2023 Kansas Statutes › Chapter 2 - Agriculture › Article 39 - Industrial Hemp › 2-3906 Commercial industrial hemp plan; requirements for hemp producers; violations by hemp producers; criminal history record checks; license modification fee limit.

2-3906. Commercial industrial hemp plan; requirements for hemp producers; violations by hemp producers; criminal history record checks; license modification fee limit.
(a) The Kansas department of agriculture, in consultation with the governor and attorney general, shall submit a plan to the United States department of agriculture under which the Kansas department of agriculture will monitor and regulate the commercial production of industrial hemp within the state in accordance with 7 U.S.C. § 1621 et seq. and any rules and regulations adopted thereunder.
(b) Such plan shall include the following:
(1) A procedure to maintain relevant information regarding land on which industrial hemp is produced, including a legal description of the land, for a period of not less than three calendar years;
(2) a procedure for testing, using post-decarboxylation or other similarly reliable methods, the delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration levels of industrial hemp produced;
(3) a procedure for the effective disposal of industrial hemp and hemp products that are found to be in violation of this act;
(4) any licensing requirements or other rules and regulations deemed necessary by the Kansas department of agriculture for the proper monitoring and regulation of industrial hemp cultivation and production for commercial purposes, including, but not limited to:
(A) Fees for licenses, license renewals and other necessary expenses to defray the cost of implementing and operating the plan on an ongoing basis; and
(B) standards for authorized seed or clone plants;
(5) a procedure for the creation of documentation that any person in possession of unprocessed industrial hemp may use to prove to any law enforcement officer that such industrial hemp was lawfully grown under this section;
(6) a procedure for conducting annual inspections of, at a minimum, a random sample of hemp producers to verify that industrial hemp is not produced in violation of this act; and
(7) any other procedures necessary to meet the requirements set forth in 7 U.S.C. § 1621 et seq. and any rules and regulations adopted thereunder.
(c) (1) A hemp producer who negligently violates this section or any rules and regulations adopted hereunder shall not be subject to any state or local criminal enforcement action, but shall comply with the following corrective actions as applicable:
(A) A reasonable date by which the hemp producer shall correct the negligent violation; and
(B) a requirement that the hemp producer shall periodically report to the Kansas department of agriculture on the hemp producer's compliance with this section and rules and regulations adopted hereunder, for a period of not less than the next two calendar years.
(2) A hemp producer who negligently violates this section or any rules and regulations adopted hereunder three times in a five-year period shall be ineligible to produce industrial hemp for a period of five years beginning on the date of the third violation.
(3) The Kansas department of agriculture shall immediately report any violation by a hemp producer with a greater culpable mental state than negligence to the attorney general and such hemp producer shall not be subject to the exemption in subsection (c)(1).
(d) Any individual otherwise eligible to become a licensed hemp producer shall not be eligible to produce industrial hemp if such individual has submitted any materially false information in any application to become a licensed hemp producer.
(e) (1) The department shall require, as a qualification for initial or continuing licensure, all individuals seeking a license or license renewal as a hemp producer under this section to be fingerprinted and to submit to a state and national criminal history record check. The fingerprints shall be used to identify the individual and to determine whether the individual has a record of criminal history in this state or any other jurisdiction. The department is authorized to submit the fingerprints to the Kansas bureau of investigation and the federal bureau of investigation for a state and national criminal history record check. The department may use the information obtained from fingerprinting and the criminal history record check for purposes of verifying the identification of the individual and for making an official determination of the qualifications for initial or continuing licensure as a hemp producer pursuant to this section and rules and regulations promulgated hereunder. Disclosure or use of any information received by the department for any purpose other than the purposes provided for in the commercial industrial hemp act shall be a class A misdemeanor and shall constitute grounds for removal from office or termination of employment.
(2) An individual who has been convicted of a felony violation of article 57 of chapter 21 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto, or a substantially similar offense in another jurisdiction, within the immediately preceding 10 years, shall be disqualified from initial or continuing licensure as a hemp producer under this section.
(3) The Kansas bureau of investigation may charge a reasonable fee for conducting a criminal history record check.
(4) The individual seeking a license or license renewal as a hemp producer under this section shall pay the costs of fingerprinting and the state and national criminal history record checks.
(f) The secretary of agriculture shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement the plan submitted to the United States department of agriculture and to otherwise effectuate the provisions of this section.
(g) Upon the repeal of 7 U.S.C. § 5940 or either the adoption of a federal plan by the United States department of agriculture that allows for the cultivation and production of industrial hemp for commercial purposes within the state or upon the adoption of rules and regulations by the Kansas secretary of agriculture that establish the cultivation and production of industrial hemp for commercial purposes within the state, the Kansas department of agriculture may discontinue the industrial hemp research program established pursuant to K.S.A. 2-3902, and amendments thereto.
(h) Any modification fee established by the department for any requested change to a license that was previously issued by the department under this section shall not exceed $50.
(i) Any licensing or other fees collected pursuant to this section and any rules and regulations adopted hereunder shall be deposited in the commercial industrial hemp act licensing fee fund established by K.S.A. 2-3903, and amendments thereto, for all costs of the administration of the commercial production of industrial hemp.
(j) This section shall be a part of and supplemental to the commercial industrial hemp act, K.S.A. 2-3901 et seq., and amendments thereto.
History:
L. 2019, ch. 37, § 2; L. 2022, ch. 69, § 26; July 1.