34-228. Warehouseman's license; application; financial statement; waiver; qualifications; license fee; examination of warehouse.
34-228
34-228. Warehouseman's license; application;financial statement; waiver; qualifications; license fee; examination ofwarehouse.(a) Any person desiring to engage in business as a public warehouseman inthis state shall, before the transaction of any such business,make written application to the secretary for a license for each separatewarehouse or, if the applicant owns more than one warehouse at onepoint, all of such warehouses may be incorporated in oneapplication, at which the person desires to engage in suchbusiness. The application for a license shall be on a form designated by thesecretary and shall contain the individual name and address of each personinterested as principal in the business and, if the business isoperated or to be operated by a corporation, setting forth the names of thepresident and secretary, and such further information as thesecretary may require.
(b) (1) Every application for a public warehouse license shall beaccompanied by a current financial statement. The statement shall include suchinformation as required by the secretary to administer and enforce the publicwarehouse laws of this state, including, but not limited to a currentbalance sheet, statement of income, including profit andloss, statement of retained earnings and statement of changes infinancial position. The applicant shall certifyunder oath that the statement as prepared accurately reflects the financialcondition of the applicant as of the date specified and presents fairlythe results of operations of the applicant's public warehouse business forthe period specified. The financial statement shall be prepared in accordancewith generally accepted accounting principles and shall be accompanied by:(A) A report of audit or review conducted by an independent certified publicaccountant or an independent public accountant in accordance with standardsestablished by the American institute of certified public accountants andthe accountant's certifications, assurances, opinions, comments and noteswith respect to the statement; or (B) a compilation report of the financialstatement, prepared by a grain commission firm or management firm whichis authorized pursuant to rules and regulations of the federal commoditycredit corporation to provide compilation reports of financial statementsof warehousemen.
(2) Except as otherwise provided, the secretary, upon request of anapplicant, may grant a waiver of the requirements of this subsection for aperiod of not more than 30 days ifthe applicant furnishes evidence of good and substantial reasons for thewaiver. The secretary may extend such waiver beyond 30 days for grain storedin an alternative location other than a location identified in the publicwarehouse license, if the secretary determines that the owner of the grainwouldsuffer substantial hardship to require the grain to be stored at a locationidentified in the license. The secretary may determine what constitutessubstantial hardship and what length of time the grain may be stored at suchalternative location.
(c) (1) Every applicant for a license to operate one or more publicwarehousesand every person licensed to operate one or more warehouses shall at alltimes maintain total net worth liable for the payment of any indebtednessarising from the conduct of the warehouse or warehouses equal to at least$.25 per bushel of the storage capacity of the warehouse or warehouses except:(A) No person shall be granted a license or shall continue to be licensedunless the person has a net worth of at least $25,000; and (B) anydeficiency in net worth required above the $25,000 minimum may be supplied byan increase in the amount of the applicant's or licensee's bond or letter ofcredit as provided byK.S.A. 34-229 and amendments thereto.
(2) In determining total net worth: (A) Credit may be given for insurableproperty such as buildings, machinery, equipment and merchandise inventoryonly to the extent that the property is protected by insurance against lossor damage by fire; and (B) capital stock, as such, shall not beconsidered a liability.
(d) No license shall be issued to a person or entity not previouslylicensed in this state and making application for an original license who,in this state or any other jurisdiction, within the 10 years immediatelyprior to the date of the application of the person or entity for a license,has been convicted of or has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere toany crime which would constitute:
(1) Embezzlement;
(2) any felony defined in any statute contained in article 37 ofchapter 21 of the Kansas StatutesAnnotated and amendments thereto;
(3) unauthorized delivery of stored goods;
(4) any felony defined in any statute contained in chapter 34 of theKansas Statutes Annotated and amendments thereto; or
(5) a violation of the United States warehouse act (7 U.S.C. 241 etseq.).
(e) The secretary may investigate any applicant makingapplication foran original license for the purpose of determining if such person would bequalified to receive such license under the provisions of this section.
