Florida Statutes 581.211 – Penalties for violations
Current as of: 2023 | Check for updates
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(1) Any person who:
For details, see Fla. Stat. § 775.082(3)(d), Fla. Stat. § 775.082(3)(e) and Fla. Stat. § 775.082(4)(a)
(a) Violates any provision of this chapter or the rules adopted under this chapter;
Attorney's Note
Under the Florida Statutes, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Felony of the second degree | up to 15 years | up to $10,000 |
| Felony of the third degree | up to 5 years | up to $5,000 |
| misdemeanor of the first degree | up to 1 year | up to $1,000 |
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 581.211
- Agent: means any person selling or distributing nursery stock under the partial or full control of a nurseryman. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- Authorized representative: means any designated employee, inspector, or collaborator of the division or the United States Department of Agriculture. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- certificate: includes label, rubber stamp imprint, tag, permit, written statement, or any form of inspection and certification document which accompanies the movement of inspected and certified plant material and plant products. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- Certificate of inspection: means an official document stipulating compliance with the requirements of this chapter. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- Certificate of registration: means an official document issued by the division to nurseries, stock dealers, agents, and plant brokers as evidence of being properly registered with the division in compliance with the requirements of this chapter and of any of the rules promulgated hereunder. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- Compliance agreement: means a written agreement between the department and any person engaged in growing, handling, or moving articles, plants, or plant products regulated under this chapter, wherein the person agrees to comply with stipulated requirements. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- Department: means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services of the state or its authorized representative. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- Director: means the director of the Division of Plant Industry. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- Division: means the Division of Plant Industry of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- Nurseryman: means any person engaged in the production of nursery stock for sale or distribution. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
- Plant broker: means a person who transacts the transfer of plants from a seller to a buyer and who may or may not be in actual physical possession of the plants. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- Plant pest: means any living stage of any insects, mites, nematodes, slugs, snails, protozoa, or other invertebrate animals, bacteria, fungi, other parasitic plants or their reproductive parts, or viruses, or any organisms similar to or allied with any of the foregoing, including any genetically engineered organisms, or any infectious substances which can directly or indirectly injure or cause disease or damage in any plants or plant parts or any processed, manufactured, or other plant products. See Florida Statutes 581.011
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- Stock dealer: means any person not a grower of nursery stock in this state who buys or otherwise acquires nursery stock for the purpose of reselling independently of any control of a nurseryman, agent, or plant broker, and who at any time maintains physical possession of such nursery stock. See Florida Statutes 581.011
(b) Forges, counterfeits, removes, destroys, disguises, or wrongfully or improperly uses any tag, certificate, permit, compliance agreement, or other written agreement provided for in this chapter;
(c) Interferes with or obstructs any director or authorized representative of the department in the performance of her or his duties;
(d) Willfully refuses to identify the origin and source of any plant, plant product, or other thing likely to carry plant pests, noxious weeds, or arthropods; or
(e) Has in her or his possession unauthorized imported plants or plant products,
commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(2) Any person who imports from other states, territories, or countries, without a special permit from the Division of Plant Industry, plants or propagative plant parts of the subfamily Aurantioideae (after Swingle and Reese which includes all species of citrus) commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(3)(a)1. In addition to any other provision of law, the department may, after notice and hearing, impose an administrative fine pursuant to s. 570.971 in the Class II category for each violation of this chapter, upon a person, nurseryman, stock dealer, agent, or plant broker. The fine, when paid, shall be deposited in the Plant Industry Trust Fund. In addition, the department may place the violator on probation for up to 1 year, with conditions.
2. The imposition of a fine or probation pursuant to this subsection may be in addition to or in lieu of the suspension or revocation of a certificate of registration or certificate of inspection.
(b) Whenever any administrative order has been entered by the department imposing a fine or probation upon any person pursuant to this subsection, the order shall specify the conditions and time limit for probation, and the amount of the fine and time limit for payment which shall not exceed 15 days. If the person fails to meet the conditions of probation or to pay the fine within the established time, the person’s certificate of registration or certificate of inspection may be suspended or revoked, and a fine of $100 per day imposed for each day the violation continues.
(4) A person who knowingly acquires, imports, possesses, sells or offers to sell, trades or offers to trade, barters or offers to barter, moves or causes to be moved, introduces, or releases a plant pest without a special permit from the division:
(b) Is subject to an administrative fine pursuant to s. 570.971 in the Class II category for each violation of this chapter;
(c) May have a certificate of registration or certificate of inspection suspended or revoked; and
(d) Is liable for the payment of all reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the department in a pest control or eradication program. Moneys collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Plant Industry Trust Fund.
(5) A person who knowingly acquires, imports, possesses, sells or offers to sell, trades or offers to trade, barters or offers to barter, moves or causes to be moved, introduces, or releases a plant pest without a special permit from the division that results in the issuance of a declaration of an agricultural emergency by the Commissioner of Agriculture or the implementation of a control or eradication program by the department or the United States Department of Agriculture:
(b) Is subject to an administrative fine pursuant to s. 570.971 in the Class IV category for each violation of this chapter;
(c) May have a certificate of registration or certificate of inspection suspended or revoked; and
(d) Is liable for the payment of all reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the department in a plant pest control or eradication program. Moneys collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Plant Industry Trust Fund.