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Committee advances bill to add penalties and fee-shifting to Idaho's Right to Farm Act
Summary
Senate Bill 1033, which would allow prevailing agricultural operators to recover attorneys' fees and create graduated penalties for repeated meritless nuisance complaints, was advanced to the Senate floor after testimony from farmers, commodity groups and agricultural aviators.
Sen. Todd Lakey (R-District 23) told the Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee that Senate Bill 1033 strengthens Idaho's Right to Farm Act by providing two enforcement mechanisms: fee-shifting for prevailing agricultural operators in nuisance lawsuits, and graduated penalties for repeated meritless complaints to state agencies or local law enforcement.
The bill would allow an agricultural operator who prevails in a nuisance lawsuit to recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs if the operation was lawfully conducted under the Right to Farm Act. It also defines a "meritless complaint" filed with a state agency (for example, the Department of Lands, the Department of Environmental Quality or the Department of Agriculture) or with local law enforcement when the complaint alleges a nuisance but the…
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