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EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted
and is intended to be omitted in the law.
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 1153
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR NICOLA.
5619S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal sections 442.566, 442.571, 442.576, and 442.591, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof
five new sections relating to foreign ownership of agricultural land, with an emergency
clause.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Sections 442.566, 442.571, 442.576, and 1
442.591, RSMo, are repealed and five new sections enacted in 2
lieu thereof, to be known as sections 442.566, 442.571, 442.576, 3
442.591, and 442.593, to read as follows:4
442.566. As used in sections 442.560 to 442.591, 1
unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following 2
terms mean: 3
(1) "Agricultural land", any tract of land in this 4
state consisting of more than five acres, whether inside or 5
outside the corporate limits of any municipality, which is 6
capable, without substantial modification to the character 7
of the land, of supporting an agricultural enterprise, 8
including but not limited to land used for the production of 9
agricultural crops or fruit or other horticultural products, 10
or for the raising or feeding of animals for the production 11
of livestock or livestock products, poultry or poultry 12
products, or milk or dairy products. Adjacent parcels of 13
land under the same ownership shall be deemed to be a single 14
tract; 15
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(2) "Alien", any person who is not a citizen of the 16
United States and who is not a resident of the United States 17
or of some state, territory, trusteeship, or protectorate of 18
the United States; 19
(3) "Director", the director of the Missouri 20
department of agriculture; 21
(4) "Family members" includes all persons within the 22
ninth degree of consanguinity, or the living or surviving 23
spouse of any person within the ninth degree of 24
consanguinity; 25
(5) "Foreign business", any business entity whether or 26
not incorporated, including but not limited to companies, 27
corporations, professional corporations, nonprofit 28
corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, 29
limited partnerships, [and] associations, or the equivalent 30
of any entity listed in this subdivision, in which a 31
controlling interest is owned by aliens or organized under 32
the laws of a foreign country, or both. In determining 33
ownership of a foreign business, legal fictions such as 34
corporate form or trust shall be disregarded; 35
(6) "Residence", the place of general abode; the place 36
of general abode of a person means his principal, actual 37
dwelling place in fact, where he intends to remain 38
permanently or for an indefinite period of time at least. 39
442.571. 1. Except as provided in sections 442.586 1
and 442.591, [no alien or foreign business shall acquire by 2
grant, purchase, devise, descent or otherwise agricultural 3
land in this state if the total aggregate alien and foreign 4
ownership of agricultural acreage in this state exceeds one 5
percent of the total aggregate agricultural acreage in this 6
state. A sale or transfer of any agricultural land in this 7
state shall be submitted to the director of the department 8
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of agriculture for review in accordance with subsection 3 of 9
this section only if there is no completed Internal Revenue 10
Service Form W-9 signed by the purchaser] beginning on the 11
effective date of this act, no alien, foreign business, or 12
foreign government shall acquire by grant, purchase, devise, 13
descent, or otherwise any agricultural land in this state, 14
including for nonfarming purposes, as defined in section 15
442.591. Any alien, foreign business, or foreign government 16
who acquired any agricultural land in this state prior to 17
the effective date of this act shall not grant, sell, or 18
otherwise transfer such agricultural land to any other 19
alien, foreign business, or foreign government on or after 20
the effective date of this act. No person may hold 21
agricultural land as an agent, trustee, or other fiduciary 22
for an alien [or], foreign business, or foreign government 23
in violation of sections 442.560 to [442.592] 442.593, 24
provided, however, that no security interest in such 25
agricultural land shall be divested or invalidated by such 26
violation. 27
2. Any alien [or], foreign business, or foreign 28
government who acquires agricultural land in violation of 29
sections 442.560 to [442.592] 442.593 remains in violation 30
of sections 442.560 to [442.592] 442.593 for as long as [he 31
or she] the alien, foreign business, or foreign government 32
holds an interest in the land, provided, however, that no 33
security interest in such agricultural land shall be 34
divested or invalidated by such violation. 35
3. Subject to the provisions of subsection 1 of this 36
section, [such] all proposed [acquisitions] transfers on or 37
after the effective date of this act by grant, purchase, 38
devise, descent, or otherwise of any interest in 39
agricultural land held by any alien, foreign business, or 40
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foreign government in this state shall be submitted at least 41
thirty calendar days prior to when such transfers of such 42
agricultural land are finalized to the department of 43
agriculture to determine whether such [acquisition] transfer 44
of agricultural land, or if land usage changes, is conveyed 45
in accordance with the [one percent restriction on the total 46
aggregate] prohibition on alien and foreign ownership of 47
agricultural land in this state under this act. Such sale 48
or transfer submitted for review shall be deemed a closed 49
record under chapter 610 until such sale is finalized. The 50
department shall establish by rule the requirements for 51
submission and approval of requests under this subsection. 52
4. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is 53
defined in section 536.010, that is created under the 54
authority delegated in this section shall become effective 55
only if it complies with and is subject to all of the 56
provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 57
536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and 58
if any of the powers vested with the general assembly 59
pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective 60
