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WV Code § 19-3-1 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 3. Sale of Farm Products by Commission Merchants|§19-3-1. License Required; Application and Fee

A person engaged in the business of a commission merchant in this state dealing in the sale, purchase, or consignment of agricultural products shall before carrying on such business procure a license from the commissioner. Application for such license shall be made on forms prescribed by the commissioner and shall be accompanied by a fee of $10. Such license shall be renewed annually on or before July 1,.
WV Code § 19-3-2 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 3. Sale of Farm Products by Commission Merchants|§19-3-2. Applicant to Furnish Surety Bond

Prior to the issuance of a license for commission merchant, the applicant shall execute and deliver to the commissioner a surety bond conditioned as the commissioner may require and acceptable to him payable to the State of West Virginia, for the benefit of consignors who have been wronged or damaged by fraud or fraudulent practices of the commission merchant and so adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction and who shall have the right of action for damage for compensation against such bond.
WV Code § 19-3-3 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 3. Sale of Farm Products by Commission Merchants|§19-3-3. Grounds for Refusal or Revocation of License

The commissioner may refuse to grant a license or may revoke a license already granted when he is satisfied that the applicant or licensee has:(1) Failed to satisfy a money judgment properly served against him (2) Made false, fraudulent or improper charges or returns for the handling, sale, storage, or other services in connection with agricultural products;(3) Failed or refused to render an account of sales or make prompt settlement thereon;(4) Knowingly made false or misleading statements as to the condition, quality, or quantity of agricultural products received, handled, stored, or held by him for sale;(5) Made false or misleading statements concerning market conditions, with the intent to deceive;(6) Combined or conspired to fix prices either directly or indirectly;(7) Purchased for his own account agricultural products received by him upon consignment without prior notice to the consignor in writing, or at an agreed price fixed by the consignor;(8) Made fictitious sales or has been guilty of collusion to defraud the consignor;(9) Has reconsigned agricultural products without the written consent of the consignor or without notice to the consignor that all or part of his shipment has been reconsigned;(10) Sold consigned goods to another person, exchange, association, or corporation in which the consignee has a financial interest without notice in writing to the consignor of such interest.
WV Code § 19-3-4 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 3. Sale of Farm Products by Commission Merchants|§19-3-4. Suit on Bond; Limitation on Recovery

A person injured by the failure of a commission merchant to pay over the full amount received on any sale, less commissions and charges may recover on the bond of the commission merchant the amount due him by a suit brought in the name of the State of West Virginia for the use of the injured person. No recovery shall be had on the bond in excess of the penalty thereof. In case of multiple claims in excess of the bond, each claimant shall recover his pro rata share.
WV Code § 19-3-5 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 3. Sale of Farm Products by Commission Merchants|§19-3-5. Penalty; Moneys Collected to Be Deposited in &Quotgeneral Marketing fund."

A commission merchant who violates any of the provisions of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction shall be fined not more than $100 for the first offense, and not less than $100 nor more than $200 for each subsequent offense. Each transaction engaged in by an unlicensed commission merchant shall constitute a separate offense.All moneys collected under this article shall be deposited with the treasurer of the State of West Virginia and shall be kept in a separate fund to be designated as the "general marketing fund" and reappropriated to the Department of Agriculture for the administration of this article.
WV Code § 19-4-1 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-1. Definitions