(f) (1) Every application for a public warehouse license shall beaccompanied by a license fee which shall be determined and fixed by thesecretary by rules and regulations. The license fee shall not be more thanthe applicable amount shown in the following fee scheduleplus not more than $500 for each functional unit:
Capacity in Bushels
ANNUAL FEE
Not more
than
1 to 100,000.................$500100,001 to 150,000.................525150,001 to 250,000.................550250,001 to 300,000.................600300,001 to 350,000.................625350,001 to 400,000.................650400,001 to 450,000.................700450,001 to 500,000.................725500,001 to 600,000.................775600,001 to 700,000.................800700,001 to 800,000.................850800,001 to 900,000.................875900,001 to 1,000,000.................9001,000,001 to 1,750,000.................1,2251,750,001 to 2,500,000.................1,4002,500,001 to 5,000,000.................1,7505,000,001 to 7,500,000.................2,1007,500,001 to 10,000,000.................2,37510,000,001 to 12,500,000.................2,60012,500,001 to 15,000,000.................2,80015,000,001 to 17,500,000.................3,00017,500,001 to 20,000,000.................3,225
For each 2,500,000 bushels or fractionover 20,000,000 bushels................. 350
(2) Whenever a licensed warehouseman purchases or acquires additionalfacilities, the warehouseman, if otherwise qualified, may acquire a license forthe remainder of an unexpired license period by paying to the secretary alicense fee computed as follows: If the unexpired license period is nine monthsor more, the annual fee; if the unexpired license period is more than sixmonths and less than nine months, 75% of the annual fee; if the unexpiredlicense period is more than three months and not more than six months, 50% ofthe annual fee; and if the unexpired license period is three months or lessthan three months, 25% of the annual fee.
(3) In addition to any other applicable fee, the secretary shall chargeand collect a fee each time a public warehouse license is amended in anamount of not more than $300 which shall be determined and fixed bythe secretary by rules and regulations.
(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize a refund forany unused portion of an issued license.
(g) The secretary shall examine each warehouse operated by a licensed publicwarehouseman at least once in each 12-month period. The licensed publicwarehouseman may request additional examinations of any warehouse operatedby the warehouseman. The cost of additional examinations when requestedby the warehouseman shall be charged to the warehouseman requesting theexamination. The cost of each additional examination requested by awarehouseman shall be an amount determined therefor in accordance with anhourly rate fixed by the secretary of not more than $50 per hour, subject to aminimum charge of four hours for the examination, plus amounts forsubsistence expense at the rate fixed under K.S.A. 75-3207a and amendmentsthereto and for mileage expense in accordance with the schedule of chargesestablished under K.S.A. 75-4607 and amendments thereto. The secretary, at thesecretary's discretion, may make additional examinations of a warehouse and ifa discrepancy is found on that examination, or if one was found on the lastprevious examination, the cost of the examination shall be paid by thewarehouseman.
(h) When the secretary authorizes a grain handling facility to be physicallymonitored, pursuant to subsection (a)(3) of K.S.A. 34-102, andamendments thereto, the cost and expenses of the monitoringshall be paid by the owner of the facility at the same rates fixed insubsection (g).
(i) As used in this section, "functional unit" means a public warehousewhich has the capacity to store, weigh in and weigh out grain. Anyoutlying storage facility which is not a functional unit shall have itsstorage capacity included as part of the combined capacity of thewarehouseman's nearest functional unit.
History: L. 1931, ch. 194, § 6;L. 1955, ch. 232, § 5;L. 1957, ch. 253, § 1;L. 1962, ch. 34, § 2;L. 1967, ch. 229, § 1;L. 1973, ch. 2, § 13;L. 1975, ch. 440, § 6;L. 1982, ch. 178, § 2;L. 1983, ch. 137, § 1;L. 1984, ch. 151, § 1;L. 1984, ch. 150, § 8;L. 1985, ch. 137, § 3;L. 1987, ch. 147, § 1;L. 1989, ch. 121, § 3;L. 1990, ch. 142, § 3;L. 1995, ch. 191, § 1;L. 1996, ch. 42, § 1;L. 1997, ch. 160, § 18;L. 1998, ch. 46, § 1;L. 2000, ch. 30, § 1; Mar. 30.