Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 23, 2024
(1) Each applicant
for a hemp processor permit, and any permittee whose surety bond expires, must
make and deliver to the Commissioner a surety bond in the form and in the
manner provided in O.C.G.A. §
2-23-6.1.
(a) A permittee's surety bond may be executed
by any surety corporation authorized to transact business in Georgia.
(b) If the company issuing a permittee's
surety bond becomes disqualified from conducting business in Georgia, the
permittee must obtain a replacement bond for at least an equivalent amount
within 30 days, subject to the Commissioner's approval. The effective term of a
replacement bond must begin on the day the previous bond became
ineffective.
(2) The
Commissioner shall determine the amount of a permittee's surety bond in
accordance with the Georgia Hemp Farming Act.
(a) The minimum required bond shall be
$20,000 and the maximum required bond shall be $1,000,000. In no case shall the
required bond amount exceed 2% of the dollar value paid to hemp grower
licensees for hemp purchased by the permittee in the most recent calendar
year.
(b) The Department may
require a permittee to submit documentation of hemp purchased from hemp grower
licensees to determine the permittee's required bond amount.
1. A permittee with no history of hemp
purchases will obtain the minimum bond amount.
(c) If at any time the Commissioner
determines that a permittee's previously approved surety bond is insufficient
to satisfy the purpose set forth in the Georgia Hemp Farming Act and this
Subject, the Commissioner may require the permittee to obtain an additional
bond or bonds. The permittee shall submit such additional bond or bonds to the
Commissioner in an amount and within the time fixed in a written demand by the
Department.
(3)
Permittee's processor permit shall be immediately revoked by operation of law
and without notice or hearing, and permittee shall be ineligible to reapply for
a processor permit for a period of four years after such revocation, if:
(a) Permittee's surety bond is
cancelled;
(b) Permittee fails to
provide a replacement bond within 30 days after its surety is disqualified from
conducting business in Georgia; or
(c) Permittee fails to provide an additional
bond or bonds in the amount and timeframe specified by the Commissioner in
accordance with the Georgia Hemp Farming Act and this Subject.
(4) Any person claiming to be
damaged by a permittee's breach of its surety bond conditions may file a
complaint with the Commissioner in the form set forth in O.C.G.A. §
2-23-6.1. The Commissioner will
administer and adjudicate complaints in accordance with O.C.G.A. §
2-23-6.1.
O.C.G.A.
§§
2-2-9;
2-23-1
et
seq.
