(A) Each commercial cotton grower in this State is assessed an annual uniform fee determined by the commission not to exceed ten dollars an acre subject to change as provided in Section 46-10-120. The assessment must be utilized by the commission to carry out this chapter. The funds must be remitted promptly to the organization certified according to this chapter under terms and conditions the commission considers necessary to ensure that the assessments are used in a sound program of eradication or suppression of the boll weevil or other cotton pests. The certified organization shall provide to the division an annual audit of its accounts performed by a certified public accountant. The assessments collected by the commission under this chapter are not state funds.

(B) A cotton grower who fails to pay when due and upon reasonable notice an assessment levied under this chapter is subject to a penalty of not more than twenty-five dollars an acre, established in the commission regulations, in addition to the assessment.

(C) A cotton grower who fails to pay an assessment including penalties within fifteen days of notice of a penalty shall destroy cotton plants growing on his acreage which are subject to the assessment. Cotton plants not destroyed are a public nuisance. The director may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to abate and prevent the nuisance. The director is not required to file a bond. Upon judgment and order of the court, the nuisance is condemned and must be destroyed in the manner it directs. This injunctive relief is available to the director in addition to and does not preclude other legal remedies.

(D) For a first delinquency, an assessment and penalties not paid by the cotton grower within thirty days of the notice of a penalty automatically operate as a lien upon crops growing upon the land, or otherwise in the possession, of the grower until the assessment and penalties are paid in full. For a subsequent delinquency or for an unsatisfied crop lien, an assessment and penalties not paid by the grower within thirty days of the notice of a penalty automatically operate as a lien upon the real property he owns. These liens are of equal dignity with liens for taxes in favor of the State. The director may issue executions for collection of assessments in the manner executions are issued for ad valorem property taxes due the State. Sheriffs and deputies, upon request of the director, shall levy and collect executions and return them to the director in the manner tax executions are levied and returned to county tax collectors and tax commissioners.

(E) The cotton grower is liable for court costs, fees, and other reasonable expenses incurred in the enforcement of this section.

HISTORY: 1982 Act No. 281, Section 2; 1983 Act No. 36 Section 8; 1985 Act No. 13, Section 3; 1988 Act No. 554, Section 2, eff May 29, 1988; 1989 Act No. 31, Section 1, eff March 31, 1989; 1990 Act No. 491, Section 4, eff May 29, 1990; 1991 Act No. 66, Section 2, eff May 22, 1991.