PART 5. CITRUS PEST DISTRICT CONTROL LAW [8401. - 8759.]

Heading of Part 5 amended by Stats. 1989, Ch. 904, Sec. 1.

§§ 8401–8759 · 78 sections

1. CHAPTER 1. Definitions and General Provisions §§ 8401–8410 · 10 sections

   • § 8401 This part shall be known as the Citrus Pest District Control Law.
   • § 8402 It is the purpose of this part to make available a procedure for the organization, operation, government, and dissolution of districts for the more effective…
   • § 8403 Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this chapter govern the construction of this part.
   • § 8404 “Board” means the board of directors of a district.
   • § 8405 “Citrus acreage” means any parcel, tract, or lot of land with 25 or more citrus trees of any age growing on it, except a parcel, tract, or lot which is used as…
   • § 8406 “Citrus pest” includes any infectious, transmissible, or contagious disease, any form of animal life, or any form of vegetable life infesting citrus trees or…
   • § 8407 “District” means a citrus pest control district organized pursuant to this part.
   • § 8408 “Number of trees per acre of average planting,” for the purpose of assessment pursuant to this part, shall be 100 trees per acre.
   • § 8409 “Owner” includes joint owner, coowner, guardian, executor, administrator, or any other person that holds property in a trust capacity under appointment of…
   • § 8410 “Citrus” includes “citrous” and any plants of the genera Citrus, Fortunella, Poncirus, and all hybrids having one or more of such as parents.
2. CHAPTER 2. Formation of Districts §§ 8451–8465 · 15 sections

   • § 8451 Proceedings for the formation of a district within any county shall be commenced by a petition which is signed by the owners of not less than 51 percent by…
   • § 8452 The petition may be filed in sections each of which shall comply with all the requirements for a petition, except that a section need not contain the total…
   • § 8453 Signatures to the petition may be withdrawn at any time before it has been acted upon by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors a declaration signed…
   • § 8454 (a) The petition shall state the name of the proposed district and shall set forth its boundaries or describe the lands to be included in it. (b) It is a…
   • § 8455 Upon the presentation and filing of a petition, the board of supervisors shall fix a time and place for the hearing of the petition and shall refer the…
   • § 8456 The board of supervisors shall order the clerk of the board of supervisors to give notice of the time and place fixed for the hearing upon the petition.
   • § 8457 The notice of hearing shall do all of the following: (a) State the name of the district and that it is being formed for the eradication and control of citrus…
   • § 8458 Notice of the hearing shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the district.
   • § 8459 The notice shall be published once a week for two successive weeks prior to the date set for the hearing.
   • § 8460 At the hearing, the report of the commissioner shall be received and protests may be made orally or in writing by any person interested in the formation of the…
   • § 8461 At the hearing, any owner of citrus acreage in the proposed district may present to the board of supervisors a request in writing for the exclusion of that…
   • § 8462 If the board of supervisors determines that the petition does not comply with the requirements of law, the matter may be dismissed without prejudice to the…
   • § 8463 (a) If the board of supervisors determines that the project is feasible and in the interest of the citrus growers of the county, the board of supervisors…
   • § 8464 Any district formed prior to March 2, 1961, in which the order of the board of supervisors adopted the description in general terms as it appears in the…
   • § 8465 (a) In determining the boundaries of the district, the board of supervisors shall exclude from the district any citrus acreage which it finds will not be…
3. CHAPTER 3. Organization of Districts §§ 8501–8508 · 8 sections

   • § 8501 Upon the adoption of the order of organization, the board of supervisors shall immediately appoint a board of directors of five members to administer the…
   • § 8502 In order to be eligible to hold the office of director of the district, a person shall be a citizen of the United States and of this state, and an owner of…
   • § 8503 Upon his appointment, each director shall, in the manner provided by law, give such official bond for the faithful performance of his duties as shall be fixed…
   • § 8504 From and after the filing for record of the order of the board of supervisors declaring the district organized, and the appointment and qualification of its…
   • § 8505 Immediately after the organization of the district, the directors shall meet and organize as a board and shall elect a chairman, a vice chairman, a secretary,…
   • § 8506 The members of the board shall serve for terms of four years and until the appointment and qualification of their successors. The terms of the members of the…
   • § 8507 Upon the expiration of the term of any member of the board, the board of supervisors shall appoint his successor. Vacancies shall be filled by the board of…
   • § 8508 The members of the board are not entitled to any compensation for their services, but may be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses, when claims…
4. CHAPTER 4. Powers and Duties of the District §§ 8551–8568 · 18 sections

