§730.3. Louisiana Strawberry Marketing Board

            A. The Louisiana Strawberry Marketing Board is created in the department with its domicile in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

            B.(1) The board shall consist of eleven members. Eight members shall be appointed by the commissioner and confirmed by the Senate as follows:

            (a) Seven members shall be practicing strawberry producers.

            (b) One member shall be a consumer with knowledge of the strawberry industry.

            (2) The commissioner or his designee, the resident coordinator of the Louisiana State University Agriculture Experiment Station at Hammond or his designee, and the chairman of the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival shall serve ex officio and shall have all rights and responsibilities of appointed members. The commissioner or his designee, the resident coordinator of the Louisiana State University Agriculture Experiment Station at Hammond or his designee, and the chairman of the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival shall be counted for purposes of constituting a quorum.

            C. Appointed members shall serve terms concurrent with the term of the commissioner making the appointment. The chairman of the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival shall serve for one year until the end of his term as chairman and shall be automatically replaced by his successor.

            D. The presence of six members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business and the carrying out of duties of the board. Each member shall take and subscribe to the oath of office prescribed for state officers. No member of the board shall receive any salary, but each member shall receive the sum of twenty dollars per day for each day spent in actual attendance of meetings of the board and such allowance for traveling expenses in attending the meeting as is allowed other state employees for traveling expenses.

            E. The members of the board shall meet and organize immediately after their appointment and annually thereafter shall elect a chairman and a vice chairman from the membership of the board, whose duties shall be those customarily exercised by such officers or specifically designated by the board. The board may establish rules and regulations for its own government and the administration of the affairs of the board.

            F. The board shall employ a director and assistant director who shall be appointed by the board, subject to the approval of the commissioner. The director and assistant director shall be in the unclassified service. The commissioner is authorized to employ such other personnel necessary to carry into effect the rules, regulations, and ordinances that may be adopted by the board. The commissioner shall appoint an executive secretary for the board.

            G. Vacancies in appointed membership positions shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments. Persons appointed to fill vacancies shall serve out the unexpired portion of the memberships to which they have been appointed.

            Added by Acts 1958, No. 485, §1. Amended by Acts 1968, No. 365, §1; Acts 1974, No. 320, §1; Acts 1977, No. 577, §1; Acts 1980, No. 729, §1, eff. July 29, 1980; Acts 1986, No. 447, §1, eff. July 1, 1986; Acts 1992, No. 57, §1; Acts 2003, No. 1253, §1; Acts 2004, No. 764, §1, eff. July 6, 2004; Acts 2009, No. 24, §8D, eff. June 12, 2009; Acts 2012, No. 149, §1, eff. May 14, 2012; Acts 2019, No. 140, §1.