SECTIONS 71050-71066 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 71050-71066

71050. (a) There is in the state government the California Rice
Commission. The commission is composed of equal numbers of handler
members and producer members as set forth in this section. In
addition, there may be one public member.
(b) Each eligible handler may appoint one member and one alternate
member annually.
(c) Producer members and alternate members in a number equal to
the number of appointed handler members shall be elected by district.
(d) The number of producers to be elected from each district shall
be determined as follows:
(1) Each district shall have at least one representative.
(2) The allocation of any seats remaining after the allocation in
paragraph (1) shall be made by dividing the total number of acres in
the state planted in rice in the marketing season immediately
preceding the determination by the total number of eligible handler
members and dividing the acreage planted in rice in each district,
starting with the district having the largest acreage planted in rice
by the result and rounding to the nearest whole number.
(e) No handler who is more than 90 days delinquent in the payment
of assessments or filing of reports required pursuant to this chapter
is eligible to serve on the commission. If a handler is made
ineligible to serve pursuant to this subdivision, the member
representing District 1 who received the lowest vote total among
members representing District 1 is also ineligible to serve by
operation of law in order to maintain an equal number of eligible
handler and producer members. Additional members are ineligible to
serve by operation of law as needed in order to maintain an equal
number of handler and producer members and shall be selected from the
remaining districts in ascending order of the number of the
district. No member who is the sole representative of a district is
ineligible to serve as a result of the operation of this subdivision.
Without regard to whether any ineligible producer member
representing a district has been reinstated, no subsequent producer
member is ineligible to serve by operation of law from any district
until at least one member is ineligible to serve by operation of law
from each district except those that have only one representative.
(f) Members who are ineligible to serve by operation of law
pursuant to subdivision (e) shall be immediately disqualified from
voting on matters before the commission.
The eligibility of handler and producer members shall be
reinstated at the first meeting after the handler's payments and
reports are made current.
(g) The commission shall annually establish the number of eligible
handler members of the commission based on the volume of rice
handled in the immediately preceding marketing season, and, if
necessary, adjust and reallocate the number of producer members. Any
additional producer members shall be elected at the next regularly
scheduled election of producer members. Any handler who does not
appoint a member and alternate within 15 days of being notified of
his or her eligibility shall be deemed to have waived his or her
right to a seat for the then current marketing season and shall not
be counted in the calculation of producer seats.
(h) The public member, if any, shall be appointed to the
commission by the secretary from the nominees recommended by the
commission.

71051. (a) The secretary may require the commission to correct or
cease any existing activity or function that is determined by the
secretary not to be in the public interest or that is in violation of
this chapter.
(b) If the commission refuses or fails to cease those activities
or functions or to make the corrections as required by the secretary,
the secretary may, upon written notice, suspend all or a portion of
the activities or functions of the commission until the time that the
cessation or correction of activities or functions as required by
the secretary has been accomplished by the commission.
(c) Actions of the commission in violation of the written notice
are without legal force or effect. The secretary, to the extent
feasible, shall issue the written notice prior to the commission
entering into any contractual relationship affecting the existing or
proposed activities or functions that are the subject of the written
notice.
(d) Upon service of the written notice, the secretary shall notify
the commission in writing of the specific acts that the secretary
determines are not in the public interest or are in violation of this
chapter, his or her reasons for requiring a cessation or correction
of specific existing or proposed activities or functions, and
recommendations that will make the activities or functions
acceptable.

71052. When the secretary is required to concur in a decision of
the commission, the secretary shall give his or her response to the
commission within 15 working days from notification of the decision.
The secretary shall set forth in writing with specificity the reasons
for any refusal to concur. The secretary's response may be a
requirement that additional information be provided.

71053. The commission shall reimburse the secretary for all
expenditures incurred by the secretary in carrying out his or her
duties and responsibilities pursuant to this chapter. However, a
court may, if it finds that the secretary acted arbitrarily or
capriciously in restricting the activities or functions of the
commission, relieve the commission of the responsibility for payment
of the secretary's legal costs with regard to that action.

71054. Except for ex officio members, an alternate for each member
shall be appointed in the same manner as the member. An alternate
shall, in the absence of the member for whom he or she is an
alternate, serve in place of the member and shall have, and be able
to exercise, all the rights, privileges, and powers of the member
when serving on the commission. In the event of a change in status
making a member ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal,
resignation, or disqualification of a member, the alternate shall act
as a member of the commission until a qualified successor is
appointed. The ineligibility of any member pursuant to Section 71050
does not create an absence within the meaning of this section.

