Texas Agriculture Code 14.064 – Certain Loadout Fees Prohibited
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(a) A warehouse operator may not charge a fee for loading out grain if the loadout was the result of the misconduct of the warehouse operator.
(b) Misconduct under this section includes:
(1) violation of this chapter as established by final, unappealable order of the commissioner;
(2) conviction of a crime, including a plea of nolo contendere, described as an offense under this chapter; and
(3) conviction of a crime, including a plea of nolo contendere, described as an offense under the Penal Code and involving any type of fraud or theft related to the storing, shipping, handling, sale, or purchase of grain or the sale or purchase of grain handling, shipping, or storage equipment or warehouse structures or other assets.
Terms Used In Texas Agriculture Code 14.064
- Acquittal:
- Judgement that a criminal defendant has not been proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
- A verdict of "not guilty."
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Department: means the Department of Agriculture. See Texas Agriculture Code 1.003
- Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
- Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
- Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
(c) A loadout fee collected during a period of suspension of a warehouse operator’s license by the department, after revocation of a warehouse operator’s license, or during a period in which criminal charges are pending against a warehouse operator, shall be placed in an escrow account by the warehouse operator until:
(1) the department’s suspension is lifted;
(2) the prosecutor ceases to pursue criminal charges;
(3) the indictment or information is dismissed by a court; or
(4) the warehouse operator is acquitted.
(d) If misconduct is finally determined to have occurred as provided by Subsection (b), the loadout fees placed in escrow shall be returned to the person originally paying those fees. The loadout fees placed in escrow shall be returned to the warehouse operator if the warehouse operator is found not to have committed misconduct by acquittal, by the dismissal of the criminal charges, or by final order of the commissioner.