2023 Oklahoma Statutes › Title 2. Agriculture › §2-18-309. Referendum to determine continuation of fee.

A. Producers may petition for a referendum at any time after five (5) years following the effective date of the Oklahoma Wheat Resources Act to determine if the assessment is to be continued.
B. The President of the State Board of Agriculture shall call and conduct a referendum if the petitions bear signatures of ten percent (10%) of the wheat producers. No more than one such referendum shall be conducted in any one thirty-six-month period. The State Board of Agriculture shall determine if the petition bears the required number of valid signatures. The President shall announce the referendum at least thirty (30) days prior to the day of voting. At least thirty (30) days before the referendum, the President shall mail a notice of the referendum to all known wheat producers in the State of Oklahoma who market wheat in commercial quantities. The notice shall specify the dates, times, and places for holding the referendum. The notice shall also include a sample ballot with the following wording:
DO YOU FAVOR A CONTINUATION OF THE FEE ASSESSMENT ON WHEAT MARKETED IN OKLAHOMA FOR UTILIZATION, RESEARCH AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT?
YES ( )
NO ( )
C. Places within each county for conducting the referendum shall be designated by the Agricultural Extension Division of Oklahoma State University. Voting in each county shall be supervised by the county agricultural extension agent, or a person designated by the Extension Division in cases where there is no county agent in a county at the time of the referendum.
D. The Oklahoma Wheat Commission shall ensure sufficient ballots and supplies necessary for conducting the voting and the tabulation of returns.
E. Certified results of the referendum in each county shall be transmitted within twenty-four (24) hours after voting ends to the President of the State Board of Agriculture. The ballots shall be transmitted to the President within forty-eight (48) hours. Ballots shall be preserved by the President for a period of at least three (3) months.
F. The results of the referendum shall be determined by the President and the results certified to the Governor, who shall issue a proclamation declaring the results.
G. The Commission shall bear expenses of advertising and conducting the referendum.
H. Whenever the question of levying the assessments is disapproved, by failure of sixty percent (60%) of the producers voting in the referendum to favor continuation of the assessments, the proclamation declaring the result shall provide for the termination of the assessments on April 30, following the date of the referendum.
I. Thirty (30) days after termination of the assessment, all remaining funds of the Commission shall be transferred to the Experiment Stations of Oklahoma State University, to be used for continued research on wheat.
Added by Laws 1965, c. 59, § 11, emerg. eff. April 7, 1965. Amended by Laws 1981, c. 298, § 7, emerg. eff. June 29, 1981; Laws 1998, c. 16, § 2, eff. July 1, 1998; Laws 2001, c. 146, § 28, emerg. eff. April 30, 2001. Renumbered from § 1031 of this title by Laws 2001, c. 146, § 250, emerg. eff. April 30, 2001. Amended by Laws 2011, c. 87, § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2012; Laws 2016, c. 269, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 2016; Laws 2023, c. 195, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 2023.