34-273. Sale of perishable grain or grain that will injure other property; warehouseman's duty of care; liability for neglect.
34-273
34-273. Sale of perishable grain or grain that will injure otherproperty; warehouseman's duty of care; liability for neglect.(a) In case any public warehouseman discoversthat any grain stored in such warehouseman's warehouse, other than inspecial bins, is out of condition or is becomingso and that it is not in such warehouseman's power topreserve the grain, such warehouseman shall immediatelygive such notice of that fact as is reasonable and possible under thecircumstances to the owner of such grain or to the personin whose name the grain is stored and shall also give notice of thatfact to the secretary.
(b) The secretary, unless otherwise requestedby the owner of suchgrain or the person in whose name the grain is stored, shall cause aninspection to be made of the grain. If it is found on such inspectionthat the grain is out of condition, or is becoming so, and the ownerof the grain fails to promptly remove it, thewarehouseman may sell the grain upon giving the same public notice ofsale as is required bythis act for the sale of grain to satisfy the lien of a warehouseman,except that the grain may be sold ateither public or private salewithout advertising if, in the opinion of the secretary, such grainshould be sold without delay and written authority to make sale withoutadvertisement is given by the secretary to the warehouseman.For the purpose of this section, the owner of such grain shall be deemed to bethe holder of warehouse receipts of the oldest dates then in circulation oruncanceled and the grain represented by which has not previously beendeclared out of condition.
(c) Nothing herein contained shall be held to relieve any warehouseman fromexercising due care and vigilance in preserving any such grain afterdiscovery that the same is out of condition, or is becoming so, but suchgrain shall be kept separate and apart from all direct contact with othergrain and shall not be mixed with other grain while in store in suchwarehouse. Any public warehouseman guilty of any act of neglect which hasthe effect of depreciating propertystored in a public warehouse underthe warehouseman's control, shall be liable on thewarehouseman's bond or letter of credit therefor to the person damagedthereby. After grain has been sold as authorized by thissection, the warehousemanshall not be liable thereafter for the delivery of suchgrain even thoughthe receipt therefor is negotiable, but shall be liable as a trustee forthe amount of the proceeds of such sale in excess of the amount of anylawful charges for which the warehouseman had a lien at the time of such sale.
History: L. 1931, ch. 194, § 51;L. 1984, ch. 150, § 13;L. 1997, ch. 160, § 33;L. 2000, ch. 30, § 6; Mar. 30.