Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO:
KRS
247.220
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
247.220(2) authorizes the
Fair Council and the Commissioner of Agriculture to promulgate administrative
regulations regarding grants for local fair facilities. This administrative
regulation establishes requirements for administration of and participation in
the local fairs program.
Section 1.
General Administration.
(1) The County Fair
Coordinator of the Shows and Fairs Division in the Department of Agriculture
shall only make premium allocations to the authorized agent of an incorporated
local fair board that conducts a qualified local agricultural fair in
compliance with
KRS
247.220.
(2) Fair officials for local fair boards
applying for state funds shall make a reasonable effort to develop a program
that shall supplement agricultural educational and promotional
activities.
(3) Local fair boards
seeking state assistance shall plan and conduct a qualified local agricultural
fair with educational exhibits running for at least three (3) consecutive days
(thirty-six (36) hours of exhibition). All fair events shall be held on
consecutive days, except a fair may:
(a) Be
closed on Sundays; and
(b) Conduct
certain events, such as harness horse racing, on separate dates if:
1. The local board files a request to conduct
the event with the Shows and Fairs Division;
2. The request is considered by the Kentucky
Fair Council at the next regular meeting and thereafter transmitted to the
Commissioner of Agriculture for the Commissioner's approval or rejection of the
local board's request; and
3. The
Commissioner of Agriculture approves the request based on the
application.
(4) A local fair board shall establish
classes and premiums related to the economic importance of the commodity in the
area, the relative value of the exhibit, and the difficulty in preparing for
and showing the entry.
(5) Ribbon
colors at each local fair shall be:
(a) Blue
for first place;
(b) Red for
second; and
(c) White for
third.
(6) A local fair
board seeking state funds shall comply with local and state health regulations
for exhibitors tending exhibits and for fair attendants.
(7) A fair event held at a location other
than the fairgrounds shall qualify for aid if publicized in the fair's catalog
as being a fair event.
Section
2. Records.
(1) A local fair
board shall make a request for state assistance annually on an Initial Request
for State Aid to Local Agricultural Fairs form, and shall mail it to the Shows
and Fairs Division by March 1 of the year in which the fair is conducted. The
Commissioner of Agriculture shall allow a fair to enter the program after the
application deadline has passed for good cause shown.
(2) A local fair board shall mail an Open
Class Livestock Show Information Form Packet concerning the fair's livestock
shows to the Shows and Fairs Division by April 1 of the year in which the fair
is conducted.
(3) A complete
financial statement for events previously requesting state funds shall be
submitted to the Department of Agriculture.
(a) This annual financial statement shall
cover all crops, foods, domestic livestock, poultry, harness horse racing,
other horse events, and other agricultural classes that might qualify for aid.
(b) The statement shall be
complete and prepared in detail showing receipts and disbursements, as well as
the number of exhibitors and premiums awarded by fair departments.
(c) This certified, notarized statement shall
be presented to the County Fair Coordinator of the Shows and Fairs Division
within forty-five (45) days following the event, and a financial statement
shall not be accepted for payment after December 1 of the year in which the
fair is conducted without approval from the Kentucky Fair Council, based on
budgetary considerations.
Section 3. Entries.
(1)
(a) A
Fair qualifying for state funds shall provide for adult and youth
divisions.
(b) Youth exhibits shall
include 4-H, FFA, FHA, and other official groups, if any, recognized by the
extension service or the Office of Secondary Vocational Education. All projects
approved by these official groups may be approved for state funds. Fair boards
may restrict youth participation to a particular district, county, or trade
area.
(2) All
exhibitors, adult and youth, shall have equal opportunity to enter open
classes.
(3)
(a) A local fair board receiving state money
shall assure that exhibits eligible in more than one (1) class or section shall
be exhibited only in the class or section for which it best
qualifies.
(b) An exhibitor shall
not show the same kind of animal or the same entry in both FFA and 4-H classes
or in classes for other organized junior organizations.
