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Title 7, AgricultureRelease 119-110

§194 Conclusiveness of Order; Appeal and Review

Title 7 › CHAPTER 9 — PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS › SUBCHAPTER II — PACKERS GENERALLY › Part A — General Provisions › § 194

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

An order from the Secretary is final unless a packer or swine contractor files an appeal within 30 days. To appeal, they must file a written petition in the court of appeals for the circuit where their main business is and post a bond the court sets to cover costs if ordered. The court clerk must send the petition to the Secretary, who then files the official record. If the Secretary changes the report or order before that record is filed, the petitioner may, with the court’s permission, change their petition. After the petition is filed, the court can, at the Secretary’s request, temporarily block people from breaking the order while the appeal is decided. The court will use the evidence already in the record. The court may confirm, change, or cancel the Secretary’s order. If more evidence is needed, the court can reopen the hearing. The Secretary may then change or add findings based on the new evidence. If the court confirms or changes the order, its decision acts as an injunction against the packer or swine contractor and their officers, agents, and employees. The court of appeals has exclusive review once the record is filed. Its decision is final unless the Supreme Court agrees to review it by writ of certiorari within 60 days. A Supreme Court request for review does not automatically pause the appeals court’s decision unless the Supreme Court orders a stay.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §194

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Filing of petition; bond
An order made under section 193 of this title shall be final and conclusive unless within thirty days after service the packer or swine contractor appeals to the court of appeals for the circuit in which he has his principal place of business, by filing with the clerk of such court a written petition praying that the Secretary’s order be set aside or modified in the manner stated in the petition, together with a bond in such sum as the court may determine, conditioned that such packer or swine contractor will pay the costs of the proceedings if the court so directs.
(b)Filing of record by Secretary
The clerk of the court shall immediately cause a copy of the petition to be delivered to the Secretary, and the Secretary shall thereupon file in the court the record in such proceedings, as provided in section 2112 of title 28. If before such record is filed the Secretary amends or sets aside his report or order, in whole or in part, the petitioner may amend the petition within such time as the court may determine, on notice to the Secretary.
(c)Temporary injunction
At any time after such petition is filed, the court, on application of the Secretary, may issue a temporary injunction, restraining, to the extent it deems proper, the packer or swine contractor and his officers, directors, agents, and employees, from violating any of the provisions of the order pending the final determination of the appeal.
(d)Evidence
The evidence so taken or admitted, and filed as aforesaid as a part of the record, shall be considered by the court as the evidence in the case.
(e)Action by court
The court may affirm, modify, or set aside the order of the Secretary.
(f)Additional evidence
If the court determines that the just and proper disposition of the case requires the taking of additional evidence, the court shall order the hearing to be reopened for the taking of such evidence, in such manner and upon such terms and conditions as the court may deem proper. The Secretary may modify his findings as to the facts, or make new findings, by reason of the additional evidence so taken, and he shall file such modified or new findings and his recommendations, if any, for the modifications or setting aside of his order, with the return of such additional evidence.
(g)Injunction
If the court of appeals affirms or modifies the order of the Secretary, its decree shall operate as an injunction to restrain the packer or swine contractor, and his officers, directors, agents, and employees from violating the provisions of such order or such order as modified.
(h)Finality
The court of appeals shall have jurisdiction, which upon the filing of the record with it shall be exclusive, to review, and to affirm, set aside, or modify, such orders of the Secretary, and the decree of such court shall be final except that it shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari, as provided in section 1254 of title 28, if such writ is duly applied for within sixty days after entry of the decree. The issue of such writ shall not operate as a stay of the decree of the court of appeals, insofar as such decree operates as an injunction unless so ordered by the Supreme Court.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Former subsec. (i), which extended the former term “circuit court of appeals”, in case the principal place of business of the packer is in the District of Columbia, to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, for the purposes of sections 191 to 195 of this title, was omitted from the Code as obsolete. The District of Columbia is a judicial circuit under section 41 and 43 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. See, also,

Change of Name

note below.

Amendments

2002—Subsecs. (a), (c), (g). Pub. L. 107–171 substituted “packer or swine contractor” for “packer” wherever appearing. 1984—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 98–620 struck out provisions requiring proceedings in such cases in the court of appeals to be made a preferred cause and expedited in every way. 1958—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 85–791 § 6(b), substituted “thereupon file in the court” for “forthwith prepare, certify, and file in the court a full and accurate transcript of”, and “as provided in section 2112 of Title 28” for “including the complaint, the evidence, and the report and order” in first sentence, and “record” for “transcript” in second sentence. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 85–791, § 6(b), substituted “petition” for “transcript”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 85–791, § 6(b), struck out “duly certified” after “admitted”. Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 85–791, § 6(c), substituted “jurisdiction, which upon the finding of the record with it shall be exclusive,” for “exclusive jurisdiction,” and section “1254” for “347”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Act
June 25, 1948, eff. Sept. 1, 1948, as amended
May 24, 1949, substituted “court of appeals” for “circuit court of appeals”, wherever appearing. Act of
June 7, 1934, provided that Court of Appeals in District of Columbia, should hereafter be known as the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Effective Date

of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–620 not applicable to cases pending on Nov. 8, 1984, see section 403 of Pub. L. 98–620, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 1657 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 194

Title 7, Agriculture

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110