MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Agriculture

By: Senator(s) Thames, Harvey, Stogner, Smith

Senate Bill 2616

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 69-25-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PLACE THE STATE SOIL SURVEY LEADER, MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND APPLIED SCIENCE, ON THE ADVISORY BOARD TO THE BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 69-25-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

69-25-3. The State Plant Board is abolished and its duties are transferred to the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, and it shall henceforth be known as the Bureau of Plant Industry.

There is created an Advisory Board to the Bureau of Plant Industry, composed of the following: the State Chemist; the head of the Entomology and Plant Pathology Department, Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science; the head of the Plant and Soil Science Department, Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science; the State Soil Survey leader, Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science; Alcorn State University Director of Agriculture and Applied Sciences; and, for a period of two (2) years, the following: one (1) soil conservation district commissioner appointed by the commissioner; two (2) residents of Mississippi who engage in the production of any crop, appointed by the commissioner; one (1) resident of the State of Mississippi who is a commercial applicator holding a license issued under the rules and regulations of the Bureau of Plant Industry, appointed by the commissioner; one (1) resident of the State of Mississippi who is a restricted use pesticide registrant or an employee of such person, appointed by the commissioner; one (1) resident of the State of Mississippi who is either a wholesale or retail horticulturist, appointed by the commissioner, and one (1) resident of the State of Mississippi who is a licensed landscape contractor, appointed by the commissioner, who shall serve with no compensation and whose duties are to advise the commissioner on all matters regarding the Bureau of Plant Industry. The commissioner shall meet quarterly at Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science with the advisory board and the State Entomologist.

It is the intent and purpose of this section to maintain the domicile of this division of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce at Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science, Mississippi State, Mississippi.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1997.