(4) All domestic livestock, poultry, and
horse entries shall comply with 302 KAR Chapter 22 of the State Board of
Agriculture relating to the exhibition of livestock in Kentucky.
Section 4. Catalog.
(1)
(a) A
qualified fair shall have an official fair catalog. A draft copy of the catalog
including premium lists and classes, excluding advertisements, shall be
submitted to be approved by the Shows and Fairs Division at least forty-five
(45) days prior to the opening of the fair.
(b) The finished catalog shall be submitted
to the County Fair Coordinator of the Department of Agriculture's Shows and
Fairs Division no later than thirty (30) days before the fair is
held.
(2) Classes
advertised in the catalog shall be reviewed annually by the local fair board to
make certain that competitive events shall be held and that premiums offered
shall not be of balance with entries.
(3) The official fair catalog shall contain:
(a) A list of fair officials and their
assigned responsibilities with the following organizations being represented on
the agriculture advisory board:
1. Vocational
Agriculture;
2. Extension
Service;
3. Farm Bureau;
4. Local Livestock Association (if any);
and
5. Local Horsemen's Association
(if any);
(b) A schedule
of events planned as a part of the fair;
(c) Local fair rules and 302 KAR Chapter 15
including a statement that "open classes shall be open to all exhibitors unless
otherwise specified;"
(d) General
information by fair departments showing classes and premium lists;
(e) 302 KAR Chapter 22; and
(f) A rule that "entries made in 4-H, FFA and
FCCLA classes shall have been produced in conjunction with an approved project
sponsored by these organizations."
(4) Catalogs shall be mailed and distributed
by the local fair board no later than thirty (30) days prior to the opening of
the fair.
Section 5.
Judges.
(1) To assist with the educational
objectives of each event, a local fair shall encourage judges to present
reasons for their evaluations and decisions.
(2) A person shall not be an exhibitor or act
as an agent in any division or department for which he or she serves as a
judge.
Section 6. State
Allocation.
(1)
(a) The Department of Agriculture's
agricultural premium money shall be allocated to all approved local fairs on
the basis of total money offered for approved classes in the catalog and total
money spent in approved classes taken from the fair's financial statement
available as indicated by fair records including catalogs.
1. The total agricultural premium payment for
one (1) or more fairs held annually in a single county shall not exceed
$4,500.
2. State money for each
class shall not exceed fifty (50) percent of the total premiums
awarded.
(b) The first
agricultural premium payment to each fair shall be made after the printed
catalog is received and may be up to one-fourth (1/4) of the amount of money
offered in approved classes by the local fair up to a maximum of
$2,250.
(c) The second agricultural
premium payment shall be made after the fair's financial statement is received,
if all remaining requirements have been met and the necessary records
submitted, and shall be based on the amount of money paid for premiums and
awards in approved agricultural classes up to a maximum of $4,500 less the
amount of the first agricultural premium payment.
(d) The combination of county fairs or
community fairs of a number of counties shall not be approved to justify a
larger state premium payment.
(2) An additional $2,000 grant may be made to
a qualified local agricultural fair to be used for horse events' premiums and
awards.
(a) This grant shall be made on an
equal matching fund basis and shall be based completely on the amount of money
paid in premiums and awards for horse events' classes.
(b) The payment of this grant shall come
after the financial statement of the fair is received by the Department of
Agriculture and shall be included in the fair's second fair payment.
(c) The qualified fair shall submit with its
financial statement, records of premiums paid, number of exhibitors, and number
of entries for these horse events.
(3)
(a) The
Department of Agriculture shall make available to a qualified agriculture fair
up to $7,000 on an equal matching basis for harness horse racing, with a
maximum of $750 per race being matched by the department.
(b) Harness racing payments shall also be
disbursed in two (2) payments.
1. The first
payment shall be one-fourth (1/4) the amount of purses offered in the printed
catalog, up to a maximum of $3,500. This payment shall be combined with the
fair's first agricultural payment.
2. The second harness racing payment shall be
based on the amount of money spent in harness racing purses, up to a maximum of
$7,000 less the first harness racing payment. It shall be included in the
second fair payment, if the fair has included sufficient information on the
financial statement in regard to the harness racing results.
