Horses: show, competition, and sale events: fees: registration.

Existing law regulates horse events, such as shows, competitions, and sales, and the drugging of horses. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law provides that in order to provide funds for enforcement of the above-mentioned regulatory provisions, the event manager of every horse event shall charge and collect a fee that the Secretary of Food and Agriculture determines to be necessary to carry out these provisions. Existing law requires the event manager to remit the fee, along with a completed assessment summary, to the Department of Food and Agriculture, as provided. This bill would instead require the submission of the completed assessment report for the registered event to the department. The bill would require the event manager to maintain event records for 2 years and to make the event records available to the department for inspection and photocopying, as provided. By imposing additional requirements on event managers, the violation of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating new crimes. This bill would provide that a show event held over multiple consecutive days, as provided, shall be considered one event for the purpose of the assessment of the fee. Existing law requires every horse event to be registered with the department, unless otherwise prescribed by the secretary by regulation, and provides that an event manager who fails to register an event required to be registered is subject to a civil penalty to be levied by the secretary, as provided. This bill would authorize the secretary to also suspend, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, the event manager from hosting or managing a public horse show or competition for a specified period for each violation. The bill would provide that it is unlawful for a suspended event manager to conduct a public horse show or competition during the period of suspension, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. The bill would subject a suspended event manager who hosts or manages a public horse show or competition during the period of suspension to the above-referenced civil penalty for each public horse show or competition held during the period of suspension. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.