Ohio Code 943.02 – License required
(A) No person shall act as a small dealer, dealer, or broker without first being licensed. No person shall be an employee of more than one small dealer, dealer, or broker. Except as provided in division (B) of this section, no person holding a license as a small dealer, dealer, or broker shall be an employee. No employee shall act for any small dealer, dealer, or broker unless the small dealer, dealer, or broker is licensed, and has designated the employee to act in the small dealer’s, dealer’s, or broker’s behalf and has notified the department of agriculture in the application for license or has given official notice in writing of the appointment of the employee. The small dealer, dealer, or broker shall be accountable and responsible for all contracts pertaining to the purchase, exchange, or sale of livestock made by the employee. The small dealer, dealer, or broker who terminates the services of an employee shall notify the department in writing of the employee’s termination. No person who is a licensed small dealer, dealer, or broker shall have livestock exempted pursuant to divisions (B)(1) to (6) of section 943.01 of the Revised Code.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 943.02
- 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
- broker: means any person found by the department of agriculture buying, receiving, selling, slaughtering, with the exception of those persons designated by division (B)(1) of section 918. See Ohio Code 943.01
- Employee: means any person employed by a dealer or broker to act in the dealer's or broker's behalf to buy, sell, exchange, negotiate, or solicit sale or resale of animals in the dealer's or broker's name. See Ohio Code 943.01
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
- livestock: means horses, mules, and other equidae, cattle, sheep, and goats and other bovidae, swine and other suidae, poultry, alpacas, llamas, and monitored captive deer, captive deer with status, or captive deer with certified chronic wasting disease status. See Ohio Code 943.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Rule: means a rule adopted under section 943. See Ohio Code 943.01
- Small dealer: means any person found by the department buying, receiving, selling, slaughtering, with the exception of those persons designated by division (B)(1) of section 918. See Ohio Code 943.01
(B)(1) No person who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of this chapter or rules adopted under it shall act as an owner, supervisor, employee, contractor, volunteer, or agent of a person licensed under this chapter unless specifically authorized to do so by the director of agriculture.
(2) The offense established under division (B)(1) of this section is a strict liability offense and section 2901.20 of the Revised Code does not apply. The designation of this offense as a strict liability offense shall not be construed to imply that any other offense, for which there is no specified degree of culpability, is not a strict liability offense.
(C) A small dealer, dealer, or broker may be an employee of other small dealers, dealers, or brokers only when the small dealer, dealer, or broker so employed is a soliciting agent for a video auction.
(D) The director shall define by rule “soliciting agent” and “video auction” for the purposes of this section.