                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

SPECIAL PROCESSING PROVISIONS FOR OVERWEIGHT VIOLATIONS (§ 46.2-1133)

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all violations of any weight limit
as provided in this article or any permit issued by either the Department or its
designee or by local authorities pursuant to this chapter shall be processed in
the following manner:

1. The officer or size and weight compliance agent charging the violation shall
serve a citation on the operator of the overweight vehicle. The citation shall
be directed to the owner, operator, or other person responsible for the
overweight violation as determined by the officer or size and weight compliance
agent. Service of the citation on the vehicle operator shall constitute service
of process upon the owner, operator, or other person charged with the weight
violation as provided in &#xA7; 46.2-1136.

2. The officer or size and weight compliance agent charging the violation shall
cause the citation to be delivered or mailed by first-class mail to the
Department within 24 hours after it is served.

3. The owner, operator, or other person charged with the weight violation shall,
within 21 days after the citation is served upon the vehicle operator, either
make full payment to the Department of the civil penalty, liquidated damages,
weighing fee, and processing fee as stated on the citation, or deliver to the
Department a written notice of his election to contest the overweight charge in
court.

4. Failure of the owner, operator, or other person charged with the weight
violation to timely deliver to the Department either payment in full of the
uncontested civil penalty, liquidated damages, weighing fee, and processing fee
or a notice of contest of the weight violation shall cause the Department to
issue an administrative order of assessment against such person. A copy of the
order shall be sent by first-class mail to the person charged with the weight
violation. Any such administrative order shall have the same effect as a
judgment for liquidated damages entered by a general district court.

5. Upon timely receipt of a notice of contest of an overweight charge, the
Department shall:
			a. Forward the citation to the general district court named in the citation,
and
			b. Send by first-class mail to the person charged with the weight violation,
and to the officer or size and weight compliance agent who issued the citation,
confirmation that the citation has been forwarded to the court for trial.

6. Notices and pleadings may be served by first-class mail sent to the address
shown on the citation as the address of the person charged with the weight
violation or, if none is shown, to the address of record for the person to whom
the vehicle is registered.

7. An alleged weight violation which is contested shall be tried as a civil
case. The attorney for the Commonwealth shall represent the interests of the
Commonwealth. The disposition of the case shall be recorded in an appropriate
order, a copy of which shall be sent to the Department in lieu of any record
which may be otherwise required by &#xA7; 46.2-383. If judgment is for the
Commonwealth, payment shall be made to the Department.

8. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any and all citations
and notices required by this section to be provided to the person charged with a
violation or received from the person charged with a violation, with the
exclusion of the citation as set out in subdivision 1, may be served or provided
in an electronic manner if the Department and the person charged with the
violation have agreed to utilize electronic notification.

HISTORY: 1986, c. 588, § 46.1-341.02; 1987, c. 372; 1989, c. 727; 2003, c. 314;
2011, cc. 62, 73.