71055. Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of
any person elected to the commission as a member or alternate to
continue in his or her position due to a change in status making him
or her ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal, or resignation,
shall be filled by another eligible person for the unexpired portion
of the term by a majority vote of the remaining members of the
commission. The person shall fulfill all the qualifications set forth
in this article as required for the person whose office he or she is
to occupy. The ineligibility of any handler member and concurrent
ineligibility of any producer member pursuant to Section 71050 shall
not create a vacancy within the meaning of this section.

71056. Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of
the public member to continue in his or her position due to a change
in status making him or her ineligible to serve, or due to death,
removal, resignation, or disqualification, may be filled by another
eligible person for the unexpired portion of the term by the
secretary from nominees recommended by the commission. The person
shall fulfill all the qualifications set forth in this article as
required for the member whose office he or she is to occupy.

71057. Any producer member and his or her alternate on the
commission shall be an individual producer or an employee or
representative of a producer who has a financial interest in
producing rice or causing rice to be produced. The qualifications of
producer members and their alternates shall be maintained during
their entire term of office. The absence of both the member and
alternate at two consecutive meetings shall be grounds for the
commission to declare the seat vacant.

71058. Any handler member and his or her alternate on the
commission shall be an individual handler or an employee or
representative of a handler who has a financial interest in handling
rice. The qualifications of handler members and their alternates
shall be maintained during their entire term of office. The absence
of both the member and alternate at two consecutive meetings shall be
grounds for the commission to declare the seat vacant.

71059. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the public
member and his or her alternate member on the commission shall have
all the powers, rights, and privileges of any other member or
alternate, respectively, on the commission. The public member and his
or her alternate member shall not have a vote on issues regarding
the assessments established pursuant to Section 71120.

71060. Producer members shall serve three-year terms and until
their successors are qualified, except, that of the first producer
members of the commission one-third shall serve one year, one-third
shall serve two years, and one-third shall serve three years. The
determination of the term of each member shall be made by lot.
Members representing the same district shall draw lots among
themselves to ensure that terms within a single district are not
concurrent.

71061. The commission shall be, and is hereby declared and created,
a corporate body. It may sue and be sued regarding any matter
related to the purposes of this chapter, contract and be contracted
with, and has and possesses all of the powers of a corporation. It
may adopt a corporate seal. Copies of its proceedings, records, and
acts, when authenticated, shall be prima facie evidence of the truth
of all statements therein.

71062. A majority of the membership of the commission appointed or
elected shall constitute a quorum of the commission. The vote of a
majority of the members present at a meeting at which there is a
quorum constitutes the act of the commission. The commission may
continue to transact business at a meeting at which a quorum is
initially present, notwithstanding the withdrawal of members,
provided any action is approved by the requisite majority of the
required quorum.

71063. The secretary or his or her representatives shall be
notified and may attend each meeting of the commission and any
committee meetings of the commission. However, the secretary or his
or her representative is not entitled to attend an executive session
of the commission or a committee of the commission called for the
purpose of discussing potential or actual litigation against the
department.

71064. No member or alternate of the commission or member of a
committee established by the commission who is a nonmember of the
commission shall receive a salary. Each member of the commission and
each alternate serving in place of a member, except ex officio
members who are officers or employees of a public agency, and each
member of a committee established by the commission who is a
nonmember of the commission, may receive reasonable and necessary
traveling expenses and meal allowances as approved by the commission
for each day spent in actual attendance at, or in traveling to and
from, meetings of the commission or committees of the commission, or
on special assignment for the commission.

71065. All funds received by any person from the assessments levied
under this chapter or otherwise received by the commission shall be
deposited in banks that the commission may designate and shall be
disbursed by order of the commission through an agent or agents as it
may designate for that purpose. The agent or agents shall be bonded
by a fidelity bond, executed by a surety company authorized to
transact business in this state, in favor of the commission, in an
amount of not less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).

71066. The state is not liable for the acts of the commission or
its contracts. Payments of all claims arising by reason of the
administration of this chapter or acts of the commission are limited
to the funds collected by the commission. No member or alternate of
the commission, or any employee or agent thereof, is personally
liable for the contracts of the commission. No member or alternate of
the commission, or any employee or agent thereof, is responsible
individually in any way to any other person for errors in judgment,
mistakes, or other acts, either of commission or omission, as
principal, agent, or employee, except for his or her own individual
acts of dishonesty or crime. No member or alternate of the
commission, or any employee or agent thereof, is responsible
individually for any act or omission of any other member or alternate
of the commission, or any employee or agent thereof. No member or
alternate of the commission, or any employee or agent thereof, is
liable for the default of any other member or alternate of the
commission, or any employee or agent thereof.