PREFILED DEC 11 2023
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REFERENCE TITLE: agricultural land; foreign ownership; violation |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session 2024
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SB 1004 |
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Introduced by Senator Rogers
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An Act
amending section 3-102, Arizona Revised Statutes; amending title 3, chapter 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding article 6; relating to agricultural land administration.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 3-102, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
3-102. Department organization
A. The Arizona department of agriculture is established consisting of the following divisions:
1. The animal services division, which is responsible for milk, dairy, livestock and aquaculture regulation, the state veterinarian, meat, poultry and egg inspection and performing the administrative functions authorized or contracted pursuant to law for the Arizona beef council.
2. The plant services division, which is responsible for entomological services.
3. The environmental services division, which is responsible for regulating seed, feed and agricultural chemicals, including pesticides and fertilizers, and for native plant protection.
4. The weights and measures services division, which is responsible for the inspection, testing and licensing of commercial weighing, measuring and counting devices.
5. The pest management division, which is responsible for regulating pest management and pest management services as defined in section 3-3601.
6. The citrus, fruit and vegetable division, which is responsible for the citrus, fruit and vegetable standardization and produce safety program under chapter 3, articles 2, 4, 4.1 and 4.3 of this title.
B. The following are established in addition to and separate from the divisions of the department:
1. The state agricultural laboratory.
2. The office of agriculture safety.
3. The office of inspections.
4. The office of commodity development and promotion.
5. The office of agricultural intelligence.
C. The department shall have a central administrative service office providing:
1. Data processing, accounting and budgeting, records management, publications, property control and personnel services and training.
2. A program to cross-train appropriate personnel to enable them to perform similar functions or comparable work for different administrative units in the department.
Sec. 2. Title 3, chapter 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding article 6, to read:
ARTICLE 6. OFFICE OF AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE
3-171. Office of agricultural intelligence; powers; duties
A. The office of AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE is ESTABLISHED within the DEPARTMENT.
b. The office shall:
1. ADMINISTER and ENFORCE this ARTICLE, including REPORTING VIOLATIONS of THIS ARTICLE to the ATTORNEY GENERAL.
2. INVESTIGATE, collect and analyze potential VIOLATIONS of this article.
3. COOPERATE with the attorney general in any action commenced PURSUANT to THIS ARTICLE.
c. The director may DESIGNATE any employee of the DEPARTMENT to the office of AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE.
3-172. Prohibition against land ownership; foreign ownership; natural products; exemption; enforcement; rules; violation; classification; definitions
A. NOTWITHSTANDING any other law, the following may not purchase, acquire or control title or any INTEREST in AGRICULTURAL land or land that is PRIMARILY used to harvest timber, minerals, GRAVEL or other natural products in this state:
1. an agent of a DESIGNATED country.
2. an agent of A COMPANY or other legal ENTITY with a MAJORITY control by CITIZENS of a DESIGNATED COUNTRY.
3. an individual who is a citizen of a designated COUNTRY or whose operations are HEADQUARTERed in a DESIGNATED country.
b. This section does not apply to an individual who is a lawful permanent RESIDENT of the United States.
C. a person that is in VIOLATION of subsection A of this section shall divest the person's INTEREST in land in this state not more than two years after the effective date of this section WITHOUT penalty.
D. The attorney general and the office of AGRICULTURAL INTELLIGENCE shall ENFORCE this section. if the attorney general reasonably suspects a VIOLATION of this section OCCURRED, the ATTORNEY general shall commence an action in superior court in the county in which the land interest is located.
E. If the SUPERIOR court finds that title or any interest was obtained in VIOLATION of subsection A of this section, the court shall enter an order:
1. STATING THE COURT'S FINDINGs.
2. DIVESTING THE PERSON'S INTEREST.
3. directing the county TREASURER to sell the AGRICULTURAL lands or the land interests in a manner that is CONSISTENT WITH TITLE 42, chapter 18, article 7, except that the county treasurer shall forward any balance REMAINING after paying the taxes, INTERESTs, PENALTIES, fees and costs to the state TREASURER for deposit in the state GENERAL fund.
f. The Arizona department of AGRICULTURE, in CONJUNCTION with the department of law, shall adopt rules to IMPLEMENT this section.
g. A person who KNOWINGLY VIOLATES this section is guilty of a class 6 felony.
h. For the purposes of this section:
1. "AGRICULTURAL lands" has the same meaning prescribed in section 37-1002.
2. "control" means ownership of not less than fifty percent of the voting ownership interest of an ORGANIZATION necessary to ELECT a GOVERNING AUTHORITY.
3. "DESIGNATED country" MEANS Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Vietnam, Myanmar, China, Haiti, Liberia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan or the Democratic Republic of the Congo or any UNited Security Council arms embargoed country.