As used in this article:(a) "Agricultural products" means horticultural, viticultural, forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, bee and any farm products in their natural form or processed.(b) "Goods and services" means food and beverages, arts and crafts, woodworking and furniture-making, and recycling, composting and repurposing materials.(c) "Member" means a member of an association without capital stock and a holder of common stock in an association organized with capital stock.(d) "Cooperative association" or "association" means any corporation organized under this article. Each association shall also comply with the requisite business corporation provisions of chapter thirty-one-d or thirty-one-f of this code, or the nonprofit corporation provisions of chapter thirty-one-e of this code.Except within a thirty-five mile radius of a facility that has been permitted and classified by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection as a mixed waste processing resource recovery facility, a recycling cooperative association may be organized as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to chapter thirty-one-e of this code. Any such recycling cooperative association is limited to owning or using one motor vehicle for the collection and transportation of recyclable goods. The recyclable goods must be generated by members of the recycling cooperative association.(e) "Qualified person" means a person who is engaged in the producing, preserving, harvesting, drying, processing, manufacturing, canning, packing, grading, storing, handling, utilizing, marketing, financing, selling, distributing, shipping, procuring or providing of agricultural products, or other goods and services, or the by-products thereof.(f) "Qualified activity" means those engaged in the producing, preserving, harvesting, drying, processing, manufacturing, canning, packing, grading, storing, handling, utilizing, marketing, financing, selling, distributing, shipping, procuring or providing of agricultural products, or other goods and services, or the by-products thereof.
WV Code § 19-4-2 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-2. Who May Organize

Three or more qualified persons engaged in the production of agricultural products or the provision of goods and services may form a cooperative association with or without capital stock. Three or more cooperative associations may form an agricultural credit association, with or without capital stock, under this article and in compliance with the credit union provisions of chapter thirty-one-c of this code.
WV Code § 19-4-3 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-3. Purposes

A cooperative association may be organized to engage in one or more qualified activities in connection with the marketing or selling of agricultural products or the goods and services of its members or those purchased from other persons; or in connection with the manufacturing, selling or supplying to its members of machinery, equipment or supplies; or in securing and disseminating market information; or in the financing directly, through agricultural credit associations, and/or otherwise, the above-enumerated activities; or in any one or more of the activities specified herein. An agricultural credit association may be organized hereunder to finance qualified persons or to finance any cooperative association, or both, whether formed under the laws of this or any other state.
WV Code § 19-4-5 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-5. Members

(a) Under the terms and conditions prescribed in the bylaws adopted by it, a cooperative association may admit as members, or issue common stock to, only qualified persons, employees, volunteers and persons engaged in qualified activities, including the production, sale, creation, distribution, aggregation or cooperative marketing of the agricultural products or the goods and services to be handled by or through the association, and any lessor or landlord who receives as rent all or any part of a crop raised on the leased premises; and under the terms and conditions prescribed in the bylaws adopted by it, an agricultural credit association may admit any person as a member.(b) If a member of a nonstock association be other than a natural person, the member may be represented by an individual, associate, officer or manager or member thereof, duly authorized in writing.(c) One association organized hereunder may become a member or stockholder of any other association or associations organized under this article or similar laws of any state.
WV Code § 19-4-6 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-6. Articles of Incorporation

Each association formed under this article shall prepare and file articles of incorporation, setting forth:(a) The name of the association, which includes the words "cooperative," "co-operative," or "co-op," and words or abbreviations designating a corporation;(b) The purposes for which it is formed;(c) The place where its principal business will be transacted;(d) The period, if any prescribed, for the duration of the corporation;(e) The number of incorporators which is not less than three, the number of directors which is not less than three and any number in excess of those minimums, or it may be set forth that the number of directors will be fixed by the bylaws;(f) If organized without capital stock, whether the property rights and interest of each member are equal or unequal; and if unequal, the general rules applicable to the classes of members whose property rights and interest are determined and fixed; and provision for the admission of new members who may be entitled to share in the property of the association with the old members, in accordance with the general rules. This provision of the articles of incorporation may not be altered, amended or repealed except by the written consent or vote of three fourths of the members;(g) If organized with capital stock and authorized to issue only one class of stock, the total number of shares of stock which the association has authority to issue, including: (1) The par value of each of the shares; or (2) a statement that all the shares are to be without par value;(h) If the association is authorized to issue more than one class of stock, the total number of shares of all classes of stock which the association may issue, including: (1) The number of shares of each class that have a par value and the par value of each share by class; (2) the number of shares that are to be without par value; and (3) a statement of the powers, preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations or restrictions that are permitted by section thirteen of this article in respect to a class of stock fixed by the articles of incorporation or by resolution of the board of directors;(i) The articles shall be signed and filed in accordance with the provisions of the business or nonprofit corporation laws of this state;(j) The articles may also contain any provisions managing, defining, limiting or regulating the powers and affairs of the association, the directors, the stockholders or members of the association.
WV Code § 19-4-7 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-7. Amendments to Articles of Incorporation

