2-35-304. Levy of assessment on cattle.

2-35-304. Levy of assessment on cattle. (a)(1) Within ninety (90) days after February 14, 1983, the Arkansas Beef Council shall cause an election to be held on the question of the levy of an assessment of twenty-five cents (25¢) per head on all cattle sold in the state. (2) The election shall be held at the offices of the United States Farm Service Agency in each county in the state. (3) The council shall set the date for conducting the election in each county, shall furnish ballots for the election, and shall prescribe voting procedures for the election. (4) Each cattle owner or producer who owned or produced cattle in the year immediately preceding the election may vote in the election. (b)(1) If a majority of the cattle owners and producers in the state voting at the election vote for the levy of an assessment of twenty-five cents (25¢) per head on cattle sold in the state, the assessment shall be applicable to all sales made on and after a date specified by the council. The date shall not be later than ninety (90) days after certification of the results of the election. (2) The assessment shall be a continuing levy until either terminated by the council or until another election is held at which a majority of the cattle owners and producers in the state vote against the levy. (c)(1) When petitions containing the signatures of twenty percent (20%) of the cattle owners and producers in the state, as determined by the latest available agricultural census, are filed with the council requesting that the question of continuing the per-head assessment be submitted to a vote of the cattle owners and producers, the council shall cause an election to be held within ninety (90) days after the filing of the petitions. (2) The election shall be conducted in the same manner as the initial election held on the question of the levy of the assessment. (3) If a majority of the owners and producers voting at the election vote against the levy of the assessment, the assessment shall not be levied unless and until the levy is thereafter approved at an election called by the council. (d) If the federal Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985 and the administrative orders and rules adopted under it are discontinued for any reason, the assessment of twenty-five cents (25¢) per head of cattle sold in this state shall be reactivated the same as if the national program had never existed, and there is levied without any election an additional assessment of seventy-five cents (75¢) per head of cattle sold in this state to be collected as provided in § 2-35-305 and disposed of as provided in § 2-35-308. (e)(1) Within ninety (90) days after beginning the collection of the seventy-five-cent assessment, the council shall cause an election to be held on the question of the levy of an assessment of seventy-five cents (75¢) per head on all cattle sold in the state. (2) The election shall be held in the manner prescribed in subsections (a)-(c) of this section. (f)(1) If a majority of the cattle owners and producers in the state voting at the election vote for the levy of the additional seventy-five cents (75¢) per head on cattle sold in the state, the assessment shall continue until either terminated by the council or until another election is held at which a majority of the cattle owners and producers in the state vote against the levy. (2) If a majority of the cattle owners and producers in the state voting at the election vote against the levy of the additional seventy-five cents (75¢) per head on cattle sold in the state, the assessment shall be discontinued and shall not be levied again unless and until the levy is thereafter approved at an election called by the council.