SECTIONS 6051-6085 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 6051-6085

6051. Cotton pests abatement districts may be organized and
established by the board of supervisors of the Counties of Imperial,
Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and
Ventura, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, and may exercise
the powers expressly granted, or necessarily implied, by those
provisions.
The district may include land in more than one of the counties
listed in this section with the consent of the board of supervisors
of the counties affected. The county which includes the majority of
acreage in the district shall be designated the principal county. The
agricultural commissioner and county officers in the principal
county shall perform the acts required by the provisions of this
chapter. District funds shall be deposited in the treasury of the
principal county.
Chapter 6.6 (commencing with Section 54773) of Part 1 of Division
2 of the Government Code and the District Reorganization Act of 1965
do not apply to cotton pests abatement districts organized pursuant
to this chapter.

6052. In order to propose the organization of a cotton pests
abatement district, a petition shall be presented to the board of
supervisors of the county where the lands included within the
proposed district are situated. The petition may consist of any
number of separate instruments. The petition shall be signed by 25
percent of the cottongrowers or by 25 cottongrowers who grow cotton
within the proposed district, whichever is less.

6053. Upon receipt of the petition, the board of supervisors shall
direct the agricultural commissioner to create a register of all
cottongrowers growing cotton within the proposed district describing
the net acreage of land devoted to the growing of cotton by each
grower.

6054. The commissioner shall file the cottongrowers register within
60 days of receipt of the order from the board of supervisors or by
March 1st, whichever date is the later. The commissioner shall file
with the register of cottongrowers a report and recommendation to the
board of supervisors on whether conditions of disease, insect, or
other pests of cotton warrant the board of supervisors in proceeding
with the organization of the district.

6055. The proponents of the formation of the district may, within
30 days of the receipt by the board of supervisors of the register of
cottongrowers from the agricultural commissioner, file with the
board of supervisors a petition for the establishment of the district
signed by not less than 50 percent of the cottongrowers who grow not
less than 65 percent of the cotton within the proposed district or
not less than 65 percent of the cottongrowers who grow not less than
50 percent of the cotton grown within the proposed district.
The petition presented to the board of supervisors pursuant to
Section 6052 shall satisfy the requirements of this section if it
contains the number of signatures required by this section.

6056. Upon receipt of the petition, the board of supervisors shall
immediately refer the petition to the agricultural commissioner who
shall examine it by reference to the register of cottongrowers, and
shall, within 15 days after receiving the petition, return the
petition to the board of supervisors with his or her certificate
attached thereto certifying from the cottongrowers register that the
petition qualifies as valid. The certificate of the agricultural
commissioner shall be conclusive as to the sufficiency of the
signatures on the petition.

6057. At its meeting at which the certificate is received from the
agricultural commissioner, or at its next meeting, regular or
special, thereafter, the board of supervisors shall by order fix a
time and place for hearing the petition, which time shall be not less
than 20 days nor more than 40 days from the date of the order, and
shall give notice of the hearing by publication of the time and place
thereof with a general statement of the purpose of the proposed
district, together with a description of the boundaries of the
proposed district, once a week for two successive weeks immediately
prior to the date fixed for the hearing, in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county where the district will be situated.

6058. At the hearing, the board of supervisors shall make such
changes in the boundaries of the proposed district as they determine
to be advisable, and shall determine and describe the boundaries of
the district. The board of supervisors shall not modify the
boundaries so as to exclude from the district any lands growing or
capable of growing cotton which would be benefited by the formation
of the district. The board of supervisors shall, at the hearing, hear
all competent and relevant testimony, in support of the petition,
and in opposition thereto, and shall determine whether the petition
complies with the requirements of this chapter. The determination of
the board of supervisors shall be entered upon the minutes of the
meeting. No defect in the contents of the petition, or in the title
to, or form of, the notice or signature, shall vitiate any proceeding
thereon if the petition has a sufficient number of qualified
signatures attached thereto.

6059. The board of supervisors shall, at the next regular or
special meeting following the hearing upon the question of the
organization of the proposed district, meet and, if it determines
that the evidence presented at the hearing was sufficient to warrant
the organization of the district, shall, by order entered upon its
minutes, declare the district duly organized under the name
designated in the petition. The order shall describe the boundaries
of the district so that all lands included in it may be known, and a
copy of the order shall be filed for record in the office of the
county recorder of the county where the district is situated.

6060. The board of supervisors shall, at the meeting at which the
order declaring the district to be organized is made, appoint a board
of five directors to administer the affairs of the district. No
person shall, at any time, be eligible to hold the office of director
of any district unless he or she is a resident of the state, and a
cottongrower, either individually or as a joint tenant of, or is a
member of a partnership which owns, or is an officer of, a
corporation which grows cotton within the district.

