery plants and the date each such payment was received.

(6)  All claimants shall have until midnight of June 30, 1993, to file the release required by this section. Any release postmarked after that time shall be void, and no claim shall be paid. All payments on the claims shall be completed by August 2, 1993. Such payments may be made in accordance with s. 602.025(2)(e), to the extent that funds are appropriated for that purpose.

History.--s. 5, ch. 89-91; s. 1, ch. 90-326; s. 1, ch. 91-4; s. 4, ch. 91-75; s. 2, ch. 93-52; s. 259, ch. 96-410; s. 1195, ch. 97-103.