Examination of application; approval of dealers’ licenses.

(1) The department shall, within a reasonable time, examine the application and consider the information submitted therewith, including the applicant’s financial statement and the reputation of the applicant as shown by applicant’s past and current history and activities, including applicant’s method and manner of doing business. The department shall also consider the past history of any applicant, either individually or in connection with any individual, copartnership, corporation, association, or other business unit with whom any applicant has been connected in any capacity, and may in proper cases impute to any individual, corporation, copartnership, association, or other business unit liability for any wrong or unlawful act previously done or performed by such individual, corporation, copartnership, association, or other business unit.

(2) If the Florida Citrus Commission shall, by a majority vote, be of the opinion that the applicant is qualified and entitled to a license as a citrus fruit dealer, the commission shall approve the application; otherwise the application shall be disapproved. However, commission approval of any application may be contingent upon such reasonable conditions as may be endorsed thereon by the commission, or commission action on an application may, by majority vote, be deferred to a subsequent date.

(3) In cases of deferred action, as set forth in subsection (2), if the applicant so requests and the factual circumstances are deemed by the commission so to justify, the commission may approve the granting of a temporary license to be valid for a period to be set by the commission, not to exceed 60 days. No more than one temporary license shall be approved for any applicant during a shipping season. No temporary license may be approved unless all requirements relating to bonds or fees required to be posted or paid by the applicant have been met the same as though the approval were not of a temporary nature.

(4) Grounds for the disapproval of the application include, but are not limited to:

(a) Any previous conduct of the applicant which would have been grounds for revocation or suspension of a license as hereinafter provided if the applicant had been licensed.

(b) Delinquent accounts of the applicant owing to and growing out of the ordinary course of business with producers and other persons or firms.

(c) Delinquent accounts of the applicant with any person or persons with whom applicant has dealt in its operations under a previous license.

(d) Failure of the applicant or its owners, partners, officers, or agents to comply with any valid order of the Department of Agriculture or the Department of Citrus relating to citrus fruit laws or rules.

(e) Applicant’s violation, or aiding or abetting in the violation, of any federal or Florida law or governmental agency rule or regulation governing or applicable to citrus fruit dealers.

(5) When the applicant is a corporate or other business entity, the term “applicant” as used in this section shall be deemed to include within its meaning those individuals who have been, or can reasonably be expected to be, actively engaged in the managerial affairs of the corporate or other business entity applicant.

(6) The department shall designate not more than three employees directly involved in the processing of citrus fruit dealer license applications, who shall be a part of, and shall have access to, the criminal justice information system described in chapter 943, for purposes of investigating license applicants.

(7) The department may adopt rules establishing the procedure and guidelines for granting interim conditional staff approval for issuance of a conditional citrus fruit dealer’s license, which license shall at all times be subject to final approval or other action by the commission at its next regular meeting. Any license so issued shall clearly and conspicuously indicate thereon the conditional nature of the approval and pendency of final action.