Section 290.657 - Committee; establishment; appointment, qualifications, and terms of members; reapportionment of districts; expenses and per diem; duties and responsibilities; conducting business at public meeting; notice of meeting; availability of writings to public; exemption of certain information from freedom of information act(1) A marketing program shall provide for the establishment of a committee to consist of an odd number of members which shall be not less than 5 and not more than 13.(2) The members of the committee shall be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate from nominations received from the producers and handlers or processors of the agricultural commodity or agricultural commodity input for which the marketing program is established. Nominating procedures, qualifications, representation, term of office, and size of the committee shall be prescribed in the marketing program for which the committee is appointed. Each committee shall be composed of producers and handlers or processors who are directly affected by the marketing program in the proportion of representation as prescribed by the program. The term of office of a committee member is 3 years or until such time as his or her successor is appointed and qualified.(3) The director or his or her representative shall serve as a nonvoting ex officio member. Additional nonvoting ex officio members may serve if approved for in a specific marketing program.(4) A committee, with the advice and consent of the director and the commission of agriculture, may reapportion either the number of committee members or member districts, or both. Reapportionment of the districts shall be on the basis of production or industry representation. The reapportionment may be commenced 30 days after the effective date of the amendatory act that added this subsection. Reapportionment of either members or districts shall not occur more often than twice in any 5-year period and shall not occur within 6 months before a referendum.(5) After the reapportionment described in subsection (4), if the residence of a member of the committee falls outside of the district for which he or she serves on the committee and falls within the district for which another member serves on the committee, then both members shall continue to serve on the committee for a term equal to the remaining term of the member who served for the longest period of time. After the reapportionment described in subsection (4), if a district is created in which no member serving on the committee resides, then a member shall be selected in the manner as prescribed in each program. After a reapportionment or redistricting, a committee may temporarily have more members than prescribed in the marketing program until the expiration of the term of the longest serving member from that district.(6) A member of a committee is entitled to reimbursement for actual expenses and a per diem payment to be set by the committee not to exceed the commission of agriculture rate while attending meetings of the committee or while engaged in the performance of official responsibilities delegated by the committee.(7) The duties and responsibilities of a committee shall be prescribed in the order establishing the marketing program and to the extent applicable shall include the following duties and responsibilities:(a) Developing procedures relating to the marketing program.(b) Recommending amendments to the marketing program as are considered advisable.(c) Preparing the estimated budget required for the proper operation of the marketing program.(d) Developing methods for collecting and auditing the assessments.(e) Collecting and assembling information and data necessary for proper administration of the marketing program.(f) Performing other duties necessary for the operation of the marketing program as agreed upon with the director.(8) The business which a committee may perform shall be conducted at a public meeting of the committee held in compliance with the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275. Public notice of the time, date, and place of the meeting shall be given in the manner required by the open meetings act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275.(9) Subject to section 10(b) and except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by a committee in the performance of an official function shall be made available to the public in compliance with the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246. Except for information regarding penalties levied under this act, information relating to specific assessments to a specific person under a marketing program as well as names and addresses of producers shall be exempt from disclosure to any other person or committee. This subsection does not prevent the director or the department from obtaining information necessary to confirm compliance with this act and does not prevent the director or the department from disclosing statistical information so long as that disclosure does not reveal specific assessments or production levels of any producer, handler, or processor.1965, Act 232, Eff. 3/31/1966 ;--Am. 1978, Act 146, Imd. Eff. 5/12/1978 ;--Am. 1980, Act 196, Imd. Eff. 7/8/1980 ;--Am. 1992, Act 145, Imd. Eff. 7/15/1992 ;--Am. 1996, Act 216, Imd. Eff. 5/28/1996 ;--Am. 2002, Act 601, Imd. Eff. 12/20/2002.