38-24B-20. Treatment or destruction by secretary on failure of owner--Strict liability for costs--Assessment, collection, and disposition. If the owner or person in charge of any premises refuses or neglects to comply with the orders of the secretary of agriculture, within a reasonable period of time and after receiving a written notice, the secretary may proceed to treat or destroy the infested or infected plants or plant material, fields, premises, buildings, packing materials, or vehicles used in transporting such material. The owner or person in charge is strictly liable to the secretary for the actual and necessary expense associated therewith. That liability may be assessed against the premises and collected as taxes are collected. The department shall keep an accurate account in itemized form and certify it to the county auditor of the county where the land is situated. The county auditor shall place that amount upon the next tax list to be prepared in the county, in a separate column to be headed "For the destruction of diseased plants." The county treasurer shall remit all moneys collected under this chapter to the state treasurer who shall deposit it in the general fund. The amount certified shall be collected as other taxes are collected and is subject to all the penalties provided for the nonpayment of taxes, and the entry of such expense upon the tax list is presumptive evidence of the liability of the land to the tax.

Source: SL 1985, ch 313, § 20; SL 1986, ch 335, § 8.