Ohio Code 943.05 – Refusal or suspension of license
(A)(1) The director of agriculture may, except as provided in division (A)(2) of this section, refuse to grant or may suspend a small dealer‘s, dealer’s, or broker‘s license, without prior hearing, after determining from evidence presented to the director that there is reasonable cause to believe any of the following situations exist:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 943.05
- agriculture: includes farming; ranching; aquaculture; algaculture meaning the farming of algae; apiculture and related apicultural activities, production of honey, beeswax, honeycomb, and other related products; horticulture; viticulture, winemaking, and related activities; animal husbandry, including, but not limited to, the care and raising of livestock, equine, and fur-bearing animals; poultry husbandry and the production of poultry and poultry products; dairy production; the production of field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, flowers, sod, or mushrooms; timber; pasturage; any combination of the foregoing; the processing, drying, storage, and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are conducted in conjunction with, but are secondary to, such husbandry or production; and any additions or modifications to the foregoing made by the director of agriculture by rule adopted in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code. See Ohio Code 1.61
- Bond: includes an undertaking. See Ohio Code 1.02
- broker: means any person found by the department of agriculture buying, receiving, selling, slaughtering, with the exception of those persons designated by division (B)(1) of section 918. See Ohio Code 943.01
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Employee: means any person employed by a dealer or broker to act in the dealer's or broker's behalf to buy, sell, exchange, negotiate, or solicit sale or resale of animals in the dealer's or broker's name. See Ohio Code 943.01
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- livestock: means horses, mules, and other equidae, cattle, sheep, and goats and other bovidae, swine and other suidae, poultry, alpacas, llamas, and monitored captive deer, captive deer with status, or captive deer with certified chronic wasting disease status. See Ohio Code 943.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Small dealer: means any person found by the department buying, receiving, selling, slaughtering, with the exception of those persons designated by division (B)(1) of section 918. See Ohio Code 943.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- United States: includes all the states. See Ohio Code 1.59
(a) Where the applicant or licensee or an employee has violated the laws of the state or official regulations governing the interstate or intrastate movement, shipment, or transportation of animals, or has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude or convicted of a felony;
(b) Where there have been false or misleading statements as to the health or physical condition of the animals with regard to official tests or quantity of animals, or the practice of fraud or misrepresentation in connection therewith or in the buying or receiving of animals or receiving, selling, exchanging, soliciting, or negotiating the sale, resale, exchange, weighing, or shipment of animals;
(c) Where the applicant or licensee acts as a small dealer, dealer, or broker for a person attempting to conduct business in violation of section 943.02 of the Revised Code, after the notice of the violation has been given to the licensee by the department of agriculture;
(d) Where the applicant or licensee or employee fails to practice measures of sanitation, disinfection, and inspection as required by sections 943.01 to 943.18 of the Revised Code, or prescribed by the department, of premises or vehicles used for the yarding, holding, or transporting of animals;
(e) Where there has been a failure to keep records required by the department or where there is a refusal on the part of the applicant or licensee or employee to produce records of transactions in the carrying on of the business for which the license is granted;
(f) Where the applicant or licensee providing weighing facilities used for, in connection with, or incident to the purchase or sale of livestock for the account of the licensee or others, fails to maintain and operate the weighing facilities in accordance with sections 943.08 and 943.10 of the Revised Code;
(g) Where the applicant or licensee in the conduct of the business covered by the license fails to maintain and operate weighing facilities in accordance with sections 943.08 and 943.10 of the Revised Code or fails to cause its livestock to be weighed by licensed weighers as provided in those sections;
(h) With regard to a dealer or broker licensee, where the licensee fails to maintain a bond or deposit, or letter of credit, if applicable, or fails to adjust the bond or deposit upon thirty days’ notice or refuses or neglects to pay the fees or inspection charges required to be paid;
(i) Where the licensee has been suspended by order of the secretary of agriculture of the United States department of agriculture under provisions of the “Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921,” 42 Stat. 159, 7 U.S.C.A. 181, as amended;
(j) With regard to a dealer or broker licensee, where the surety company, trustee, or issuer of a letter of credit of the licensee issues a notice of termination of the licensee’s bond agreement, deposit agreement, or letter of credit;
(k) Where the applicant has had a small dealer’s, dealer’s, or broker’s license revoked or has had a small dealer’s, dealer’s, or broker’s license suspended two or more times in the previous five years.
(2) The director shall not refuse to grant a small dealer’s, dealer’s, or broker’s license because of an applicant’s criminal conviction unless the refusal is in accordance with section 9.79 of the Revised Code.
(B) When the director refuses to grant or suspends a small dealer’s, dealer’s, or broker’s license, the director or the director’s designee may hand deliver the order. The licensee to whom a suspension order is issued shall be afforded a hearing in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code, after which the director shall reinstate, revoke, or suspend for a longer or indefinite period the suspended license.
Last updated October 9, 2021 at 5:20 AM