411.255.  Operations for which a license is required — administrative penalty for operating without license. — 1.  No person shall:

  (1)  Operate a warehouse for storage of grain;

  (2)  Hold himself out as being in the grain storage business, or as offering storage facilities for grain;

  (3)  Advertise for, solicit or accept grain for storage;

  (4)  Carry on a grain bank operation, or receive and store grain for which a like quantity of grains is to be returned or delivered in any form to the depositor thereof without first obtaining and keeping in force an annual license issued by the department authorizing the operation of a public grain warehouse; provided, that all licenses issued prior to April 22, 1986, by the department shall remain valid for all purposes unless terminated, surrendered or revoked as provided in this chapter.

  2.  Two or more warehouses which constitute a single operating unit may be licensed under a single license if:

  (1)  The same warehouseman operates each warehouse in conjunction with the other;

  (2)  All the warehouses are functioning under the same name and with the same personnel, office, books and records; and

  (3)  The warehouses are within a fifty mile radius of the warehouseman's principal office.  

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All warehouses licensed under a single license shall be treated as a single warehouse for all the purposes of this chapter, excepting issuance of warehouse receipts and receipt and delivery of grain.

  3.  A licensed warehouseman shall not store grain in any unlicensed facility.

  4.  Following an administrative hearing, the director may require the warehouseman to pay a penalty of not more than five hundred dollars per day for each day the warehouseman is found to be operating without a license or bond.  In determining whether to assess the penalty, the director shall ascertain whether the warehouseman has continued to operate without a license or bond after being informed by the department in writing by certified mail of the need for licensing.  Any penalties collected by the director under this section shall be deposited in the general revenue fund.  In the event that a person penalized under this section fails to pay the penalty, the director may apply to the circuit court of Cole County for, and the court may enter, an order enforcing the penalty.