278.990 Penalties.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
Any officer, agent, or employee of a utility, as defined in KRS 278.010, and any
other person who willfully violates any of the provisions of this chapter or any
regulation promulgated pursuant to this chapter, or fails to obey any order of the
commission from which all rights of appeal have been exhausted, or who procures,
aids, or abets a violation by any utility, shall be subject to either a civil penalty to be
assessed by the commission not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars
(,500) for each offense or a criminal penalty of imprisonment for not more than
six (6) months, or both. If any utility willfully violates any of the provisions of this
chapter or any regulation promulgated pursuant to this chapter, or does any act
therein prohibited, or fails to perform any duty imposed upon it under those sections
for which no penalty has been provided by law, or fails to obey any order of the
commission from which all rights of appeal have been exhausted, the utility shall be
subject to a civil penalty to be assessed by the commission for each offense not less
than twenty-five dollars () nor more than two thousand five hundred dollars
(,500). Each act, omission, or failure by an officer, agent, or other person acting
for or employed by a utility and acting within the scope of his employment shall be
deemed to be the act, omission, or failure of the utility.
Actions to recover the principal amount due and penalties under this chapter shall
be brought in the name of the Commonwealth in the Franklin Circuit Court.
Whenever any utility is subject to a penalty under this chapter, the commission shall
certify the facts to its counsel, who shall bring an action for recovery of the
principal amount due and the penalty. The commission may compromise and
dismiss the action on terms approved by the court. The principal amount due shall
be paid into the State Treasury and credited to the account of the commission, and
all penalties recovered in such actions shall be paid into the State Treasury and
credited to the general fund.
Any utility that fails to pay an assessment as provided for by KRS 278.130 to
278.150 shall forfeit and pay to the state one thousand dollars (,000), and twentyfive dollars () for each day it fails to pay the assessment, and shall not be
released thereby from its liability for the assessment.
Any utility that issues any securities or evidences of indebtedness, or assumes any
obligation or liability in respect to the securities or evidences of indebtedness of any
other person, or makes any sale or other disposition of securities or evidences of
indebtedness, or the proceeds thereof, for purposes other than the purposes specified
in the order of the commission made with respect thereto under KRS 278.300, shall
be fined not more than ten thousand dollars (,000).
Any utility that violates any of the provisions of KRS 278.460 shall be fined not
less than one hundred dollars (0) for each offense.
Any company that willfully fails to receive, transport, and deliver oil or gas as
required by KRS 278.490 shall, in addition to being liable in damages to the injured
person, be fined not less than one hundred dollars (0) nor more than five
hundred dollars (0), and each day of willful failure shall constitute a separate
offense.
(7)
Any telephone company that refuses to make a connection with the exchange or
lines of another company for a period of thirty (30) days after being ordered to do so
by the commission under subsection (2) of KRS 278.530 shall be fined not less than
one thousand dollars (,000) nor more than five thousand dollars (,000), to be
recovered by indictment in the Franklin Circuit Court or in the Circuit Court of the
county where the company requesting the connection resides or has its chief office
in this state. If the company desiring the connection proceeds to make the
connection, as permitted by subsection (2) of KRS 278.530, and the company so
connected with refuses to receive and transmit the toll messages offered to it by the
company making the connection, or refuses to deliver messages from its own lines
or exchanges to the lines or exchanges of the company making the connection, the
company so refusing shall be fined one hundred dollars (0) for each day it
refuses, to be recovered by indictment in the courts mentioned in the first sentence
of this subsection; if it continues so to refuse for a period of six (6) months it shall
forfeit its right to do business in this state, and any of its officers, agents, or
employees who does or attempts to do any business in this state for it after the
expiration of the six (6) months' period shall be fined fifty dollars () for each day
he does or attempts to do such business.
Effective: July 13, 1990
History: Amended 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 354, sec. 1, effective July 13, 1990. -- Amended
1986 Ky. Acts ch. 300, sec. 4, effective July 15, 1986. -- Amended 1982 Ky. Acts
ch. 82, sec. 50, effective July 15, 1982. -- Amended 1978 Ky. Acts ch. 379, sec. 54,
effective April 1, 1979. -- Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 308, sec. 47. -- Recodified
1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. secs. 786,
842b-2, 2223-2, 3766b-le, 3952-24, 3952-59, 3952-61, 4679f-2, 4679f-4.
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