Missouri Revised Statutes
Chapter 411 - Missouri Grain Warehouse Law
Section 411.275 - Warehouseman's bond, requirements — defenses denied surety — cancellation, notice, effect — demand for payment by director, duties of director — refusal of surety to pay, penalty — distribution of bond proceeds — duties of depositor...

Effective - 22 Apr 1986
411.275. Warehouseman's bond, requirements — defenses denied surety — cancellation, notice, effect — demand for payment by director, duties of director — refusal of surety to pay, penalty — distribution of bond proceeds — duties of depositors or receipt holders — injunction, hearing, notice — final inspection of warehouse — verbal or written bond binders effective, contents. — 1. Before any person is granted a license pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, the person shall file a bond other than personal security with the director executed by the warehouseman as principal and by a corporate surety licensed to do business in this state as a surety. The bond shall be in favor of the state of Missouri for the benefit of all persons storing grain, their legal representatives, attorneys, or assigns, conditioned upon the faithful performance of his duties as a public warehouseman relating to the storage of grain. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the bond provided shall only cover storage grain deposited with a warehouseman. Storage grain that has been priced, as provided in section 411.325, shall not be covered by the warehouse bond. Grain deemed storage grain pursuant to section 411.325 shall be covered.
2. Neither the issuance of warehouse receipts by a warehouseman to himself for grain owned in whole or in part by him; the commingling of grain owned by the warehouseman with grain stored for others or any violation by a warehouseman of this chapter or of the regulations promulgated hereunder by the director is a defense in any action brought upon any bond, and all bonds shall so provide.
3. The surety bond required by this section shall be effective on the date of issue, shall not be affected by the expiration of the license period, and shall continue in full force and effect until cancelled.
4. The required bond shall be kept in force at all times while the operator is conducting a public grain warehouse. Failure to keep such bond in force is cause for revocation of the license, and the warehouseman is subject to the penalties provided in this chapter. No warehouseman may cancel an approved bond without the prior written approval of the director and his approval of a substitute bond.
5. A warehouseman filing bonds required under this chapter, or regulations promulgated hereunder, shall utilize the same corporate surety for all bonds required for the operation of any one warehouse.
6. In case any person shall make application for licenses for two or more separate public warehouses in this state, he may give a single bond covering all such applications, and the amount of the bond shall be the total of the amounts which would be required for the several applications if separate bonds were given; except, however, that in computing the amount of the single bond the warehouseman may add together the capacity of all warehouses to be covered thereby and use the aggregate capacity for the purpose of computing bond. When a warehouseman elects to provide a single bond for a number of warehouses, the total assets of all the warehouses shall be subject to liabilities of each individual warehouse.
7. Upon written demand of the director for payment, the surety shall either pay over to the director the sum demanded up to the full face amount of the bond, or shall deposit the sum demanded in an interest-bearing escrow account at the highest rate of interest available. When a surety pays the director upon demand, the director shall either interplead the sum in court or hold an administrative hearing for the determination of the liability of the surety, and the validity of claims against the bond, and upon the conclusion thereof, the director shall distribute the bond proceeds accordingly. The determination of the director shall be final, subject to the surety's or a claimant's right to appeal to the circuit court pursuant to the provisions of chapter 536. Refusal or failure of the surety to pay the sum demanded to the director within ten days of receipt of the director's demand letter or the refusal or failure to deposit the sum demanded in an interest-bearing escrow account at the highest rate of interest available, shall be grounds for withdrawal of the surety's license and authorization to conduct business in this state and grounds for the court to penalize the surety for refusal to pay or to deposit, within the ten days of demand, in the amount of twenty-five percent of the full face amount of the bond, plus interest at the rate of nine percent, or at the rate that the director can establish he would have received had the money been paid or deposited by the surety, whichever rate of interest is higher. In the event that the surety pays as demanded and the director or court determines the surety is not liable, the director shall return to the surety the sum paid to the director plus all accumulated interest, or any pro rata part of the sum, plus interest, as applicable in the event of liability less than the sum demanded. In the event that the surety elects to deposit the demanded sum in an interest-bearing escrow account and the director holds an administrative hearing determining the liability of the surety and the validity of claims, and upon the exhaustion of appeals, if any, the surety immediately shall pay to the director for distribution to claimants the amount for which the surety has been determined to be liable plus accumulated interest on that amount.
