(a) If the Secretary of Environmental Quality or a local health director has probable cause to believe that any scallops, shellfish, or crustacea is adulterated or misbranded, the Secretary of Environmental Quality or a local health director may detain or embargo the article by affixing a tag to it and warning all persons not to remove or dispose of the article until permission for removal or disposal is given by the official by whom it was detained or embargoed or by the court. It shall be unlawful for any person to remove or dispose of the detained or embargoed article without that permission.

(b) The official by whom the scallops, shellfish, or crustacea was detained or embargoed shall petition a judge of the district or superior court in whose jurisdiction the article is detained or embargoed for an order for condemnation of the article. If the court finds that the article is adulterated or misbranded, that article shall be destroyed under the supervision of the petitioner. All court costs and fees, storage and other expense shall be taxed against the claimant of the article. If, the article, by proper labelling can be properly branded, the court, after the payment of all costs, fees, expenses, and an adequate bond, may order that the article be delivered to the claimant for proper labelling under the supervision of the petitioner. The bond shall be returned to the claimant after the petitioner represents to the court that the article is no longer mislabelled and that the expenses of supervision have been paid. (1983, c. 891, s. 2; 1997-261, s. 109; 1997-443, s. 11A.63A; 2006-80, s. 1; 2007-7, s. 1; 2011-145, ss. 13.3(ttt), (uuu); 2015-241, s. 14.30(v).)