6061. Each director so appointed shall, in the manner provided by
law, give official bond for the faithful performance of his or her
duties in the amount which shall be fixed by the board of
supervisors, and shall subscribe the oath of office, and the bonds
and oaths shall be filed with the county clerk of the county in which
the district is situated. From and after the filing for record of
the order declaring it organized and the appointment and qualifying
of its board of directors, the organization of the district shall be
complete.

6062. Any cotton pests abatement district organized pursuant to
this chapter may do all of the following:
(a) Have perpetual succession.
(b) Sue and be sued for all actions and proceedings in all courts
and tribunals of competent jurisdiction.
(c) Adopt a seal and alter it at pleasure.
(d) Take by grant, purchase, gift, devise, lease or otherwise, and
to hold, use, and enjoy, and to lease, or otherwise dispose of, real
and personal property of every kind and description within or
without the district necessary to the full and convenient exercise of
its powers.
(e) Prohibit the planting, growing, or maintenance of cotton
plants within the boundaries of the district if it determines that
such a prohibition is necessary for cotton pest control.
(f) Charge fees for permits to plant cotton. The fees shall be
used for the purpose of paying any obligation of the district and to
accomplish the purposes of the district in the manner herein
provided.
(g) Make contracts, and to employ, except as otherwise provided
herein, all persons, firms, and corporations necessary to carry out
the purposes and the powers of the district, at such salary, wage, or
other compensation as the board of directors shall determine.
(h) Eradicate, remove, or prevent the spread of any disease,
insect, or other pest injurious to cotton.
(i) Eradicate, eliminate, remove, or destroy any cotton plants
except those cotton plants which are growing under the conditions
established by a valid permit.
(j) Enter into or upon any land included in the district for the
purpose of inspecting cotton growing thereon.
(k) Commence and prosecute appropriate actions to have it adjudged
that any cotton plant growing within the district infested with
disease, insects, or pests injurious to cotton; or any cotton plant
growing within the district without a valid permit; is a public
nuisance, and have it decreed that the nuisance be abated.

6063. The general control and management of each district shall be
vested in a board of directors of five members. Directors shall be
reimbursed for actual and necessary traveling expenses incurred by
them in and about the performance of any duties required by the board
of directors to be performed by them for the district. All claims
presented by any director shall be subject to the approval of three
other members of the board of directors.

6064. The term of office of the directors shall be four years,
except for those first appointed upon the organization of the
district. The first appointees shall, immediately upon their
appointment, classify themselves by lot so that the terms of three of
them shall expire on the first day of May following the first
biennial election of the district and the terms of the other two
shall expire on the first day of May following the second biennial
election of the district.

6065. In the event of a vacancy in the board of directors either by
resignation, death, or otherwise, the vacancy shall be filled by
appointment by the board of supervisors and the person so appointed
shall hold office for the remainder of the term of his or her
predecessor.

6066. The board of directors of each district shall have the power
to appoint and to fix the compensation of a secretary of the district
who shall keep all records and perform such other duties as are
ordered by the board of directors.

6067. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, all acts of the
board of directors shall be by resolution, and the adoption of a
resolution shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of the
board of directors.

6068. The powers conferred upon any cotton pests abatement district
and its board of directors by the provisions of this chapter shall
not be construed to be in lieu of other disease, pest, or insect
control statutes, but an addition thereto, and no act of any district
or of any of its directors, agents, or employees shall operate to
deprive or hinder the duly appointed or designated state, county, or
federal authorities in conducting any operation for the eradication
or control or prevention of any disease, insect, or pest in the
district.

6069. The agricultural commissioner of the county in which any
district is situated, may, without fee or charge, supervise and
direct, in accordance with the best known accepted methods as
determined by the board of directors, all inspection, eradication,
fumigation, and other activities undertaken by the district. The
agricultural commissioner shall employ any and all assistants
required in and about any such work, and the district shall bear and
pay all expenses incurred in and about the work. Alternatively, the
board of directors may employ a manager to carry out those duties and
may employ such personnel as are necessary.

6070. The board of supervisors in every county where a district has
been organized and exists under the provisions of this chapter shall
direct the agricultural commissioner to file with the board of
supervisors on March 1st of each year a register of every
cottongrower intending to grow cotton during the growing season
immediately following that date, describing the net acreage of land
to be devoted to the growing of cotton by each grower. The
agricultural commissioner shall submit a preliminary estimate of the
information required to be filed on March 1st in order for the board
to prepare the district budget.
The agricultural commissioner shall submit a copy of the register
to the clerk of the board of supervisors during election years.