The articles of incorporation may be altered or amended at any regular meeting or any special meeting called for that purpose. An amendment must first be approved by two thirds of the directors and then adopted by a vote representing a majority of all the members of the association. Amendments to the articles of incorporation, when so adopted, shall be filed in accordance with the provisions of the general corporation laws of this state.
WV Code § 19-4-8 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-8. Bylaws

Each association incorporated under this article, must, within thirty days after its incorporation, adopt for its government and management a code of bylaws, not inconsistent with the powers granted by this article. A majority vote of the members or stockholders, or their written assent, is necessary to adopt such bylaws. Each association, under its bylaws, may provide for any or all of the following matters:(a) The time, place and manner of calling and conducting its meetings;(b) The number of stockholders or members constituting a quorum;(c) The right of members or stockholders to vote by proxy or by mail or both; and the conditions, manner, form, and effect of such votes;(d) The number of directors constituting a quorum; and, if authority therefor is given in the articles of incorporation, the total number of directors;(e) The qualifications, compensation, duties and term of office of directors and officers; time of their election and the mode and manner of giving notice thereof;(f) Penalties for violation of the bylaws;(g) The amount of entrance, organization and membership fees, if any; the manner and method of collecting the same; and the purposes for which they may be used;(h) The amount which each member or stockholder shall be required to pay annually or from time to time, if at all, to carry on the business of the association; the charge, if any, to be paid by each member or stockholder for services rendered by the association to him and the time of payment and the manner of collection; and the marketing contract between the association and its members or stockholders which every member or stockholder may be required to sign;(i) The number and qualifications of members or stockholders of the association and the conditions precedent to membership or ownership of common stock; the method, time and manner of permitting members to withdraw or the holders of common stock to transfer their stock; the manner of assignment and transfer of the interest of members and of the shares of common stock; the conditions upon which and time when membership of any member shall cease; the automatic suspension of the rights of a member when he ceases to be eligible to membership in the association; the mode, manner and effect of the expulsion of a member; the manner of determining the value of a member's interest, and provision for its purchase by the association, at its option, upon the death or withdrawal of a member or stockholder, or upon the expulsion of a member or forfeiture of his membership, or, at the option of the association, the purchase at a price fixed by conclusive appraisal by the board of directors, or at the election of the board, such property interests may be sold at public auction to the association itself, or to any person eligible to membership in such association and the proceeds of such sale paid over to the personal representative of such deceased member, or to the member withdrawing or expelled, as the case may be.
WV Code § 19-4-9 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-9. General and Special Meetings

In its bylaws, each association shall provide for one or more regular meetings annually. The board of directors shall have the right to call a special meeting at any time; and ten percent of the members or stockholders may file a petition stating the specific business to be brought before the association and demand a special meeting at any time. Such meeting must thereupon be called by the directors. Notice of all meetings, together with a statement of the purposes thereof, shall be mailed to each member at least ten days prior to the meeting: Provided, however, That the bylaws may require instead that such notice may be given as provided by this section, namely, as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty- nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the county in which the principal place of business of the association is located.
WV Code § 19-4-10 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-10. Directors

