(1) (a) Any person who, without the consent of the owner of an agricultural product, exercises control over the agricultural product with the intent to deprive such owner of the agricultural product or who maliciously damages or destroys the agricultural product, or who encourages or conspires with another to do so, shall be liable for damages as described in subsection (2) of this section.
(b) For purposes of this section:
"Agricultural product" means any product of agriculture as defined in section 35-1102 (1).
"Experimental agricultural product" means any product of agriculture, as defined insection 35-1-102 (1) that is the subject of testing or a product development program being conducted by a private entity, a federal, state, or local government agency, or an educational institution, or that has been developed through such a program.
(2) For a violation of subsection (1) of this section, a court shall award:
The market value of the experimental agricultural product itself and costs directlyrelated to research, testing, production, replacement, and development of the experimental agricultural product. The court may award treble damages.
The market value of the agricultural product itself and costs directly related to production and replacement. The court may award treble damages. (c) Reasonable attorney fees; and (d) Litigation costs.
(3) The rights and remedies available under this section are in addition to any other rights or remedies otherwise available.
Source: L. 2002: Entire part added, p. 236, § 1, effective April 12.