(240 ILCS 40/10-20)

Sec. 10-20. Duties and requirements of warehouseman.

(a) It is the duty of every warehouseman to receive for storage any grain that may be tendered to it in the ordinary course of business so far as the licensed storage capacity of the warehouse permits and if the grain is of a kind customarily stored by the warehouseman and is in suitable condition for storage.

(1) If the condition of grain offered for storage might adversely affect the condition of grain in the warehouse, a warehouseman need not receive the grain for storage, but if a warehouseman does receive the grain, then it must be stored in a manner that will not lower the grade of other grain in the warehouse.

(2) A warehouseman shall provide competent personnel and equipment to weigh and grade all grain in and out of storage.

(3) A warehouseman shall maintain all licensed warehouse facilities in a manner suitable to preserve the quality and quantity of grain stored.

(b) For the purposes of the Department's examinations, a warehouseman shall provide and maintain safe and adequate means of ingress and egress to the various and surrounding areas of the facilities, storage bins, and compartments of the warehouse.

(c) Except as provided in this item (c), a warehouseman shall at all times have a sufficient quantity of grain of like kind and quality to meet its outstanding storage obligations. For purposes of this Section, "like kind and quality" means the type of commodity and a combination of grade, specialty traits, if any, and class or sub-class as applicable.

(d) A warehouseman shall not store grain in excess of the capacity for which it is licensed.

(e) A warehouseman may redeposit grain from its warehouse with another warehouseman or a federal warehouseman in an additional quantity not to exceed the licensed storage capacity of its own warehouse.

(1) If grain is redeposited as provided in this Section, a warehouseman must retain the receipt it obtains from the second warehouseman as proof of the redeposit and retain sufficient control over the redeposited grain as is necessary to comply with directions of the original depositor regarding disposition of the redeposited grain.

(2) While grain is en route from the redepositing warehouseman to the second warehouseman, a redepositing warehouseman must retain an original or a duplicate bill of lading instead of and until such time as it obtains possession of the warehouse receipt as proof of disposition of the redeposited grain.

(f) Schedule of rates and licenses.

(1) A warehouseman shall file its schedule of rates with the Department and shall post its warehouse license and a copy of the schedule of rates on file with the Department in a conspicuous place in each location of the warehouseman where grain is received.

(2) The schedule of rates shall be on a form prescribed by the Department and shall include the names and genuine signatures of all persons authorized to sign warehouse receipts issued by the warehouseman.

(3) To change the schedule of rates or the name of any person authorized to sign warehouse receipts, a warehouseman must file with the Department a revised schedule of rates and, thereafter, post the revised schedule of rates at each location of the warehouseman where grain is received. The revised schedule of rates shall be deemed filed with the Department on the earlier of the date it is delivered to the Department or mailed to the Department by certified mail properly addressed with sufficient postage attached. The revised schedule of rates shall be effective on the date the schedule of rates is posted after delivery or mailing to the Department in accordance with this Section. Revised schedules of rates shall apply only to grain delivered for storage after the effective date of the revised schedule of rates. No grain in storage at the time of the effective date of a revised schedule of rates shall be subject to a revised schedule of rates until one year after the date of delivery of grain, unless otherwise provided by a written contract.

(4) The schedule of rates may provide for the negotiation of different rates for large deliveries of grain if those rates are applied on a uniform basis to all depositors under the same circumstances.

(g) A warehouseman may refuse to accept grain if the identity of the grain is to be preserved. If a warehouseman accepts grain and the identity of the grain is to be preserved, the evidence of storage shall state on its face that the grain is stored with its identity preserved and the location of that grain.

(h) A warehouseman shall at all times maintain an accurate and current daily position record on a daily basis.

(i) In the case of a change of ownership of a warehouse, the obligations of a warehouseman do not cease until its successor is properly licensed under this Code or the United States Warehouse Act, it has surrendered all unused warehouse receipts to the Department and has executed a successor's agreement, or the successor has otherwise provided for the obligations of its predecessor.

(j) If a warehouseman proposes to cease doing business as a warehouseman and there is no successor, it is the duty of the warehouseman to surrender all unused warehouse receipts to the Department, together with an affidavit accounting for all warehouse receipts setting forth the arrangements made with depositors for final disposition of the grain in storage and indicating the procedure for payment in full of all outstanding obligations. After payment in full of all outstanding obligations, it is the duty of the warehouseman to surrender its license.

(k) Requests by a warehouseman for special examinations, grain inventory computation, or verification of grain quantity or quality shall be accompanied by a fee of $200.

(l) Nothing in this Section is deemed to prohibit a warehouseman from entering into agreements with depositors of grain relating to allocation or reservation of storage space.

(Source: P.A. 93-225, eff. 7-21-03.)