(a) The affairs of the association shall be managed by a board of not less than three directors, elected by the members or stockholders.(b) The bylaws may provide that the territory in which the association has members shall be divided into districts and that the directors be elected either directly or by district delegates elected by the members in that district. The bylaws shall specify the number of directors to be elected by each district, the manner of reapportioning the directors and the method of redistricting the territory covered by the association. The bylaws may provide that primary elections shall be held in each district to elect the directors apportioned to the districts and that the results of all the primary elections may be ratified during the next regular meeting of the association or may be considered final.(c) The bylaws may provide that one or more directors may be appointed by a public official, commission or by the other directors. These public directors shall represent the interest of the general public in the associations. The public directors need not be members or stockholders of the association, but shall have the same powers and rights as other directors. The directors shall not number more than one fifth of the entire number of directors.(d) An association may provide a fair remuneration for the time actually spent by its officers and directors in its service and for the service of the members of its executive committee. No director, during the term of his or her office, shall be a party to a contract for profit with the association differing from the contractual terms accorded regular members or holders of common stock of the association.(e) The bylaws may provide that no director, except the president and secretary, shall occupy a position in the association on regular salary or substantially full-time pay.(f) The bylaws may provide for an executive committee and may allot to the committee all the functions and powers of the board of directors, subject to the general direction and control of the board.(g) When a vacancy on the board of directors occurs other than by expiration of term, the remaining members of the board, by a majority vote, shall fill the vacancy, unless the bylaws provide for an election of directors by district. In that case the board of directors shall immediately call a special meeting of the members or stockholders in that district to fill the vacancy.
WV Code § 19-4-11 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-11. Officers

The directors shall elect from their number a president and one or more vice presidents. They shall also elect a secretary and a treasurer, who need not be directors or members of the association; and they may combine the two latter offices and designate the combined office as secretary-treasurer; or unite both functions and titles in one person. The treasurer may be a bank or any depository, and, as such, shall not be considered an officer, but as a function of the board of directors. In such case, the secretary shall perform the usual accounting duties of the treasurer, except that the funds shall be deposited only as and where authorized by the board of directors.
WV Code § 19-4-12 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-12. Officers, Employees and Agents to Be Bonded

Every officer, employee and agent handling funds or negotiable instruments or property of or for any association created hereunder shall be required to execute and deliver adequate bonds for the faithful performance of his duties and obligations.
WV Code § 19-4-14 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-14. Removal of Officer or Director

Any member may bring charges against an officer or director by filing them in writing with the secretary of the association, together with a petition signed by five percent of the members, requesting the removal of the officer or director in question. The removal shall be voted upon at the next regular or special meeting of the association and, by a vote of a majority of the members, the association may remove the officer or director and fill the vacancy. The director or officer against whom such charges have been brought shall be informed in writing of the charges previous to the meeting and shall have an opportunity at the meeting to be heard in person or by counsel and to present witnesses; and the person or persons bringing the charges against him shall have the same opportunity.In case the bylaws provide for election of directors by districts with primary elections in each district, then the petition for removal of a director must be signed by twenty percent of the members residing in the district from which he was elected. The board of directors must call a special meeting of the members residing in that district to consider the removal of the director; and by a vote of the majority of the members of that district the director in question shall be removed from office.
WV Code § 19-4-15 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-15. Referendum

Upon demand of one third of the entire board of directors, made immediately and so recorded, at the same meeting at which the original motion was passed, any matter of policy that has been approved or passed by the board must be referred to the entire membership or the stockholders for decision at the next special or regular meeting; and a special meeting may be called for the purpose.
WV Code § 19-4-16 (2021)
2021 West Virginia Code|Chapter 19. Agriculture|Article 4. Cooperative Associations|§19-4-16. Marketing Contract

The association and its members may take and execute marketing contracts, requiring the members to sell, for any period of time, not over twenty years, all or any specified part of their agricultural products, goods and services or specified commodities exclusively to or through the association, or any facilities to be created by the association. If they contract a sale to the association, it shall be conclusively held that title to the products, goods and services passes absolutely and unreservedly, except for recorded liens, to the association upon delivery, or at any other specified time if expressly and definitely agreed in such contract. The contract may provide, among other things, that the association may sell or resell the products, goods and services delivered by its members, with or without taking title thereto, and pay over to its members the resale price, after deducting all necessary selling, overhead and other costs and expenses, including interest or dividends on stock, not exceeding eight percent per annum, and reserves for retiring the stock, if any; and any other proper reserves; or any other deductions.