18.333 Destruction of bushes.  

    In pursuance of powers granted by sections 18.331 to 
 18.334, when the commissioner, or the commissioner's agents, 
 shall have found Mahonia bushes or barberry bushes of such 
 rust-producing varieties on any premises, it shall be the duty 
 of the commissioner or the agents, as the case may be, to 
 immediately notify, or cause to be notified, the owner or 
 occupant of the premises on which such bushes are growing; such 
 notice shall be sent to the owner or occupant in such form as 
 the commissioner shall prescribe, and it shall be the duty of 
 every occupant of land or, if the land is unoccupied, the owner 
 thereof, or the owner's agent, or the public official in charge 
 thereof, to cut down, otherwise destroy, or eradicate all such 
 Mahonia bushes or barberry bushes as defined in section 18.77, 
 subdivision 8, standing, being, or growing upon such land, or in 
 such manner and at such times as may be directed or ordered by 
 the commissioner or the commissioner's agents.  The expense of 
 such destruction shall be paid to the state commissioner by the 
 owner of the premises within ten days after the rendition of a 
 bill therefor, and if such costs shall not be paid within that 
 time, the bill is hereby made a legal charge against the county 
 or municipality in which the lands are located.  After such 
 cutting down, otherwise destroying or eradicating of noxious 
 weeds, the officer causing the same to be done shall file 
 verified and itemized statements of the costs of all services 
 rendered in connection with serving of notices and cutting down, 
 otherwise destroying or eradicating the noxious bushes on each 
 separate tract or lot of land, with the county auditor or with 
 the clerk of the municipality in which such lands are located, 
 who shall immediately issue proper warrants to the persons named 
 therein for the amount specified.  The amount of such expenses 
 shall constitute and be a lien in favor of the county or 
 municipality, as the case may be, against the land involved and 
 shall be certified to by the county auditor, the municipal 
 clerk, and entered by the county auditor on the tax books as a 
 tax upon such land, and shall be collected in the same manner as 
 other real estate taxes are collected.  The amount of such 
 expenses, when collected shall be used to reimburse the county 
 or municipality for its expenditure in this regard.  Where the 
 lands involved are located in unorganized territory, the expense 
 of eradicating or destroying such bushes shall be paid by the 
 county auditor out of the general revenue fund of the county, 
 upon the verified itemized statement of the commissioner or the 
 commissioner's agent and the amount of such payment shall be 
 entered on the tax books as a tax on such lands and shall 
 constitute and be a lien in favor of such county against the 
 lands involved and shall be collected in the same manner as 
 other real estate taxes are collected.  

    HIST: (6148) 1919 c 81 s 3; 1957 c 724 s 3; 1986 c 444; 1993 c 
 13 art 2 s 1