(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
as an agent, or similar offense.
(2) $200 for not being registered with the
Department or any other violation of this Act or rules.
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.)
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