There is in the state government the San Joaquin Valley Cotton Board. The board shall be composed of seven cotton growers, three cotton industry members operating in the San Joaquin Valley, and one public member.

(a) The grower members shall be elected by the cotton growers in the county they represent, as follows:

(1) There shall be five elected growers representing each of the five counties within the district with the largest cotton acreage.

(2) There shall be an additional elected grower from each of the two counties within the district with the largest cotton acreage.

(b) The three cotton industry members shall be elected as follows:

(1) One member elected from and by handlers of whole cottonseed.

(2) One member elected from and by handlers of raw cotton fiber.

(3) One member elected from and by cotton ginning organizations.

(4) An organization may not be represented in more than one of the categories specified in the foregoing paragraphs.

(c) One public member shall be appointed by the secretary. The board shall submit a list of three public members to the secretary. The secretary shall choose one public member from the list to serve as a member on the board. If the secretary determines that those on the list are unacceptable, the board shall submit a new list containing the names of three public members from which the secretary shall choose one. This procedure shall continue until a public member has been selected by the secretary to serve on the board.

(d) In addition, the board shall select one representative each from the United States Department of Agriculture and the University of California, and two representatives each from cotton planting seed delinting organizations, and organizations involved in the reproduction, sale, and distribution of cottonseed in the district, to serve as nonvoting ex officio members of the board. These members shall not be selected from the same organization.

(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 189, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 2009. Conditionally inoperative on January 1, 2014, as prescribed in Section 52991.)