263.190. Owners to control musk, Scotch, and Canada thistles--notice procedure--penalty.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

263.190. Owners to control musk, Scotch, and Canada thistles--notice procedure--penalty.

Owners to control musk, Scotch, and Canada thistles--noticeprocedure--penalty.

263.190. 1. The plants musk thistle (Carduus nutans L.),Scotch thistle (Onoprodum acanthium L.) and Canada thistle(Cirsium arvense) are hereby designated as noxious weeds. Allowners of land shall control all such plants growing upon theirland.

2. It shall be the duty of every owner of lands in thisstate to control all Canada, musk, or Scotch thistles growingthereon so often in each and every year as shall be sufficient toprevent said thistles from going to seed. If any owner of suchland shall knowingly allow any Canada, musk, or Scotch thistlesto grow thereon, such owner shall forfeit and pay the sum of onehundred dollars to the county commission for every such offense,and such sum forfeited plus court costs may be recovered by civilaction instituted by the prosecuting attorney in the name of thecounty commission before any associate circuit judge of thecounty in which the offense is committed. All sums recovered byvirtue of this section shall be paid to the use of the countycontrol fund.

3. Before initiating any civil action under this section,the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the land, or thegreater part thereof, is located shall notify the owner of theland of the requirements of this law, by certified mail, returnreceipt requested, from a list supplied by the officer whoprepares the tax list, and shall allow the owner of the landfifteen days from acknowledgment date of return receipt, or dateof refusal of acceptance, as the case may be, to control all suchplants growing upon his land. Failure of the owner to controlsuch plants within the fifteen-day period shall be prima facieevidence of the owner's knowledge that he is in violation of thislaw, and each fifteen days the violation continues after theinitial fifteen-day period shall, for the purpose of forfeitureand penalty herein, be considered a separate offense.