8. Every bond filed shall contain a provision that it may not be cancelled by the principal or surety company except upon ninety days prior notice in writing, by certified mail, to the director at his Jefferson City office. In the case of a surety giving notice of cancellation, a copy of such notice shall be mailed on the same day by certified mail to the principal. The cancellation does not affect the liability accrued or which may accrue under such bond before the expiration of the ninety days. The notice shall contain the termination date. In the event such procedures are not followed, the bond shall remain in full force and effect until properly cancelled.
9. Whenever the director receives notice from a surety that it intends to cancel the bond of a warehouseman, the director shall automatically suspend the warehouseman's license if a new bond is not received by the director within thirty days of receipt of the notice of intent to cancel. The director shall cause an inspection of the licensed warehouse immediately at the end of such thirty-day period. If a new bond is not received within sixty days of receipt of the notice of intent to cancel, the director shall revoke the warehouse license. The director shall cause a further inspection of the warehouse at the end of this sixty-day period. Such inspection may include an attempt to notify all possible grain and grain-related claimants of the warehouseman by advertising in local media. When a license is so revoked, the director shall give notice of such revocation to each depositor or holder of an outstanding negotiable or nonnegotiable warehouse receipt of which the director has knowledge. The director shall further notify each depositor or receipt holder that grain must be sold or removed from the warehouse. Upon receipt of the notice, it shall be the legal duty of each depositor or receipt holder to sell, remove, or cause his grain to be removed. Such notice to each receipt holder or depositor shall be sent by ordinary mail to the last known address of each receipt holder or depositor.
10. The director may petition the circuit court for a mandatory injunction ordering the receipt holder or depositor to so sell, remove or cause to be removed, his grain and the circuit courts are hereby empowered to enter such an order. A hearing shall be held within ten days of the filing of any such petition. Notice of hearing to depositors, receipt holders, warehouseman, surety, all interested persons, and the director shall be by any practicable means effecting actual notice. Further, the circuit courts are empowered to enter any order, pertaining to the warehouseman, director, surety, or other interested persons, that is appropriate in the circumstances to effectuate such removal or sale consistent with the purpose of this chapter. The court may enforce any order entered pursuant to this section by its contempt powers or as otherwise provided by law.
11. The director shall cause a final inspection of the licensed warehouse immediately after the end of the ninety-day period. The warehouseman shall pay a fee for each examination provided for in this section. The fee shall be computed in accordance with subsection 3 of section 411.271.
12. Verbal or written surety bond binders issued by a surety on behalf of a grain warehouseman for original or replacement bonds are hereby recognized as legally effective in the state of Missouri as if the bond were fully executed when such binders meet the following conditions:
(1) The warehouseman, or principal, has paid or has promised to pay the surety an agreed upon or tentatively agreed upon premium or other consideration;
(2) The surety provides the department, either in writing, or verbally:
(a) A bond number;
(b) The amount of the bond;
(c) The effective date of the bond;
(d) Either verbal or written assurance that the person providing the preceding information has authority to commit the surety.
­­Such binders may be cancelled only in the manner provided in subsection 8 of this section. The director may or may not accept such a binder depending on the particular circumstances involved and consistent with the orderly administration of this chapter.

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(L. 1965 p. 606, A.L. 1977 S.B. 75, A.L. 1980 S.B. 601, A.L. 1986 H.B. 1578)
Effective 4-22-86

Structure Missouri Revised Statutes

Missouri Revised Statutes

Title XXVI - Trade and Commerce

Chapter 411 - Missouri Grain Warehouse Law

Section 411.010 - Short title.

