2009 Louisiana Laws TITLE 32 Motor vehicles and traffic regulation :: RS 32:389 Weights and standards police; enforcement procedure; payment and collection procedures; administrative review

SUBPART D.  ENFORCEMENT, PAYMENT AND

COLLECTION PROCEDURES

§389.  Weights and standards police; enforcement procedure; payment and collection procedures; administrative review

A.  The weights and standards police force and the state police shall have concurrent authority to enforce the provisions of R.S. 32:380 through 388.

B.  Any weights and standards police officer having reason to believe that any vehicle or combination of vehicles exceeds or is in violation of the provisions of R.S. 32:380 through R.S. 32:386 or the terms and conditions of a special permit issued under R.S. 32:387 or regulations of the department or secretary adopted pursuant to this Part is authorized to stop such vehicle or combination of vehicles and to inspect, measure, or weigh such vehicle, either by means of portable or stationary scales, or to require that such vehicle be driven to the nearest available location equipped with facilities to inspect, measure, or weigh such vehicle.

(1)  Any state policeman having reason to believe that any vehicle or combination of vehicles exceeds or is in violation of the provisions of R.S. 32:380 through 32:386 or the terms and conditions of a special permit issued under R.S. 32:387 or regulations of the department or secretary adopted pursuant to this Part is authorized to stop such vehicle or combination of vehicles and to inspect or measure such vehicle or to require that such vehicle be driven to the nearest available location equipped with facilities to inspect or measure such vehicle, provided that any state policeman having reason to believe that any vehicle or combination of vehicles exceeds or is in violation of the provisions of R.S. 32:386, any overweight special permit as provided in R.S. 32:387, or the department's regulations adopted pursuant thereto, may escort such vehicle to the nearest permanent or portable scale operated by the department's weights and standards police force, where a weights and standards police officer shall weigh such vehicle and if such vehicle is overweight, is in violation of an overweight special permit, or the department's or secretary's regulations adopted pursuant thereto, shall issue a violation ticket in accordance with Subsection C of this Section.

C.(1)  Whenever any vehicle or combination of vehicles is found in violation of any provision of this Part or any regulation of the department or secretary adopted pursuant thereto, the weights and standards police officer or any state policeman shall take the name and address of the owner and driver and the license number of the vehicle and shall issue a violation ticket assessing a penalty for such violation in accordance with R.S. 32:388.

(2)  Upon issuance of the violation ticket, an owner or driver who is a resident of Louisiana or who has a domicile in Louisiana shall receive notification from the weights and standards stationary scale police officer that the penalty shall be paid within thirty days of issuance of the violation ticket or that the owner or driver may request an agency review of the penalty within thirty days of issuance of the violation ticket.  An owner or driver who is not a resident of Louisiana or who does not have a domicile in Louisiana shall receive notification from the weights and standards stationary scale police officer that the penalty shall either be paid at the time the violation ticket is issued or he shall post a bond equal to the amount of the penalty, which bond shall be forfeited if, within thirty days of  issuance of the violation ticket, the penalty has not been paid or an agency review has not been requested.  The owner or driver shall pay the penalty assessed with certified check, cashier's check, money order, or department-approved credit card.  The secretary may establish credit accounts for violators, if each violator provides the department a cash deposit in the minimum amount of five thousand dollars or any amount in excess thereof fixed by the secretary to guarantee payment of said account.  The department shall not detain or impound any vehicle issued a violation ticket for any violation of the provisions of R.S. 32:380 through 387 prior to the final disposition of the violation ticket if the owner or driver is a resident of Louisiana or has a domicile in Louisiana, or has paid the penalty or posted the bond in accordance with this Section.  For purposes of this Section, "final disposition" shall be defined as a final conviction, not capable of appeal or review.

(3)(a)  If a driver of a motor vehicle who is a resident of Louisiana or who has a domicile in Louisiana is determined to be the responsible party for the violation ticket by the Department of Transportation and Development or the office of state police, the driver shall be responsible for the payment of all fines and fees associated with issuance of the violation ticket.  If the department or the office of state police fails to receive payment of the violation ticket within sixty calendar days of issuance of the violation ticket or within sixty calendar days of receiving a notice of final judgment from the agency or administrative review, the department or the office of state police shall transmit the driver's license number to the office of motor vehicles.  Upon receipt of the driver's license number, the office of motor vehicles shall immediately notify the driver, by first class mail, that his driver's license shall be suspended thirty calendar days after the date of mailing the notice unless all fines and fees associated with the violation ticket are paid in full together with notice of the imposition of a fifty-dollar fee by the office of motor vehicles to cover its administrative costs.  Upon payment of all fines and fees associated with the violation ticket, the office of motor vehicles shall immediately authorize the reinstatement of the driver's license.

