(a) If the commissioner of agriculture has reason to believe that any cooperative marketing association, organized or doing business in this state, under title 43, chapter 18, monopolizes or restrains trade to such an extent that the price of any agricultural product is unduly enhanced by reason thereof, the commissioner shall serve upon such association a complaint stating the charge in that respect, to which complaint shall be attached, or contained therein, a notice of hearing, specifying a day and place not less than thirty (30) days after the service thereof, requiring the association to show cause why an order should not be made directing the association to cease and desist from monopolization or restraint of trade.
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 47-25-110
Agriculture: means :(i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) An association so complained of may, at the time and place so fixed, show cause why such order should not be entered.(c) The evidence given on such a hearing shall be taken under such rules and regulations as the commissioner may prescribe, reduced to writing, and made a part of the record.(d) If, upon such hearing, the commissioner is of the opinion that such association monopolizes or restrains trade to such an extent that the price of any agricultural product is unduly enhanced thereby, the commissioner shall issue and cause to be served upon the association an order reciting the facts found by the commissioner, directing such association to cease and desist from monopolization or restraint of trade.(e) If such association fails or refuses or neglects to obey such order, the attorney general and reporter shall then proceed to take appropriate action against the association so offending, in a court of competent jurisdiction. Such court may, upon the conclusion of the hearing, enforce its decree by injunction or other appropriate remedy, but no injunction or extraordinary process shall issue until such association fails or refuses to comply with the terms and provisions of the warning order of the commissioner.
