Title 69, Agriculture, Horticulture, and Animals

The state seed certifying agency shall not have the power to engage in the sale or processing of seeds, plants or plant parts or other farm products or to designate any agency or individual for these purposes except that the state seed certifying agency may promote the sale of ce…

The duly approved state seed certifying agency is hereby vested with the full authority to establish, create and specify rules and regulations for the designation of seeds, plants and plant parts and other farm products as certified or Mississippi certified to be grown, harvested…

Any person desiring a change in the rules and regulations or to appeal from the action of the state seed certifying agency shall have the right of a hearing either in person or by attorney before a board of appeals composed of the state commissioner of agriculture and commerce, t…

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation to issue, make, use, or circulate any certification as defined in this article without the authority or approval of the approved state seed certifying agency.

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce of Mississippi is hereby vested with the responsibility for enforcing the provisions of this article.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, every person, firm, association or corporation who shall violate any of the provisions of this article pertaining to certification shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in a…

(1) The Mississippi Fair Commission is hereby abolished, and all of the powers, duties, property, contractual rights and obligations and unexpended funds of that commission shall be transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Commerce on July 1, 2020. Wherever the term “Miss…

(1) The Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall charge for admission to the State Fair. The proceeds thereof shall be used for the repayment of revenue bonds issued for the purpose of constructing, equipping and furnishing new buildings and making improvements on the State F…

The Department of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to declare by resolution the number and type buildings which need to be constructed and the type improvements that need to be made on the state fairgrounds, and file a certified copy…

(1) The words “revenue bonds” shall be deemed to mean bonds payable solely from the net revenue received by the Department of Agriculture and Commerce. The Department of Finance and Administration shall have power and is hereby authorized, at one time or from time to time by reso…

The State Bond Commission may sell the bonds referred to in Section 69-5-15 in such manner and for such price as it may determine to be for the best interest of the State of Mississippi, but no such sale shall be made at a price less than par plus accrued interest to date of deli…

The proceeds of bonds sold pursuant to Section 69-5-17 shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of a special fund known as the State Fair Fund, and shall be used solely for payment of the cost of the project or combined projects, and shall be disbursed upon order of th…

Revenue bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 69-5-15 and 69-5-19 shall not be deemed to constitute a debt of the State of Mississippi or a pledge of the full faith and credit of the state, but such bonds shall be payable solely from the special revenues provided therefor…

All bonds issued under the provisions of Sections 69-5-15 and 69-5-19 shall constitute negotiable instruments within the meaning of the Uniform Commercial Code of the State of Mississippi.

Revenue bonds may be issued without any other proceedings or the happening of any other conditions or things than those proceedings, conditions, and things which are specified or required by Sections 69-5-13 through 69-5-25. The bonds authorized under the authority of said sectio…

The Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall have the power and authority, in its discretion, to borrow money from any bank or banks in an amount not in excess of Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00), to be used for the repair, renovation or maintenance of buildings loc…

The Department of Agriculture and Commerce may by regulation establish policies for the issuance of free passes. These policies shall not prohibit officials of the fair or designated authority from entering said places for inspection purposes; shall not apply to press reporters d…

(1) The Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall set up rules and regulations consistent with the law governing the distribution of state monies for premiums or awards. It will be the duty of the department, at least twice each year, to approve premium lists or awards, and gi…

(1) The Department of Agriculture and Commerce is authorized to hire and designate area law enforcement officers on a contractual basis to provide security and to enforce all laws of the State of Mississippi on the Mississippi State Fairgrounds Complex. All officers must have att…

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce shall appoint, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, a director within the department who shall oversee all operations at the State Fairgrounds Complex and its adjoining properties and who shall give full and detailed report…

Headquarters of the Mississippi State Fair operations shall be in connection with the office of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce.

The building under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, that is located in Jackson, Mississippi, and used primarily as an arena for rodeo and livestock expositions and related events, shall be named the Kirk Fordice Equine Center. The Department of Agri…

Nothing in Sections 69-5-1 through 69-5-9 shall be construed to mean a change in the location or limit the number of district or divert any appropriation made by the Legislature to the various livestock shows in Mississippi now set up and designated by law.