date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently 61
held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking 62
authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 63
2014, shall be invalid and void. 64
442.576. 1. If the director finds that an alien [or], 1
foreign business, or foreign government or an agent, 2
trustee, or other fiduciary therefor has acquired 3
agricultural land in Missouri [in violation of sections 4
442.560 to 442.592] after the effective date of this act, or 5
the land ceases to be used for nonagricultural purposes 6
under section 442.591, he or she shall report the violation 7
to the attorney general. 8
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2. The attorney general shall institute an action in 9
the circuit court of Cole County or the circuit court in any 10
county in which agricultural land owned by the alien or 11
foreign business, agent, trustee or other fiduciary, alleged 12
to have violated sections 442.560 to [442.592] 442.593, is 13
located. 14
3. The attorney general shall file a notice of the 15
pendency of the action with the recorder of deeds of each 16
county in which any portion of such agricultural lands is 17
located. If the court finds that the lands in question have 18
been acquired in violation of sections 442.560 to [442.592] 19
442.593, it shall enter an order so declaring and shall file 20
a copy of the order with the recorder of deeds of each 21
county in which any portion of the agricultural lands is 22
located. The court shall order the owner to divest himself 23
of the agricultural land. The owner must comply with the 24
order within two years. The two-year limitation period 25
shall be a covenant running with the title to the land 26
against any alien grantee or assignee. Provided, however, 27
an incorporated foreign business must divest itself of 28
agricultural land within the minimum time required by 29
Article XI, Section 5, of the Missouri Constitution. Any 30
agricultural lands not divested within the time prescribed 31
shall be ordered sold by the court at a public sale in the 32
manner prescribed by law for the foreclosure of a mortgage 33
on real estate for default in payment. 34
442.591. [The restrictions set forth in sections 1
442.560 to 442.592 shall not apply to agricultural land or 2
any interest therein acquired by an alien or foreign 3
business for immediate or potential use in nonfarming 4
purposes. An alien or foreign business may hold such 5
agricultural land in such acreage as may be necessary to its 6
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nonfarm business operation; provided, however, that pending 7
the development of agricultural land for nonfarm purposes, 8
such land may not be used for farming except under lease to 9
a family farm unit; a family farm corporation defined in 10
section 350.010; an alien or foreign business which has 11
filed with the director under sections 442.560 to 442.592; 12
or except when controlled through ownership, options, 13
leaseholds or other agreements by a corporation which has 14
entered into an agreement with the United States of America 15
pursuant to the New Community Act of 1968 (Title IV of the 16
Housing and Urban Development Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 3901- 17
3914), as amended, or a subsidiary or assignee of such a 18
corporation.] 1. As used in this section, the following 19
terms mean: 20
(1) "Foreign adversary", any foreign government or 21
person identified as a foreign adversary in 15 CFR 791.4; 22
(2) "Nonfarming", includes, but is not limited to, the 23
conducting and active operation of research or 24
experimentation for the purpose of developing or improving 25
any type of agricultural practice, tool, device, or 26
implement, or animal health research, animal nutrition 27
research, raising genetic traits that are used for human or 28
animal research, or animals raised for exhibition. 29
2. Beginning on the effective date of this section, no 30
foreign adversary shall own agricultural land in this state 31
for nonfarming purposes. 32
442.593. 1. After the effective date of this act, an 1
alien, foreign business, or foreign government shall not 2
acquire any agricultural land in the state for any purpose 3
within five miles from: 4
(1) Any reservation, post, arsenal, proving ground, 5
range, mine field, camp, base, airfield, fort, yard, 6
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station, district, or area of the Armed Forces of the United 7
States; or 8
(2) Any commercial establishment engaged in the 9
development or manufacture of classified military or naval 10
arms, munitions, equipment, designs, ships, aircraft, or 11
vessels for the Armed Forces of the United States. 12
2. Any alien, foreign business, or foreign government 13
who acquired agricultural land described in subsection 1 of 14
this section in the state prior to the effective date of 15
this act shall divest itself of the agricultural land. 16
3. The attorney general shall enforce provisions of 17
this section. Any individual may report violations of this 18
section to the attorney general. If the attorney general 19
believes that a violation occurred, the attorney general 20
shall commence a civil action in a court of competent 21
jurisdiction. 22
4. The attorney general shall file a notice of the 23
pendency of the action with the recorder of deeds of each 24
county in which any portion of agricultural land under this 25
section is located. 26
5. If the court finds that a violation of this section 27
has occurred, the court shall enter an order so declaring 28
and shall file a copy of the order with the recorder of 29
deeds of each county in which any portion of the 30
agricultural land under this section is located. The court 31
shall order the owner to divest itself of the agricultural 32
land. The owner shall comply with the order within three 33
years. Any agricultural land not divested within the three 34
years period under this subsection shall be ordered sold by 35
the court at a public sale in the manner prescribed by law 36
for the foreclosure of a mortgage on real estate for default 37
in payment. 38
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Section B. Because of the dangers of foreign ownership 1
of agricultural land, section A of this act is deemed 2
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public 3
health, welfare, peace, and safety, and is hereby declared 4
to be an emergency act within the meaning of the 5
constitution, and section A of this act shall be in full 6
force and effect upon its passage and approval. 7
✓