This section sets up the Tennessee corn promotion board, requires named organizations to nominate corn producers, and gives the commissioner appointment power.
The Tennessee corn promotion board shall be composed of nine (9) members to be appointed by the commissioner to serve for terms of three (3) years, as provided in this section. All of the nine (9) members of the board shall be producers of corn in this state. Within ten (10) days following the effective date of an assessment on corn levied pursuant to this chapter, the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, and the Tennessee Corn Growers Association shall each submit the names of corn producers to the commissioner, and the commissioner shall appoint three (3) members from the nominees of each organization to serve on the board for rotating three-year terms. The original board shall be appointed with members from each of the organizations appointed as follows: one (1) for one (1) year, one (1) for two (2) years, and one (1) for three (3) years. Each year thereafter, not less than thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of board members' terms, each organization shall submit the names of three (3) nominees to the commissioner, and succeeding boards shall be appointed by the commissioner in the same manner, giving equal representation to each organization. Vacancies that occur shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made. Persons who are appointed to the board shall serve no more than two (2) consecutive terms. The commissioner or a designee from the commissioner's staff shall serve as an advisor to the board. The members of the board shall meet and organize within thirty (30) days of their appointment, and shall elect a chair, vice chair, and secretary-treasurer from the membership of the board, each to serve for one-year terms, whose duties shall be those customarily exercised by such officers or specifically designated by the board. The board may establish rules for its own government and for the administration of the board's affairs. The initial chair of the board elected pursuant to subsection (e) shall notify the government operations committee of the senate and the government operations committee of the house of representatives of the board's existence within thirty (30) days of the date of the initial chair's election.