SECTIONS 76251-76265 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 76251-76265

76251. (a) There is in the state government the California Sheep
Commission. The commission shall be composed of 13 sheep producers
and one public member. Producers within districts 1 to 9, inclusive,
shall each elect one producer to serve on the commission. Producers
within districts 10 and 11 shall each elect two producers to serve on
the commission.
(b) The public member shall be appointed to the commission by the
director from nominees recommended by the commission.
(c) The director and other appropriate individuals, as determined
by the commission, shall be ex officio members of the commission.

76252. (a) The director may require the commission to correct or
cease any existing activity or function which is determined by the
director not to be in the public interest or which is in violation of
this chapter.
(b) If the commission refuses or fails to cease these activities
or functions or to make these corrections as required by the
director, the director 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 director has been accomplished by the commission.
(c) Actions of the commission in violation of the written notice
are without legal force or effect. The director, 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 which are the subject of the written
notice.
(d) Upon service of the written notice, the director shall notify
the commission in writing of the specific acts which he or she
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 he or
she may make recommendations that will make the activities or
functions acceptable.

76253. The commission or the director may bring an action for
judicial relief from the director's written notice, or from
noncompliance by the commission with the written notice, as the case
may be, in a court of competent jurisdiction, which may issue a
temporary restraining order, permanent injunction, or other
applicable relief.

76254. When the director is required to concur in a decision of the
commission, he or she shall indicate his or her response to the
commission within 15 working days from notification of the decision.
The response may be a request that additional information be
provided.

76255. The commission shall reimburse the director for all
expenditures incurred by the director in carrying out his or her
duties and responsibilities pursuant to this chapter. However, the
court may, if it finds that the director acted arbitrarily or
capriciously in restricting the activities or functions of the
commission, relieve the commission of the responsibility for payment
of the director's legal costs with regard to that action.

76256. Each member of the commission, except the ex officio
members, shall have an alternate member to be elected in the same
manner as the member. An alternate member shall, in the absence of
the member for whom he or she is an alternate, serve in place of the
member on the commission, 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 death, removal, resignation, or
disqualification of a member, the alternate shall act as a member on
the commission until a successor is elected and has qualified.

76257. Any vacancy on the commission occurring by the failure of
any person elected to the commission as a member or alternate 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, or
resignation, shall be filled, for the unexpired portion of the term,
by a majority vote of the commission. That person shall fulfill all
the qualifications set forth in this article as required for the
member whose office he or she is to fill.

76257.5. Any producer member or his or her alternate on the
commission shall be an individual or an employee representing a
producer who has a financial interest in producing, or causing to be
produced, wool for market. The qualifications of a producer member
and an alternate producer member shall be maintained during the
entire term of office.

76258. The public member or his or her alternate on the commission,
shall have all the powers, rights, and privileges of any other
member on the commission. The public member shall not have any
financial interest in the sheep or wool industry.

76259. The term of office of all members of the commission, except
ex officio members, shall be two years from the date of their
election and until their successors are qualified. However, of the
first members of the commission, one-half of the producers shall
serve for one year, and one-half of the producers shall serve for two
years, with the determination of the term of each such member made
by lot at the time of the election. Terms of office of each member of
the commission shall be limited to four consecutive terms. A member
of the commission who was selected by lot to serve a one-year term
may serve four consecutive terms in addition to the first one-year
term.

76260. The commission shall be and is hereby declared and created a
corporate body. It shall have the power to sue and be sued, to
contract and be contracted with, and to have and possess all of the
powers of a corporation. It may adopt a corporate seal. Copies of its
proceedings, records, and acts, when authenticated, shall be
admissible in evidence in all courts of the state and shall be prima
facie evidence of the truth of all statements therein.

76261. A quorum of the commission shall be eight voting members of
the commission. Except as provided in Sections 76226 and 76382.5, the
vote of a majority of members present at a meeting at which there is
a quorum shall constitute the act of the commission.

76262. The director or his or her representatives shall be notified
and may attend each meeting of the commission and any committee
meeting of the commission.

76263. No member 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, except ex
officio government members, and each member of a committee
established by the commission who is a nonmember of the commission,
may receive a sum not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100) per day,
as established by the commission. This per diem shall be paid to
members 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, as approved
by the commission. Members shall also receive the necessary traveling
expenses and meal allowances, as approved by the commission.

76264. All funds received by any person from the assessments levied
under the authority of this chapter or otherwise received by the
commission shall be deposited in banks which 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 the amount of not less than twenty-five thousand
dollars ($25,000).

76265. 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 of the
commission, alternate member, or any employee or agent thereof, is
personally liable for the contracts of the commission. No member of
the commission, alternate member, or any employee or agent thereof,
is responsible individually in any way to any producer, processor,
handler, or 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 of the commission, alternate member, or any
employee or agent thereof, is responsible individually for any act or
omission of any other member of the commission. Liability is several
and not joint, and no member of the commission, alternate member, or
any employee or agent thereof, is liable for the default of any
other member of the commission.