In order to encourage and promote the raising of livestock and dairy stock in the state, there is hereby created a body politic and corporate to be hereafter known as “Mississippi Livestock Show” which said body politic and corporate shall be under the management and control of t…

(a) For the purposes of this article, the State of Mississippi is hereby divided into five (5) livestock show districts, as follows:(a) The Northwest District, which shall embrace the Counties of Coahoma, DeSoto, Grenada, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tate, …

(1) There shall be held at the place named in each district a livestock show once each year at a time to be fixed by the directors, and under the supervision and rules and regulations promulgated by said directors at which the owners of livestock within the district where the liv…

Dairy shows shall be held, in addition to the livestock shows, each fall at Pontotoc in Pontotoc County, at Newton in Newton County, Tylertown in Walthall County, and at Purvis in Lamar County, and each summer at the Neshoba County Fair in Neshoba County, and any person in the st…

A roundup show shall be held, in addition to the livestock and dairy shows, once each year at a time and place to be fixed by the directors mentioned in Section 69-5-101, and under the supervision and rules and regulations promulgated by said directors. At such roundup show the o…

The directors mentioned in Section 69-5-101 are hereby authorized to accept and hold for the use of the Mississippi Livestock Show or the dairy shows or the roundup show any appropriation, donation, or other fund donated to or to be awarded as prizes or awards under regulations p…

The board of supervisors of any county in Mississippi is hereby authorized, in its discretion, to appropriate money out of the general fund of the county, not to exceed the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) annually, to aid in the payment of premiums and awards made and giv…

In any livestock facility constructed, renovated or expanded with funds from the grant program authorized under Section 18, Chapter 530, Laws of 1995, the members of the Future Farmers of America, the 4-H Club, the Junior Livestock Association, the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Associa…

In order to encourage and promote the raising of livestock in the State of Mississippi there is hereby created a body politic and corporate to be hereinafter known as “Mississippi Delta Livestock Fair Association,” which said body politic and corporate shall be under the manageme…

The board of supervisors of any of the counties composing the Mississippi Delta Livestock Fair Association, as provided by Section 69-5-115, is authorized and empowered within its discretion to appropriate not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars per annum out of the general funds o…

The board of supervisors of all counties in this state, composing the Mississippi Delta Livestock Fair Association as provided in Section 69-5-115 is authorized and empowered, in its discretion to levy annually a special tax of not exceeding one-fourth of a mill on the dollar, on…

(1) For the purpose of promoting, fostering and encouraging the upgrading and improving of livestock, any county with an assessed valuation of Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00) or more, and designated as a place for the holding of a livestock show, by the provisions of Sec…

The Mississippi Central Market Board is hereby abolished, and all of the powers, duties, property, contractual rights and obligations, and unexpended funds of that commission shall be transferred to the Department of Agriculture and Commerce on July 1, 2021. Wherever the term “Ce…

(a) The Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall have the power to:(a) Fix salaries of any authorized employees of the market;(b) Fix rentals and charges for each type of facility constructed in the market, taking into consideration the cost of such facility, the interest and…

The Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall keep, or have kept, records of all leases, rentals, sales, and expense items which shall be audited as other state records are audited and the department shall make, or cause to be made, a report of receipts and disbursements and o…

The Department of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized subject to the approval of the building commission to acquire by purchase, donation, lease or condemnation, and for and in the name of the State of Mississippi, a suitable site or sites, accessible to highways and ra…

All funds collected under this article shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of Central Market Fund and shall be used solely for payment of the expenses of operation and maintenance of such market and facilities including the acquisition, leasing, maintenance and…

For the purposes of this article, every person, firm, corporation, association or other legal entity who is engaged in hatching baby chicks and ratites, including baby ostrich, emu and rhea, for sale, distribution or under contract, either oral or written, for the production of o…

Every person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other legal entity in this state, engaged in the business of operating an incubator, or incubators, for hatching baby chicks and ratites, including baby ostrich, emu and rhea, for sale, distribution or under contract, …

The commissioner of agriculture and commerce is hereby authorized, empowered and directed to promulgate proper rules and regulations for the issuance of the license and for the renewal thereof, and for the preparation of the proper forms to be used, and the commissioner shall, to…

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce shall prescribe and furnish the necessary and proper forms for an application for a license required by Section 69-7-203, and such application form must be signed by the applicant, under oath, as to the correctness of the information f…

Any person feeling aggrieved with the decision of the commissioner of agriculture and commerce in refusing to grant a license hereunder shall have recourse by an appeal to the chancery court of Hinds County, Mississippi, by petition filed within thirty days from the date of final…

Should any person continue to operate such business without having complied with the provisions of this article, the commissioner of agriculture and commerce is authorized to file petition for an injunction in the chancery court of the district where the violator may reside, or i…