Senate Bill No. 102
(By Senator White)
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[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the Committee the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §46A-6J-5 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to giving the office of the
Attorney General the power to investigate and charge, at any
time, home heating oil, gasoline or other motor fuel price
gouging.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §46A-6J-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6J. PROTECTION OF CONSUMERS FROM PRICE GOUGING AND UNFAIR
PRICING PRACTICES DURING AND SHORTLY AFTER A STATE
OF EMERGENCY.
§46A-6J-5. Penalties, remedies and enforcement.
(a) A violation of this article is an unfair or deceptive act
or practice within the meaning of section one hundred two, article
six of this chapter and is subject to the enforcement provisions and remedies provided by this chapter.
(b) Any person violating the provisions of this article is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than $1,000, or confined
the county or regional in
jail not more than one year, or both.
(c) The remedies and penalties provided by this article are
cumulative, and do not prohibit any other remedy or punishment
available under the laws of this state.
(d) Notwithstanding any contrary provisions in this article,
the Office of the Attorney General of this state shall investigate
and charge at any time any person, contractor, business or other
entity selling or offering to sell to any person home heating oil,
gasoline or other motor fuels for a price unreasonably greater than
ten percent above the prevailing market price. A person,
contractor, business or other entity in violation of this
subsection (d) is subject to the penalties and remedies of this
section. The Office of the Attorney General may petition any
circuit court of this state for the issuance of a temporary
restraining order or injunction or for any other remedy, as may be
appropriate, to compel a person, contractor, business or other
entity to comply with this subsection (d). In the event the state
substantially prevails in any action against a person, contractor,
business or other entity for violation of a provision of this
article, the state shall be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in such action, and the offending party shall be
liable for the attorneys' fees and costs.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to give the Office of the
Attorney General the power to investigate and charge home heating
oil, gasoline or other motor fuel price gouging, at any time.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.