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A conflict between the Hemp Industries Association and the Kentucky HIA chapter prompted the national group to shut down the chapter's website, HempToday reported.

The national HIA voted earlier this year to shutter its network of chapters after chapter representatives complained they had not received funds owed them by the national headquarters, HempToday reported. Under an agreement struck when the chapter system was set up, HIA's national office collected membership fees and disbursed half of that money back to the state chapters where those memberships originated. HIA informed the chapters in May that the organization was in danger of going bankrupt, according to HempToday.

The Kentucky chapter rejected a proposed agreement under which HIA is trying to restructure its relationships with former state chapter representatives.

"In addition to the money they owe us, they took down the domain because we wouldn't sign a one-sided waiver of liability that favored them," said Tate Hall, who was Kentucky HIA's president, told HempToday.

Hall said his chapter spent about $6,000 on web services to develop the Kentucky HIA website independently. Hall told HempToday that the state group plans to reorganize as the Kentucky Hemp Association.

HIA posted a notice on the Kentucky chapter's website (kyhia.org) saying the domain has been redirected to national HIA website (hia.org) due to "a dispute over certain content . . . which is the intellectual property of the Hemp Industries Association."

"All organizations that were formerly chapters of the HIA are being provided with an agreement to license the continued use of HIA's logos and intellectual property during the transition period between the end of the previous chapter program and the implementation of a new affiliate structure so that they can continue to conduct business. The terms require that chapters avoid conduct that could damage HIA, and KYHIA has repeatedly refused to remove content from its website that is in violation of that requirement," the statement reads.

"We continue to work with many former chapter leaders and other volunteer stakeholders to develop recommendations for a new affiliation structure that will serve our members needs at the state and regional level, and remain committed to a collaborative and productive process that will benefit the entire hemp economy by building a stronger and more effective HIA 2.0," according to HIA's statement.

HIA was formed in 1994 in Scottsdale, Ariz., by hemp business owners and advocates. The group reported revenue of $742,815 in 2018.