   • § 8551 The district shall have perpetual succession and may do all of the following: (a) Sue and be sued in all actions and proceedings in all courts and tribunals of…
   • § 8552 Every district formed pursuant to this part has all of the powers prescribed by Section 8551 and other sections of this part, including the power to eradicate,…
   • § 8553 (a) A district may pay limited compensation to the owner of any citrus tree infected with citrus tristeza virus which is removed by the district or by the…
   • § 8554 In order to expedite the elimination of the source of citrus tristeza virus, if it appears to the board that the cost of testing, indexing, or retesting trees…
   • § 8555 Any payment made to the owner or owners of citrus trees removed pursuant to Section 8553 or 8554 shall in no event exceed the sum of three thousand dollars…
   • § 8556 The commissioner of the county in which the district is located shall, upon request of the board and without fee or charge, supervise and direct, in accordance…
   • § 8557 The board shall, immediately after its qualification, formulate an effective plan based on the best known and accepted methods for the control and eradication…
   • § 8558 After the final adoption of the plan, the board shall make or cause to be made an estimate of the cost of operating the plan for the next fiscal year beginning…
   • § 8559 Within 30 days after the receipt of the estimate, the board shall adopt a preliminary budget of expenditures for such fiscal year.
   • § 8560 Upon the adoption of the preliminary budget, the board shall fix a time and place for holding a hearing thereon. The hearing shall not be less than 20 days,…
   • § 8561 The board shall give notice of the time and place fixed for the hearing upon the preliminary budget by publication in a newspaper of general circulation…
   • § 8562 The notice shall be published once a week for two successive weeks prior to the date set for the hearing.
   • § 8563 The notice shall contain all of the following: (a) A summary of the proposed budget and shall refer to the original on file with the board for further…
   • § 8564 At any time not later than the hour set for hearing objections to the proposed budget, any owner of citrus acreage in the district may make written protest…
   • § 8565 At the time set for hearing protests, the board shall proceed to hear and pass upon all protests so made and its decision on the protests shall be final and…
   • § 8566 At the conclusion of the hearing, the board shall by resolution entered on its minutes make such changes in the proposed budget as it finds are proper and…
   • § 8567 There may be added to the budget for the first fiscal year of the operation of the district an amount not in excess of 20 percent of the total amount of the…
   • § 8568 For each fiscal year subsequent to the first year of operation of the district, the board shall adopt the final budget therefor in the same manner and at the…
5. CHAPTER 5. Levying and Assessing Taxes for District Purposes §§ 8601–8610 · 10 sections

   • § 8601 (a) The county assessor, in making the annual assessment of property in each and every year after the organization of the district, shall assess any parcel of…
   • § 8602 Whenever acreage within the district is planted with citrus trees in such a fashion as to qualify as citrus acreage, the acreage is subject to assessment as…
   • § 8603 Whenever any citrus trees have been removed from any parcel of land included in the district, the owner of the parcel of land may file with the board an…
   • § 8604 (a) The board shall, on or before the first Monday in July of each year, file with the board of supervisors the final budget which sets forth all estimated…
   • § 8605 The assessment authorized to be assessed and levied is hereby declared to be in the nature of a special assessment, and the Legislature hereby finds that the…
   • § 8606 The tax so levied shall be computed and entered upon the assessment roll by the county auditor, and if the supervisors fail to levy the tax as required, the…
   • § 8607 The general provisions of the laws of this state, prescribing the manner of levying and collecting county taxes and the duties of the several county officers…
   • § 8608 The county treasury shall be the repository of all the moneys of the district. The county treasurer shall receive and receipt for all such moneys, and place…
   • § 8609 If a consolidated district includes parts of two or more counties, the repository of all money of the district shall be the county treasury of the county in…
   • § 8610 The county treasurer shall pay out money of the district only upon warrants of the county auditor drawn upon the order of the board of directors of the…
6. CHAPTER 6. Inclusion of Lands § 8651 · 1 section

   • § 8651 Lands devoted exclusively to the growing of citrus fruits within a tract of land outside the district but in the county wherein the district is located may be…
7. CHAPTER 7. Consolidation §§ 8701–8707 · 7 sections

   • § 8701 Any two or more districts organized or existing under this part may be consolidated, whether or not the boundaries are coterminous and whether or not the…
   • § 8702 Proceedings for consolidation may be initiated by the filing of a petition for consolidation with the board of each district to be consolidated. Each petition…
   • § 8703 Upon presentation and filing of the petitions of two or more districts proposing consolidation, the board of supervisors of the county in which is located the…
   • § 8704 If the board of supervisors determines that the consolidation is feasible and for the best interests of the citrus growers of the respective districts, it…
   • § 8705 Upon the adoption of a resolution consolidating two or more districts, the board of supervisors shall immediately appoint a board of directors of at least five…
   • § 8706 The board of a consolidated district has all the duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the board of any other district. The members…
   • § 8707 Any district which has been included in a consolidated district may withdraw from the consolidated district and be reconstituted as a separate district by…
8. CHAPTER 8. Dissolution of Districts §§ 8751–8759 · 9 sections

   • § 8751 Upon the filing of a petition with the board of supervisors, signed by the owners of not less than 60 percent by area of the citrus acreage in the district,…
   • § 8752 The board of supervisors shall give notice of the time and place fixed for the hearing upon the petition for dissolution.
   • § 8753 The notice of hearing shall state all of the following: (a) That a petition has been filed requesting the dissolution of the district. (b) That the petition is…
   • § 8754 Notice of such hearing shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the district.
   • § 8755 The notice shall be published once a week for two successive weeks prior to the date set for the hearing.
   • § 8756 If, at the hearing, a majority of the members of the board of supervisors find that the dissolution of the district will benefit the citrus industry of the…
   • § 8757 The board of supervisors shall cause a certified copy of the resolution to be recorded in the office of the county recorder and shall file a certified copy of…
   • § 8758 Upon dissolution, the right, title, and interest to property owned or controlled by the district which is situated within the corporate limits of any city…
   • § 8759 The board of supervisors is ex officio the governing body of the dissolved district. It may levy such taxes and assessments and perform such other acts as may…