West Virginia Code 19-16A-22 – Criminal penalties; civil penalties; negotiated agreement
(a) Criminal penalties. — Any person violating any provision of this article or rule adopted hereunder is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500 for the first offense, and for the second offense, shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000, or imprisoned in the county jail not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned. Magistrates have concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts to enforce the provisions of this article.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 19-16A-22
- Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture of the State of West Virginia and his or her duly authorized representatives. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Environment: includes water, air, land and all plants and man and other animals living therein, and the interrelationships which exist among these. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Permit: means a written certificate, issued by the commissioner authorizing the use of certain restricted use pesticides or state restricted use pesticides. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
- Person: means any individual, partnership, association, fiduciary, corporation or any organized group of persons whether incorporated or not. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- Serious violation: means a violation of this article or rule promulgated by the commissioner where there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm to persons, serious harm to property or serious harm to the environment could have resulted from the violation unless the person or licensee did not or could not with the exercise of reasonable diligence know of the violation. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) Civil penalties. — (1) Any person violating a provision of this article or rule 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 of any person, the seriousness of the violation, including any irreparable harm to the environment and any hazards to the health and safety of the public and the demonstrated good faith of any person charged in attempting to achieve compliance with this article after written notification of the violation.
(2) The commissioner may assess a penalty of not more than $500 for each first offense, nonserious violation, and not more than $1,000 for a serious violation, or for a repeat or intentional violation.
(3) The civil penalty is payable to the State of West Virginia and is collectible in any manner now or hereafter provided for collection of debt. If any person liable to pay the civil penalty neglects or refuses to pay the same, the amount of the civil penalty, together with interest at ten percent, is a lien in favor of the State of West Virginia upon the property, both real and personal, of such a person after the same has been entered and docketed to record in the county where such property is situated. The clerk of the county, upon receipt of the certified copy of such, shall enter same to record without requiring the payment of costs as a condition precedent to recording.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the commissioner may promulgate and adopt rules which permit consent agreements or negotiated settlements for the civil penalties assessed as a result of violation of the provisions of this article.
(d) No state court may allow the recovery of damages for administrative action taken if the court finds that there was probable cause for such action.