Inspection of books and records; verification; confidentiality

Sec. 7. (a) The: (1) books and records of each grain buyer must clearly indicate the producer premiums collected by the grain buyer; and (2) portion of the books and records reflecting the premiums collected must be open for inspection by the corporation, board, board's authorized agents, director, or the director's designated representative during regular business hours. (b) Each grain buyer shall keep accurate and correct records of grain purchased from producers documenting the producer premiums paid by producers. The records must be maintained by the grain buyer for a period of five (5) years from the date of remittance of the producer premiums to the corporation. The records must be available to authorized agents of the corporation during normal business hours. (c) The corporation, board, board's authorized agent, director, or the director's designated representative may take steps reasonably necessary to verify the accuracy of the portion of a grain buyer's books and records that reflect the premiums collected. The information obtained under this section is confidential for purposes of IC 5-14-3-4(a)(1). Unless otherwise required by judicial order, the information obtained under this section may be disclosed only to parties empowered to see or review the information. The corporation, board, or director may respond to inquiries or disclose information obtained under this section only in accordance with guidelines set forth in IC 26-3-7-6.5. (d) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (c), the verification permitted under subsection (c) must be completed by the agency unless two-thirds (2/3) of the board vote to have the verification completed by an independent auditor.