Section 411.012 - Purpose.

Section 411.015 - Scope of law.

Section 411.020 - Application of law — construction of laws governing warehouse receipts.

Section 411.026 - Definitions.

Section 411.028 - Grain delivered to warehouse for cleaning, processing and returned for seed, not grain as defined for grain warehouse law.

Section 411.030 - Department of agriculture to grade and weigh grains — operate laboratories and stations — supervise warehouses — federally owned grain, duties.

Section 411.050 - Bond of director.

Section 411.061 - Director not to deal in grain, exception.

Section 411.070 - Director — powers and duties — rules, procedure.

Section 411.100 - Inspectors — qualifications.

Section 411.110 - Weighmasters — powers and duties.

Section 411.135 - Warehouseman to act as registrar of receipts — records to be kept.

Section 411.140 - Personnel of branch offices — appointment — qualifications — duties.

Section 411.145 - Department may conduct grain inspection business outside state, when.

Section 411.150 - Fees, how fixed.

Section 411.151 - Grain inspection fee fund established — deposits and disbursements — not to lapse — transfers from general revenue — investment of fund.

Section 411.160 - Grain inspected and weighed by authorized inspectors — penalty.

Section 411.170 - Certificates shall be evidence — right of revocation.

Section 411.180 - Right of examination, audit and inspection — confidential information, penalty for disclosure — subpoena powers of director — director to investigate complaints, when.

Section 411.200 - Reinspection.

Section 411.255 - Operations for which a license is required — administrative penalty for operating without license.

Section 411.260 - Application for public warehouse license, contents — rules — financial statements — false financial statement, penalty.

Section 411.263 - Fee for license.

Section 411.266 - Renewal of license — application, contents of — penalty for late renewal.

Section 411.268 - Schedule of charges to be filed, posted by warehouseman.

Section 411.271 - Examination of warehouse — paid for by whom — discrepancy, effect of.

Section 411.275 - Warehouseman's bond, requirements — defenses denied surety — cancellation, notice, effect — demand for payment by director, duties of director — refusal of surety to pay, penalty — distribution of bond proceeds — duties of depositor...

Section 411.276 - Liability of surety not cumulative.

Section 411.277 - Certificates of deposit and letters of credit, provisions applicable to — letters of credit, submitted in lieu of bond, when, refusal of director to accept, grounds, demand by director, procedure, failure by bank to pay, when, penal...

Section 411.278 - Amount of bond, how computed.

Section 411.280 - Warehouseman's net worth, requirements — deficiency, how corrected.

Section 411.281 - Additional bond required, when — amount, how determined.

Section 411.283 - Requirements for license — minimum storage capacity — scales required — denial of license, notice, hearing — contents of license — posting of license, duplicate license issued when — notice of suspension, cancellation, revocation or...

Section 411.285 - Procedure after license is revoked — injunction to sell or remove grain, hearing, notice.

Section 411.287 - Director may monitor operations, when — fee for monitoring — director may order shipments of grain stopped, failure to obey order, penalty.

Section 411.290 - Insurance required, exceptions — rules and regulations.

Section 411.295 - Director may hold hearings, administer oaths, subpoena witnesses and evidence, and punish for contempt.

Section 411.301 - Director may enjoin violations.

Section 411.311 - Operation without license prohibited, penalty.

Section 411.321 - Terminal warehouseman to receive, inspect, weigh and grade grain.

Section 411.323 - Nonterminal warehouseman to receive, inspect, weigh and grade grain — exceptions — may issue receipts for own grain, how.

Section 411.325 - Delivery of grain to warehouse — procedure — contract — grain deemed for storage, when — deferred pricing and deferred payment and minimum price agreements — transactions not covered by bond — all grain deemed storage covered by bon...

