The secretary shall appoint an advisory committee to serve without compensation. The committee shall meet at least once a year, however, the chairperson may call for additional meetings as he or she determines are necessary. The committee shall elect a chairperson at its first meeting after appointment. Thereafter selection of the chairperson shall take place as deemed appropriate by, and at the pleasure of, the committee. Members of the committee and their alternates may include, but not be limited to, representation from the California State Horsemen’s Association, the Equestrian Trails, Inc., the California Professional Horsemen’s Association, the Los Angeles County Horse Show Exhibitors Association, the California Dressage Society, the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association, the Central California Quarter Horse Association, the Division of Fairs and Expositions, the North American Trail Ride Conference, the American Horse Shows Association, the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine, the Appaloosa Club, the International Arabian Horse Association, the Pinto Horse Association of America, the California Veterinary Medical Association, the NorCal Hunter Jumper Association, the California Farm Bureau Federation, the California Gymkhana Association, the American Morgan Horse Association, the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association, the Pacific Coast Horse Shows Association, and any other organization the secretary deems appropriate. These advisory committee members and their alternates shall be representative of the industry that this chapter regulates. The members of the committee may also include, but are not limited to, representatives of breed associations represented within the state and other organizations with an interest in the deterrence of drug abuse in the industry that this chapter regulates. In addition, the secretary may appoint one public member to the committee.

Upon the secretary’s request, the committee shall submit to the secretary the names of three or more natural persons, each of whom shall be a citizen and resident of this state for appointment by the secretary as a public member and an alternate public member of the committee. The secretary may appoint one of the nominees as the public member on the committee. If all nominees are unsatisfactory to the secretary, the committee shall continue to submit lists of nominees until the secretary has made a selection. Any vacancy in the office of the public member of the committee shall be filled by appointment by the secretary from the nominee or nominees similarly qualified and submitted by the committee. The public member of the committee shall represent the interests of the general public in all matters considered by the committee and shall have the same voting and other rights and immunities as other members of the committee.

(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 87, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2009.)