HM Distributors of Milwaukee, Inc. v. Department of Agriculture

By terms of an action for declaratory relief, the proper procedure, 1 the plaintiff challenges a statute and rules of the state Department of Agriculture.

The statute.

The statute involved authorizes the state Department of Agriculture to issue orders forbidding methods of competition in business or trade practices in business which are determined by the department to be unfair. 2

The rules.

Following a public hearing on the proposed rules, the state Department of Agriculture issued the rules prohibiting the promoting, offering or granting of participation in a “chain distributor scheme,”…