6071. The board of directors of each district shall, on or before
the first Monday in February of each year, prepare and file with the
board of supervisors of the county in which the district is situated,
a budget setting forth all estimated expenditures of the district
for the fiscal year commencing on the first day of the month of April
of that fiscal year. The budget shall include any estimated
expenditures for special benefits which will affect only certain
properties. The board of directors may submit the budget or a revised
budget to the board of supervisors later than the first Monday in
February, but not later than March 15, if necessary in order to
properly reflect changes in the acreage involved between the
preliminary estimate and the register prepared pursuant to Section
6070 and the costs of programs therefor. A copy of the budget shall,
at the same time, be filed with the auditor of the county.

6072. The board of supervisors of the county may annually establish
a fee for a permit to grow cotton within each cotton pests abatement
district situated within the county and shall issue the permit to
any cottongrower who satisfies the requirements of this chapter. The
board of supervisors shall determine the amount of the fee by
dividing the budget by the number of acres which will be devoted to
cotton production during the ensuing growing season as reported on
the register of cottongrowers submitted to the board of supervisors
on March 1st of each year. Special benefits which are included in the
budget shall be paid for by an additional permit fee. This
additional fee shall be based on the estimated cost of the benefit to
be conferred on the specific property.

6073. The permit fee shall be entered in the minutes of the board
of supervisors who shall advise the board of directors of the
district of the fee per acre required for the issuance of a permit.
The board of directors shall collect this fee from the applicant for
a permit to grow cotton in the district. The fees shall be paid into
the county treasury for the use of the district. The board of
directors may provide for the method and time of payment of the fees
which may be monthly, quarterly, or as otherwise determined to be
reasonable. The board of directors may provide for the refund of
fees, or appropriate part thereof, collected from growers who have
not grown any cotton or have grown less than that for which they have
a permit, insofar as such a refund would not adversely affect the
programs being conducted by the district.
The board of directors shall, at the close of the district's
fiscal year, refund any money not required for continuing programs
that remains in the district fund on a pro rata basis to the persons
from whom the fees being refunded were collected.
The board of directors shall pay the county or counties in which
it is located the costs of county services performed at the request
of the district. The district shall also reimburse the county or
counties for services performed pursuant to Sections 6053, 6054,
6056, 6057, 6058, 6059, 6060, 6070, 6076, 6077, and 6081.
Petitioners for the formation of a cotton pest abatement district
shall be assessed a fee by the commissioner in the amount necessary
to cover any costs incurred as a result of duties performed by the
commissioner under this chapter which are preparatory to the
formation of a district if a district is not formed.

6074. The treasury of the county shall be the repository of all the
moneys of the district. The county treasurer shall receive and
receipt for all of these moneys, and place the same to the credit of
the district. Any interest earned on the district funds shall be the
property of the district. The treasurer shall be responsible upon his
or her official bond for the safekeeping and disbursement, in the
manner herein provided, of all moneys of any such district so held by
him or her. The county treasurer shall pay out the moneys of the
district only upon warrants of the county auditor drawn upon the
order of the board of directors of the district signed by the
president of the board and attested by the secretary. The county
treasurer shall report in writing on the first day of July, October,
January, and March of each year, to the board of directors of each
district in his or her county, the amount of money he or she then
holds for the district, the amount of receipts since his or her last
report, and the amounts paid out; and each report shall be verified
and filed with the secretary of the district to whom it is addressed.

6075. The board of directors, when prohibiting the planting,
growing, or maintenance of cotton plants within the boundaries of the
district, shall notify persons affected by this action within 15
days. The grower within 30 days may appeal the decision of the board
of directors to the board of supervisors, which may, by a majority
decision, modify, or rescind the decision of the board of directors.

6076. In each cotton pests abatement district, a biennial election
shall be held in March of each odd-numbered year by the county
elections official of the county in which a majority of the acreage
in the district is contained. Notice of the election, and of the
offices to be filled, shall be published in a newspaper of general
circulation in the county once a week for three successive weeks
before the first day of February. At the election a sufficient number
of directors shall be elected to fill the places of those directors
whose terms expire the first day of April immediately following the
election.
The county elections official shall make declarations of candidacy
available from between 113 and 88 days before the election. Any
person eligible for the office of director, desiring to be a
candidate for election, shall file a declaration with the county
elections official on or before the 88th day before the election. The
county elections official shall certify the qualified candidates and
have ballots prepared and printed. The election shall be conducted,
as nearly as practicable, in accordance with the general election
laws of this state.