(4)
(a) The County Fair Coordinator of the
department's show and fair program shall provide from the appropriation for
county fairs a trophy that shall be rotated and engraved and presented annually
to the local fair that has made the most progress in twelve (12)
months.
(b) Appropriate engraved
plaques shall be presented to the first, second, and third placed fairs making
the most progress in the twelve (12) months period and also for the most
outstanding new fair in the program for that year.
(c) The presentation shall be made by the
Department of Agriculture's Fair Council based on records submitted to the
department.
Section
7. Grant Program.
(1) A qualified
local agricultural fair may apply to the Grant Program yearly for capital
construction of new buildings and facilities, infrastructure improvement to
existing facilities, or the purchase of nonpermanent tangible items (for
example, bleachers and restaurant equipment) A fair shall submit the
Application for County Fair Grant to the Shows and Fairs Division. The
applications shall be postmarked by October 1st of each year. Grant
applications shall comply with the requirements established in paragraphs (a)
through (j) of this subsection.
(a) Grants
shall made on a matching basis. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture shall
provide seventy-five percent (75) percent, and the local fair shall provide
twenty-five percent (25) percent, in either a monetary or in-kind
match.
(b) The minimum amount
eligible to be received shall be $10,000. The maximum amount received shall be
$100,000.
(c) The Fair Board shall
be required to execute a Memorandum of Agreement with the Kentucky Department
of Agriculture for the use of state funds.
(d) The Fair Board shall own the land or hold
a long-term lease on the property (twenty (20) years for capital construction
and improvements or ten (10) years for non-permanent tangible items). A copy of
the deed or lease agreement shall be submitted to the Shows and Fair
Division.
(e) Grant applications
shall be accompanied by a development plan for capital construction and
infrastructure. Applications for non-permanent tangible items shall be
accompanied by a statement of cost from the vendor.
(f) Changes to development plans shall have
prior approval from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
(g) All building or health permits (local and
state) shall be obtained and submitted to the Shows and Fairs Division for
capital construction or infrastructure upon a grant being awarded. If none are
required an affidavit signed by local officials shall be submitted to the Shows
and Fairs Division.
(h) Awarded
projects shall be started within ninety (90) days, of the date the project is
awarded and completed within nine (9) months. Project extensions shall be made
on a case by case basis, based on reasonable assurance of project
completion.
(i) Fairs shall make a
full accounting of all expenditures and receipts of the completed project
within ninety (90) days of completion.
(j) A fair that has been awarded a grant
shall be ineligible to apply another grant for three (3) years from the date
the previous grant was awarded.
(2) The grants program shall be administered
by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Shows and Fairs Division. The
County Fair Coordinator shall review all applications for compliance. The
grants shall then be presented to the Kentucky Fair Council for
selection.
(3) The Fair Council
shall select grant recipients until the yearly budget allocations have been
met.
(a) The Fair Council shall reject a grant
that does not meet the requirements established in this administrative
regulation.
(b) The Shows and Fairs
Division shall monitor implementation of awarded grants.
(c) Fairs that are awarded grants and fail to
execute the projects shall be required to repay the grant.
Section 8. Effect of Overspending
of Fair Program Budget. If the local agricultural fair program payments exceed
the amount of money budgeted for the total fair program, reductions shall be
made in payments as recommended by the Fair Council and as determined by the
Commissioner of Agriculture based on the application.
Section 9. Incorporation by Reference.
(1) The following material is incorporated by
reference:
(a) "Initial Request for State Aid
to Local Agricultural Fairs", 2019;
(b) "Application for County Fair Grant",
August 2019; and
(c) "Open Class
Livestock Show Information Form Packet", August 2019.
(2) This material may be inspected, copied,
or obtained, subject to applicable copyright law, at the Office of the
Department of Agriculture, Shows and Fairs Division, 111 Corporate Drive,
Kentucky 40601, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
KRS
247.220