The Florida Senate

601.56  Application for dealers' licenses; requirements.--Any person desiring to engage in the business of citrus fruit dealer in the state shall make application to the Department of Citrus for a license. The Department of Citrus shall by regulation prescribe the information to be contained in such application.

(1)  All such applications, in addition to other information which may be prescribed by the Department of Citrus, must contain the following information:

(a)  Name and address of the individual, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other business unit applying for a license;

(b)  Names and addresses of the principal stockholders, officers, partners, or other individuals belonging to or connected with the applicant if the applicant for a license is a firm, partnership, association, corporation, or other business unit, whether it be for profit or otherwise;

(c)  The length of time the applicant has been engaged in the citrus fruit business in Florida in any manner whatsoever;

(d)  A statement of delinquent accounts growing out of the ordinary course of business with producers, if any there be;

(e)  A financial statement of the applicant, if required by the Department of Citrus, showing such information as the Department of Citrus may prescribe regarding the financial conditions of the applicant;

(f)  Whether or not the applicant or any of its officers, directors, or stockholders have previously been licensed as a citrus fruit dealer, or connected with a licensed citrus fruit dealer in the state and, if so, the date all such licenses were obtained; and

(g)  The number of boxes of citrus fruit, measured in terms of standard-packed boxes, which the applicant intends to deal with during the current or ensuing shipping season.

(2)  If the applicant is an individual and is shown to be a nonresident of the state, or is a copartnership and each member is shown to be a nonresident of the state, in either event, the said applicant shall designate some bona fide resident of the state as such applicant's resident agent upon whom process may be served. The service of process of any of the courts of this state upon such resident agent shall be as effectual and binding upon said applicant as if personally served upon said applicant.

(3)  If the applicant is a corporation, then such corporation must be one organized and existing under the laws of this state or having an unrevoked permit authorizing it to transact business in this state.

(4)  When a license application is submitted for a person or business entity which has an unpaid balance due and owing the Department of Citrus for any citrus excise taxes or delinquency fees levied and imposed under the authority of this chapter, the applicant shall be notified immediately by the department; and such application shall not be further processed or presented to the commission for action until such taxes and fees are paid in full. However, any applicant whose taxes are under review by the Department of Citrus or are contested in the appropriate administrative agency or court shall not have its application denied solely on the basis of owed taxes or fees, until the matter is determined by the department, agency, or court.

History.--s. 56, ch. 25149, 1949; s. 22, ch. 71-186; s. 2, ch. 81-318; ss. 3, 7, ch. 82-29; ss. 1, 3, ch. 85-129; s. 4, ch. 91-429.