6077. The county elections official on or after the 29th day before
the election shall mail a ballot, an identification envelope, and a
stamped and addressed return envelope to each cottongrower on the
register submitted by the agricultural commissioner. The ballot shall
indicate the number of votes and the number shall be written on the
ballot by the clerk. Each cottongrower appearing on the register
shall be entitled to one vote for each acre of cotton for which a
valid permit to grow cotton is possessed for each office to be
filled, or proposition to be voted upon, at that election. Cumulative
voting is not authorized.
The ballot shall be printed in substantially the following form:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NOTICE OF INCOMPLETE TEXT: The Cotton Pest Abatement District
official ballot appears in the hard-copy publication of the
chaptered bill. See Sec. 25 of Chapter 221, Statutes of 2002.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The ballot shall be placed in the identification envelope by the
voter after the voter has indicated his or her choices. The
identification envelope shall be sealed and signed by the voter. The
identification envelope shall be returned to the county elections
official in the sealed return envelope.
Ballots in order to be counted shall be received by the elections
official not later than 12 o'clock noon of the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in March and the return envelopes containing the
ballots shall not be opened until that time. The elections official
shall then open the return envelopes and deposit the ballot in its
unopened envelope in a ballot box. After deposit of all
identification envelopes received, the elections official shall open
the ballot box and count the votes cast and certify the results of
the election.
The returns of the election shall be reported to the board of
directors of the district who shall meet on the Monday following the
election and canvass the returns.

6078. The persons declared elected shall take the oath of office
and file their official bonds with the county elections official on
or before the first day of April following their election and shall
take office at noon of that day.

6079. Any owner of land devoted to the growing of cotton in the
county where the district is situated may file a petition for
inclusion in the district with the board of directors of any cotton
pests abatement district, and the land may, by order of the board of
directors, be included within the district. A certified copy of each
order of the board of directors including additional lands within the
district shall be filed for record by the secretary of the district
in the office of the county recorder of the county immediately upon
passage by the board of directors, and each such order shall
particularly describe each parcel of land to be included in the
district.

6080. The board of directors of each cotton pests abatement
district shall hold a regular meeting at least once each month at the
time and place in the district designated by resolution of the
board; and the board of directors of each district shall prescribe
the rules and regulations for the conduct of its meetings and for
calling and giving notice of special meetings of the board.

6081. Whenever the board of supervisors, by resolution, desires to
dissolve the district, or whenever a petition, signed by not less
than 25 percent of the cottongrowers within a district who are
engaged in the growing of cotton, requesting the dissolution of the
district is presented to and filed with the board of directors of the
district, the board of directors shall submit the question of the
dissolution of the district to the qualified voters of the district
at the next biennial election of the district; provided, however,
that the board of directors shall not be required to accept a
petition for the dissolution of the district within 10 days preceding
any biennial election of a district. If at the election 60 percent
of the votes cast are in favor of the dissolution of the district,
the directors of the district shall, within 60 days, file for
recording in the office of the county recorder of the county a
certified copy of an order declaring the district to be dissolved,
and cease all activities, and shall proceed immediately to wind up
the affairs of the district. The dissolution election procedures
shall be the same as those contained in Sections 6076 and 6077.

6082. At the expiration of 90 days after the election, the board of
directors shall deliver on the basis of the ratio of the acreage
devoted to cottongrowing in each county in the district all property
and assets in their possession belonging to the district to the
agricultural commissioner of each county in the district to be held
and used for the benefit of cotton production. Any funds which may be
in the hands of the county treasurer to the credit of the district
or to which the district may thereafter become entitled shall be
transferred to the credit of the county in which the district is
located and shall be expended by the board of supervisors for the
benefit of cotton production.

6083. All claims and accounts against the district which have not
been settled by the board of directors within 90 days after the
election authorizing the dissolution of the district shall be
presented to the board of supervisors of the county in which the
district was located and shall be passed and approved by them in the
same manner as county claims and shall be paid out of the funds of
the dissolved district.

6084. In the event that there are insufficient funds to discharge
all claims and accounts brought pursuant to Section 6083, the board
of supervisors shall, at the time of levying the next general county
taxes, make a special assessment upon the net acreage devoted to the
growing of cotton which was benefited from the dissolved district
sufficient in amount to discharge all outstanding claims and accounts
against the district. Properties which received special benefits for
which additional permit fees where paid in the last year of district
operation shall have an additional pro rata charge made upon the net
acreage affected.

6085. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Cotton
Pests Abatement District Act.