Ohio Code 926.11 – Maintenance of records and accounts
(A) Each licensed handler shall keep in a place of safety complete and correct records and accounts of:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 926.11
- Agricultural commodity: means corn, soybeans, wheat, or any other agricultural crop that the director of agriculture may designate by rule. See Ohio Code 926.01
- agriculture: includes farming; ranching; aquaculture; algaculture meaning the farming of algae; apiculture and related apicultural activities, production of honey, beeswax, honeycomb, and other related products; horticulture; viticulture, winemaking, and related activities; animal husbandry, including, but not limited to, the care and raising of livestock, equine, and fur-bearing animals; poultry husbandry and the production of poultry and poultry products; dairy production; the production of field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, flowers, sod, or mushrooms; timber; pasturage; any combination of the foregoing; the processing, drying, storage, and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are conducted in conjunction with, but are secondary to, such husbandry or production; and any additions or modifications to the foregoing made by the director of agriculture by rule adopted in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code. See Ohio Code 1.61
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Depositor: means :
(1) Any person who delivers an agricultural commodity to a licensed handler for storage, conditioning, shipment, or sale;
(2) Any owner or legal holder of a ticket or receipt issued for an agricultural commodity who is a creditor of the licensed handler for the value of the agricultural commodity;
(3) Any licensed handler storing an agricultural commodity that the licensed handler owns solely, jointly, or in common with others in a warehouse owned or controlled by the licensed handler or any other licensed handler. See Ohio Code 926.01
- handler: means any person who is engaged in the business of agricultural commodity handling. See Ohio Code 926.01
- handling: means any of the following:
(1) Engaging in or participating in the business of purchasing from producers agricultural commodities for any use in excess of thirty thousand bushels annually;
(2) Operating a warehouse as a bailee for the receiving, storing, shipping, or conditioning of an agricultural commodity;
(3) Receiving into a warehouse an agricultural commodity purchased under a delayed price agreement;
(4) Providing marketing functions, including storage, delayed price marketing, deferred payment, feed agreements, or any other marketing transaction whereby control is exerted over the monetary proceeds of a producer's agricultural commodities by a person other than the producer. See Ohio Code 926.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Storage: means the deposit of an agricultural commodity into a warehouse either for the account of the licensed handler operating the warehouse or for the account of a depositor. See Ohio Code 926.01
- Ticket: means a scale weight ticket, a load slip, or any evidence, other than a receipt, given to a depositor by a licensed handler upon delivery of an agricultural commodity to the handler. See Ohio Code 926.01
- Warehouse: means any building, bin, protected enclosure, or similar premises under the control of a licensed or unlicensed handler used for receiving, storing, shipping, or handling an agricultural commodity. See Ohio Code 926.01
(1) Agricultural commodities received in the handler’s warehouse and withdrawn therefrom;
(2) Unissued receipts and tickets in the handler’s possession;
(3) Receipts and tickets issued by the handler;
(4) Receipts and tickets returned to and canceled by the handler;
(5) Agricultural commodities handled by the handler recorded on a position record that is updated daily showing the types of marketing transactions including storage under bailment, delayed price, grain bank, sold and priced, or any other types of transactions through which the handler is handling the commodities.
(B) The records and accounts required under division (A) of this section shall be retained by the licensed handler for such period as may be prescribed by the director of agriculture; except that copies of receipts or other documents evidencing ownership of any agricultural commodity, or liability as a licensed handler, shall be retained so long as such documents are outstanding, and any such document that has been canceled shall be retained for a period of not less than three years from the date of cancellation.
(C) All records and accounts required under this section shall be kept separate and distinct from records and accounts of any other business and shall be subject to inspection by the director or his representative at all reasonable times. A licensed handler who keeps false records and accounts is guilty of the offense of falsification under section 2921.13 of the Revised Code.
(D) The director may examine, or cause to be examined, at any reasonable time, the records and accounts, agricultural commodity inventory, or warehouse of a licensed handler, applicant for a handler’s license, or unlicensed person suspected of being an agricultural commodity handler. If the director or the director’s designated representative is unable to conduct or complete an examination of a licensed handler’s records, inventory, or warehouse due to inadequate, incomplete, or noncurrent records, as required under this chapter and the rules adopted under it, the director or designated representative shall assess a charge against the licensed handler for necessary meals and lodging, mileage, hourly costs, and any other expense incurred or required by the director or the director’s designated representative to complete the examination. The charge shall become a claim of the state.
(E) Each licensed handler shall keep separate records and accounts of all agricultural commodities that are delivered to the handler for storage under bailment agreements and shall not include those commodities in any accounting or computation of his assets.
(F) A commodity marketing transaction between a licensed handler and a depositor, except a transaction in which commodities are sold at the current market price at the time of delivery, is presumed to be a deposit under bailment unless a written contract executed by and between the handler and the depositor clearly indicates otherwise. Such written contract shall state who has title to the commodities, how the commodities are to be priced, any service charges for which the depositor is liable, and any other terms or conditions that would affect the net value of the commodities and the settlement to the depositor.
(G) A licensed handler who receives commodities from a depositor shall indicate the nature of the marketing transaction on the scale ticket. If no indication is made or if the indication is unclear, the transaction is presumed to be a deposit under bailment. If the scale ticket conflicts with a previously or subsequently executed contract of the type described in division (F) of this section, the contract prevails.