Section 411.327 - Grain bank grain, how treated.

Section 411.331 - Grain may be withheld from going into terminal warehouse — when — how — penalties.

Section 411.341 - Grain may be stored in special bin — receipt to indicate.

Section 411.360 - Cleaning, preservation by warehouseman of grain specially stored — requirements — change of condition of grain, notice — delivery to other than owner or receipt holder unauthorized.

Section 411.371 - Warehouse receipts, approval by director required — counterfeiting, penalty for — unused receipts returned to director, when — unlawful issuance of receipts, penalty.

Section 411.381 - Receipts, contents — prima facie evidence of holder's claim to grain.

Section 411.383 - Warehouse receipt register, how maintained.

Section 411.391 - Warehouseman may sell or pledge receipts issued for grain owned by him.

Section 411.401 - Grain accepted for storage in other public warehouse — form of trust receipts.

Section 411.405 - Grain shipped to terminal warehouse at request of owner — how — grain shipped to other licensed warehouses for storage to cover nonreceipted storage obligations, how.

Section 411.410 - Receipts to be numbered — duplicates.

Section 411.420 - Lost receipts — procedure.

Section 411.451 - Fraudulent receipts prohibited — division or consolidation of receipts — delivery of grain.

Section 411.491 - Warehouseman must deliver grain, when.

Section 411.511 - Warehouseman should deliver grain, to whom.

Section 411.515 - Inventory required to be maintained — documents required to establish inventory.

Section 411.517 - Records required to be kept.

Section 411.518 - Scale tickets — required, contents, constitute nonnegotiable receipts, evidence of holder's claim to grain — custom weighing defined.

Section 411.519 - Insufficient inventory, procedure to correct — insolvency, director may modify, suspend or revoke license or request order to be named trustee, procedure, order — warehouseman may appeal, how.

Section 411.520 - Misfeasance or malfeasance — accepting money — improper influence — penalty.

Section 411.523 - Warehouseman liable for conversion, when.

Section 411.531 - Failure to take up and cancel receipt — warehouseman liable — when.

Section 411.541 - Failure to mark receipt upon delivery of part of grain — warehouseman liable — when.

Section 411.551 - Alteration of receipt — effect of.

Section 411.561 - Receipt marked "duplicate" — meaning of.

Section 411.571 - Transferor of receipt to endorse.

Section 411.581 - Warranties on negotiation or transfer of receipt.

Section 411.591 - Endorser not a guarantor for other parties.

Section 411.601 - Certain devices prohibited where official state weights are given.

Section 411.611 - Issuance of receipt without receiving grain — penalty.

Section 411.621 - False statement — penalty.

Section 411.631 - Issuance of receipt without indicating warehouseman's ownership — penalty.

Section 411.641 - Improper delivery — penalty.

Section 411.651 - Fraudulent deposit of grain and negotiation of receipt — penalty.

Section 411.661 - Penalty for violation of law — operating without a license, effect of payment of penalty fee.

Section 411.671 - Discontinuing business as public warehouse — procedure — license invalid on cessation or on change in ownership — notice — audit and examination.

Section 411.681 - Law not applicable to weighing or weighing supervision, in federally licensed warehouse, by exchange or board of trade.

Section 411.691 - Fee for public warehouse license, how computed.

Section 411.701 - Director may contract with federal agencies.

Section 411.750 - Safe working conditions to be maintained.

Section 411.755 - Failure to pay fees, effect of.

Section 411.760 - Remedies provided are in addition to and not exclusive.

Section 411.770 - Stealing grain, penalty.

Section 411.775 - Attorney general and prosecutors may prosecute upon complaint.

Section 411.778 - Sign to be posted on warehouse or scale designating licensed or not licensed as warehouse — requirements — violation, penalties.

Section 411.800 - Definitions — statutory lien on grain and grain-related assets for benefit of depositors.