A. If it appears from the examination of a fertilizer or soil conditioner that any of the provisions of the New Mexico Fertilizer Act or the rules issued pursuant to that act have been violated, the department shall cause notice of the violations to be given to the registrant, distributor or possessor from whom the sample was taken; a person notified shall be given opportunity to be heard under the rules prescribed by the board. If it appears after the hearing, either in the presence or the absence of the person notified, that any of the provisions of the New Mexico Fertilizer Act or rules issued pursuant to that act have been violated, the department may certify the facts to the proper district attorney.

B. A person convicted of violating any provision of the New Mexico Fertilizer Act or the rules issued pursuant to that act is guilty of a misdemeanor.

C. Nothing in the New Mexico Fertilizer Act shall require the department or its representative to report for prosecution or for the institution of seizure proceedings as a result of minor violations of the New Mexico Fertilizer Act when it believes that the public interests will be best served by a suitable notice of warning in writing.

D. The department may apply for and the court may grant a temporary or permanent injunction restraining a person from violating or continuing to violate any of the provisions of the New Mexico Fertilizer Act or any rule promulgated pursuant to that act, notwithstanding the existence of other remedies at law. The injunction shall be issued without bond.

History: 1953 Comp., § 45-13-28, enacted by Laws 1963, ch. 184, § 18; 1975, ch. 181, § 18; 2013, ch. 112, § 17.

Cross references. — For injunctions, see Rule 1-066 NMRA.

The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, expanded the application of the act to all fertilizers; in Subsection A, in the first sentence, deleted "commercial" before "fertilizer"; and in Subsections A, B and D, deleted "regulations" and added "rules".

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 3 C.J.S. Agriculture § 80.