                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CONDEMNATION OF ADULTERATED, MISBRANDED PRODUCTS (§ 3.2-5216)

Any product referred to by § 3.2-5215 shall be liable to be proceeded against
and condemned.
		At any time prior to the expiration of the 20-day detention period provided by
§ 3.2-5215, the Commissioner shall notify the attorney for the Commonwealth for
the city or county where such detention was made in writing. Upon receiving
written notification, the attorney for the Commonwealth shall forthwith file in
the name of the Commonwealth any information against the detained product in the
clerk&#8217;s office of the circuit court of the county or city where the
detention was made. Upon the filing of such information, the clerk of court
shall forthwith issue a warrant directing the sheriff to seize the detained
product and see to its transportation to a suitable place of storage that, if
necessary, may be outside of the county or city served by the sheriff. Should
the attorney for the Commonwealth, for any reason, fail to file such information
within five days after receipt of written notice of detention of the product,
the same may, at any time within 30 days thereafter be filed by the Attorney
General and the proceedings thereon shall be the same as if filed by the
attorney for the Commonwealth.
		Such information shall allege the seizure, and set forth in general terms the
grounds of forfeiture of the seized product, and shall petition that the same be
condemned and sold and the proceeds disposed of according to law, and that all
persons concerned or interested be cited to appear and show cause why such
product should not be condemned and sold to enforce the forfeiture. After the
filing of the information, the attorney for the Commonwealth shall apply to the
judge of the court wherein the information was filed for a hearing on the
matters contained in the information. The judge of the court shall move the
cause to the head of the docket and the hearing shall be had as soon as
practical to do so.
		The owner of and all persons in any manner then indebted or liable for the
purchase price of the product and any person having a lien thereon, if they be
known to the attorney who files the information, shall be made parties defendant
thereto, and shall be served with the notice provided for, in the manner
provided by law for serving a notice, at least 10 days before the day specified
for the hearing on the information, if they are residents of the Commonwealth;
and if they are unknown or nonresidents, or cannot with reasonable diligence be
found in the Commonwealth, they shall be deemed sufficiently served by
publication of the notice once a week for two successive weeks in some newspaper
published in the county or city, or if there be none published therein, then in
some newspaper having general circulation, and a notice shall be sent by
registered mail of such seizure to the last known address of the owner of the
detained product.
		Any person claiming to be the owner of such product or to hold a lien thereon,
may appear at any time before final judgment of the trial court, and be made a
party defendant to the information so filed, which appearance shall be by
answer, under oath, in which shall be clearly set forth the nature of such
defendant&#8217;s claim, whether as owner or as lienor, and if as owner, the
right or title by which he claims to be such owner, and if lienor, the amount
and character of his lien, and the evidence thereof; and in either case, such
defendant shall set forth fully any reason or cause that he may have to show
against the forfeiture of the product.
		If such product is condemned, it shall, after entry of the decree, be disposed
of by destruction or sale as the court may direct and the proceeds, if sold,
less the court costs and fees, and storage and other proper expenses, shall be
paid into the state treasury, but the product shall not be sold contrary to the
regulations of the Board; provided, that upon the execution and delivery of a
good and sufficient bond conditioned that the product shall not be sold or
otherwise disposed of contrary to the regulations of the Board, the court may
direct that such product be delivered to a claimant thereof, who may have
appeared in the proceedings, subject to such supervision by the Commissioner as
is necessary to insure compliance with the applicable regulations. When a decree
of condemnation is entered against a product and it is released under bond, or
destroyed, court costs and fees, and storage and other proper expenses may, as
the court deems just, be awarded against the person, if any, intervening as
claimant of the product.
		If a claimant denies for any reason that the product to be condemned is
subject to condemnation as provided by this section, and shall demand a trial by
jury of the issue thus made, then the court shall, under proper instructions,
submit the same to a jury of five, to be selected and empanelled as prescribed
by law. If the jury finds in favor of the claimant, or if the court, trying such
issue without a jury, so finds, the judgment of the court shall be to entirely
relieve the product from forfeiture, and no costs shall be taxed against such
claimant.

HISTORY: 1970, c. 48, § 3.1-562.9; 2008, c. 860.