ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 219
(Senators Anderson, Ross, Sharpe, Bailey, Schoonover, Love,
Dittmar, Kessler and Ball, original sponsors)
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[Passed March 13, 1999; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section eleven, article two-b,
chapter nineteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the
inspection of meat and poultry; authorizing the commissioner
of agriculture to assess civil penalties against
slaughterers, processors and distributors for violations of
this article; providing for recording of liens; permitting
commissioner to settle cases; and limiting recovery of
damages against the state.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eleven, article two-b, chapter nineteen of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2B. INSPECTION OF MEAT AND POULTRY.
§19-2B-11. Criminal penalties; civil penalties.
(a) Criminal penalties.
(1) Any person who violates any of the provisions of this
article shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall for the first offense be fined not less than two hundred
nor more than one thousand dollars and upon conviction of each
subsequent offense shall be fined not less than four hundred nor
more than two thousand dollars.
(b)(2) If such a person knowingly sells, offers for sale or
distribution, or attempts to sell, offers for sale or
distribution of a carcass, meat product or poultry product that
is contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms or otherwise
adulterated, such a the person shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five thousand
dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars upon conviction of
each offense.
(b) Civil penalties.
(1) Any slaughterer, processor or distributor who violates any of the provisions of this article or regulations adopted
hereunder may be assessed a civil penalty by the commissioner.
In determining the amount of any civil penalty, the commissioner
shall give due consideration to the history of previous
violations; the seriousness of the violation, including any
hazards to the health and safety of the public; and the
demonstrated good faith efforts by the charged party to ensure
that similar violations do not recur.
(2) The commissioner may assess a penalty of not more than
five hundred dollars for a first violation and not more than one
thousand dollars for each subsequent violation.
(3) The civil penalty is payable to the state of West
Virginia and may be collected in any manner for collection of
debt to the state. If a person assessed a civil penalty pursuant
to this subsection neglects or refuses to pay, the amount of that
penalty, together with interest calculated at ten percent per
annum, may be filed as a lien in favor of the state upon any and
all property of the person, both real and personal. The lien
shall be recorded in the records kept in the office of the county
clerk in the county wherein the violation occurred. The county clerk in the recording county shall enter the same to record
without requiring payment of recording fees as a condition
precedent to the recording. A notice of the lien shall be mailed
or delivered to the person against whose property the lien has
been placed. SB219 S FIN AM #1
The Committee on Finance moved to amend the bill on page
four, section eleven, line forty-five, after the word "placed."
by inserting the following: All penalties, together with any interest, collected
by the state, pursuant to this subsection, shall be deposited in
the general revenue fund.
Adopted
Rejected
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the
contrary, the commissioner may enter into consent agreements or
negotiated settlement agreements for the civil penalties assessed
pursuant to this subsection.
(5) No state court may allow the recovery of damages for
administrative action taken by the commissioner if the court
finds, as a matter of law, that there was probable cause for such
action.