(b)  If a motor carrier is determined by the Department of Transportation and Development or the office of state police to be the responsible party for a violation ticket, and if such party fails to pay the assessed penalty within sixty calendar days of receiving the violation ticket or within sixty calendar days of receiving a notice of final judgment from the agency or administrative review, the department or the office of state police shall transmit the vehicle identification number of the offending vehicle for which the violation ticket was issued to the office of motor vehicles.  The office of motor vehicles shall not renew the registration of the offending vehicle until all fines and fees associated with the violation ticket are paid in full.  Upon payment of all fines and fees associated with the violation ticket, the office of motor vehicles shall immediately authorize renewal of the vehicle's registration.  The Department of Transportation and Development and the office of state police shall adopt rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, subject to oversight by the House and Senate Committees on Transportation, Highways and Public Works, as are necessary to implement the provisions of this Subparagraph.

(c)  The Department of Transportation and Development and the office of state police shall be prohibited from seizing the registration license plate of a motor vehicle for failing to pay a fine for a violation ticket.

(4)(a)  Any owner or driver who pays an assessed penalty in accordance with the provisions of this Section shall have a period of ninety days after the date of payment to institute a civil suit against the department to recover the penalty so paid.  However, the ninety-day time period to institute a civil suit against the department shall be suspended for any owner or driver who timely requests an agency review in accordance with the provisions of this Section, in which case the owner or driver shall have a period of ninety days after the final disposition of the agency review to institute a civil suit against the department to recover the penalty so paid.

(b)  The right to sue for recovery of a penalty paid shall afford a legal remedy and right of action in any state district court for a full and complete adjudication of any questions arising in the enforcement of a penalty respecting the legality of any penalty assessed or the method of enforcement thereof.  Any such suit may be instituted either in the parish in which the violation occurred, the domicile of vehicles, provided the domicile is within the state of Louisiana, or in East Baton Rouge Parish.  In any such suit, service of process shall be made on the department, through the secretary.  The department shall be a necessary and proper party defendant in any such suit.

(5)  No court of this state shall issue any process whatsoever to restrain the collection of any penalty assessed by the department pursuant to this Part.

(6)  If upon expiration of the ninety-day period provided in Paragraph (4)(a) of this Subsection any penalty assessed remains unpaid, the department may institute a civil suit in the parish in which the violation occurred or in the domicile of the owner or driver to collect any penalty assessed but unpaid.  The department shall have one year from the date of expiration of the ninety-day period to institute such a suit.

(7)  Notwithstanding the above provisions, any member of the armed forces, who is in uniform or presents an order for duty and who is operating a military vehicle in the line of duty in violation of any provision of R.S. 32:380 through R.S. 32:387 or any regulation of the department or secretary adopted pursuant thereto shall not be required to pay the penalty assessed, nor shall he be required to surrender his Louisiana driver's license.  However, the owner of the vehicle or the federal government shall pay the penalty within thirty days.

(8)  Failure of any vehicle or combination of vehicles to stop at a weigh facility may be excused if stopping the vehicle or combination of  vehicles would create a serious traffic hazard.  The Department of Transportation and Development shall promulgate rules under the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act for the implementation of this Paragraph.  Such rules shall define "serious traffic hazard" and shall authorize the use of green traffic signal lights to allow vehicles to pass the weigh facility at such times as vehicles have accumulated on the entrance ramp to the weigh facility to the extent that the vehicles present a traffic hazard.  Rules adopted hereunder shall be subject to oversight by the House and Senate Committees on Transportation, Highways and Public Works.

D.(1)  The secretary shall establish a procedure for agency review of violation tickets issued by weights and standards stationary scale police officers and may take appropriate actions based on the findings of the agency's review.  The secretary shall adopt rules in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act to govern agency review and any actions taken based on the findings of the agency.

(2)  Following conclusion of the agency's review, the operator or responsible party issued the violation ticket by the weights and standards stationary scale police officer may request a hearing conducted by a review panel comprised of five members.  One member of the review panel shall be appointed by the secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development, two members shall be appointed by the chairman of the House Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee, and two members shall be appointed by the chairman of the Senate Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee.  Decisions of the review panel shall be binding upon the Department of Transportation and Development.  The secretary shall adopt rules and regulations in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act regarding the hearing conducted by the review panel including but not limited to rules and regulations regarding the notification and procedure for requesting a hearing by the review panel and deadlines for request for a hearing before the review panel.

Acts 1977, No. 113, §1, eff. June 22, 1977.  Amended by Acts 1978, No. 35, §1, eff. May 31, 1978; Acts 1979, No. 463, §1; Acts 1995, No. 429, §1; Acts 1995, No. 1024, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1186, §1; Acts 2001, No. 1201, §1; Acts 2004, No. 287, §1; Acts 2006, No. 841, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2007.