West Virginia Code 19-2B-11 – Criminal penalties; civil penalties
(a) Criminal penalties.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 19-2B-11
- Adulterated: means and shall apply to any carcass, part thereof, meat product or poultry product under one or more of the following circumstances:
(1) If it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
- Carcass: means all or any part of a slaughtered animal or poultry, including viscera, which is capable of being used for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
- Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture of the State of West Virginia and duly authorized representatives. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
- 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.
- Distributor: means a person engaged for profit in this state in the business where carcasses, meat products or poultry products are received from state inspected establishments, or establishments inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture and who stores and distributes to commercial outlets, processors or individuals and who conducts no processing. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Meat: means the edible part of the muscle of animals which is skeletal or which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart or in the esophagus, with or without the accompanying or overlying fat, and the portions of bone, skin, sinew nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the muscle tissue and which are not separated from it in the process of dressing. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
- Offense: includes every act or omission for which a fine, forfeiture, or punishment is imposed by law. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, or other entity. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
- Poultry: means any domesticated bird which is used or intended to be used for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
- 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.
- Processor: means a person who engages for profit in this state in the business of processing carcasses, meat products or poultry products for human consumption. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
- Sell: means offer for sale, expose for sale, have in possession for sale, exchange, barter or trade. See West Virginia Code 19-2B-2
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- 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
(1) Any person who violates any of the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall for the first offense be fined not less than two hundred nor more than $1,000 and upon conviction of each subsequent offense shall be fined not less than $400 nor more than $2,000.
(2) If 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, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000 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 $500 for a first violation and not more than $1,000 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. All penalties, together with any interest, collected by the state, pursuant to this subsection, shall be deposited in the General Revenue Fund.
(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.