SECTIONS 55431-55439 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 55431-55439

55431. The marketing of agricultural commodities within this state
is hereby declared to be affected with the public interest. The
provisions of this chapter are enacted in the exercise of the police
powers of this state for the purpose of protecting the health, peace,
safety, and general welfare of the people of this state.

55432. The director may publish in pamphlet form as often as he
thinks necessary a list of processors that are licensed pursuant to
this chapter, together with all necessary regulations which concern
the enforcement of this chapter.

55433. Any money in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund
which was derived pursuant to this chapter, or Chapter 7 (commencing
with Section 56101), may be expended for the administration and
enforcement of these chapters and Chapter 7.5 (commencing with
Section 56701), notwithstanding any other provision of law which
limits the expenditure of any such money to the specific purposes or
to the administration or enforcement of each of the chapters
separately.

55435. No provisions in any bond which is given pursuant to any
provision of this chapter which attempts by contract to shorten the
period which is prescribed for the commencement of an action on the
bond by Section 337 of the Code of Civil Procedure, is valid if such
provision attempts to limit the time for commencement of action on
the bond to a shorter period than six months from the termination of
the 35-day period which is covered by such bond.

55435.5. (a) Except pursuant to an exemption granted by the
department, no person licensed under this chapter shall employ as an
agent any person who meets any of the following criteria:
(1) Whose license has been revoked, or is currently suspended.
(2) Who has committed any one flagrant or repeated violations of
this chapter or Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 56101).
(3) Who failed to pay a producer's claims for which the person,
or, where the person controlled the decision to pay, the person's
employer, was liable, and which arose out of the conduct of a
business licensed, or required to be licensed, under this chapter or
Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 56101).
(4) Who has been convicted of a crime that includes as one of its
elements the financial victimization of another person.
(b) The department may approve the employment of any person
covered under subdivision (a), if the licensee furnishes and
maintains a surety bond in the form and amount satisfactory to the
department, but which shall not be less than ten thousand dollars
($10,000), as assurance that the licensee's business will be
conducted in accordance with this chapter and that the licensee will
pay all amounts due California producers. The department may approve
employment without a surety bond after the expiration of four years
from the effective date of the applicable disciplinary order. The
department, based on changes in the nature and volume of business
conducted by the licensee, may require an increase or authorize a
reduction in the amount of the bond, but in no case shall the bond be
reduced below ten thousand dollars ($10,000). A licensee who is
notified by the department to provide a bond in an increased amount
shall do so within a reasonable time to be specified by the
department, and if the licensee fails to do so, the approval of
employment shall automatically terminate. The department may suspend
or revoke the license of any licensee who, after the date given in
the notice, continues to employ any person in violation of this
section.
(c) The department may obtain access to a licensee's or agent's
criminal record during the course of a licensing investigation opened
for other reasons or if the department is presented with a
reasonable basis to believe an agent or licensee satisfies any of the
criteria set forth in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of
subdivision (a). The Department of Justice shall furnish criminal
record information to the department at the department's request. If
the information thereby obtained reveals a conviction for a crime
that includes as one of its elements the financial victimization of
another person, the department shall bring this to the attention of
the licensee and the agent by a written notice. This written notice
shall set out the charges against the licensee or agent, prohibit
employment or revoke or deny the license effective if and when any
rights to an administrative hearing have been exhausted, and set out
the licensee's or agent's rights under this section.
(d) The department may grant an exemption on presentation of
substantial, clear, and convincing evidence to support a reasonable
belief as to any of the following:
(1) There has been a mistake of fact or identity.
(2) The present role as an agent provides no opportunity for a
repeat of the prior behavior.
(3) The person has been rehabilitated.
All submissions shall be authenticated and verified under penalty
of perjury. Unless the licensee or agent can prove one of these three
elements by substantial, clear, and convincing evidence, the
department shall deny the request for exemption.
(e) (1) A licensee or agent who has been identified by the
department as satisfying any of the criteria set forth in paragraphs
(1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a) and who has not been
granted an exemption by the department shall be afforded a hearing
upon the licensee's or agent's request under this chapter. The
licensee or agent shall not have a right of hearing if the department
did not notify the employer or deny an exemption.
(2) At the hearing, the department shall have the burden to prove
that any of the criteria set forth in paragraphs (1) to (4),
inclusive, of subdivision (a) are satisfied by a preponderance of the
evidence. It shall be the licensee's or agent's burden to prove
rehabilitation by substantial, clear, and convincing evidence.
(3) In the case of a criminal conviction, "convicted of a crime"
includes a plea or verdict of guilty or a conviction following a plea
of nolo contendere. Any action that the department is permitted to
take following the establishment of a conviction may be taken when
the time for appeal has elapsed, the judgment of conviction has been
affirmed on appeal, or when an order granting probation is made
suspending the imposition of sentence, notwithstanding a subsequent
order pursuant to Sections 1203.4 and 1203.4a of the Penal Code
permitting the person to withdraw his or her plea of guilty and to
enter a plea of not guilty, or setting aside the verdict of guilty,
or dismissing the accusation, information, or indictment. For
purposes of this section or any other provision of this chapter, the
record of a conviction, or a copy thereof certified by the clerk of
the court or by a judge of the court in which the conviction
occurred, shall be conclusive evidence of the conviction.
(4) For purposes of this section or any other provision of this
chapter, a certified copy of a decision and order or minutes of the
court in which a finding is made concerning any of the criteria set
forth in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a), is
prima facie evidence of the truth of the charge and collateral
estoppel applies.
(f) The documents and information procured pursuant to this
section shall be considered the records of a consumer and shall not
be construed to be a public record. The documents and information
shall remain confidential, except in actions brought by the
department to enforce this division, or as a result of the issuance
of a subpoena in accordance with Section 1985.4 of the Code of Civil
Procedure. The unauthorized release of the documents received from
the Department of Justice or the information contained in those
documents is a misdemeanor.

55436. Civil suits and criminal prosecutions which arise by virtue
of any provision of this chapter may be commenced and tried in any of
the following:
(a) The county where the products were received by the processor.
(b) The county in which the principal place of business of such
processor is located.
(c) The county in which the violation of this chapter occurred.

55437. The rights, remedies, and penalties which are provided for
in this chapter are in addition to any other rights, remedies, or
penalties which are provided for by law, and any acts or parts of
acts in conflict therewith are hereby repealed.

55438. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the provisions
of Part 2 (commencing with Section 307) of the Code of Civil
Procedure are applicable to, and constitute the rules of practice in,
the proceedings which are mentioned in this chapter, and the
provisions of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure relative to new
trials and appeals, except insofar as they are inconsistent with the
provisions of this chapter, apply to the proceedings which are
mentioned in this chapter.

55439. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this chapter
is for any reason adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to
be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the
remainder of this chapter, but shall be confined in its operation to
the clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this chapter which is
directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment is
rendered.