56:6-4. Procedure for collection of penalties

401. Procedure for collection of penalties

The following procedure shall be followed in actions for the enforcement of penalties set forth in Article III of this act:

(a) The said penalty shall be sued for in the name of the Director of the Division of Taxation. The Superior Court and every municipal court is hereby authorized, upon the filing of a complaint in writing, duly verified by the Director of the Division of Taxation, or by any assistant or employee of the Director of the Division of Taxation, which may be made upon information or belief, that any retail dealer has violated any of the provisions of Article II of this act, to issue process at the suit of the Director of the Division of Taxation as plaintiff. Such process shall be either in the nature of a summons or warrant, which may issue without any order of the court or judge first being obtained against the person or persons so charged. When such process shall be in the nature of a warrant, it shall be returnable forthwith, and when in the nature of a summons, it shall be returnable in not less than five nor more than ten days. Such process shall specify the section of the act which is alleged to have been violated by the defendant or defendants, and upon the return of such process or at any time to which the trial shall be adjourned, the said court shall proceed and summarily hear the testimony and, without the filing of any pleadings, determine the matter and give judgment, without a jury, either for the plaintiff for the recovery of such penalty with costs or for the defendant. If judgment shall be rendered for the plaintiff, the court shall cause any defendant who may refuse or fail to pay forthwith the amount of the judgment rendered against him and all costs and charges incident thereto to be committed to the county jail for any period not exceeding the period mentioned in Article III hereof.

(b) The officers to serve and execute all process under this act shall be officers authorized to serve all process out of said court. The court shall have the power to adjourn the hearing or trial in any case from time to time, but in such case, except in case where the first process was a summons, it shall be the duty of the judge to detain the defendant in safe custody unless he shall enter into a bond to the Director of the Division of Taxation with at least one sufficient surety, in a sum fixed by the court which shall be not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than two hundred dollars ($200.00), conditioned for his appearance on the day to which the hearing shall be adjourned and thence from day to day until the case is disposed of, and then to abide by the judgment of the said court, and such bond if forfeited may be prosecuted by said Director of the Division of Taxation.

(c) The form of conviction in prosecutions under this article shall be in the following or similar form:

State of New Jersey, )

)ss.

County of )

Be it remembered, that on this .......... day of .............. , at .................................... , in said County, X ......... , the defendant, was by (name of court) convicted of violating Section ................. of Article II of an act entitled 'An act to regulate the retail sale of motor fuels, and providing penalties for violations' (date of approval of act) in a summary proceeding at the suit of the Director of the Division of Taxation, upon a complaint by ..................... ; and, further, that the witnesses in said proceeding who testified for the plaintiff were (name them), and the witnesses who testified for the defendant were (name them).

Wherefore, the said court does hereby give judgment that the plaintiff recover of the defendant ........................ dollars penalty and ................................ dollars costs of this proceeding."

The conviction shall be signed by the judge before whom the conviction is had. In case the defendant is committed to jail in default of payment of the penalty, commitment in the following form shall be added beneath the judge's signature to the conviction:

"And the said X, neglecting and refusing to pay the amount of the penalty above mentioned, with costs, it is hereby ordered that the said X be and he is hereby committed to the common jail in the county of ......................... for a period of ........................ days, unless the said penalty and costs are sooner paid." Such commitment shall also be signed by the judge and, in case of commitment of any defendant to jail, the conviction and the commitment shall be signed in duplicate, and one of the duplicate copies shall serve the purpose of a warrant of commitment. If a defendant who is committed to jail in default of payment of the penalty shall serve the full period for which he shall be committed, upon his release from jail he shall be entitled to have the judgment satisfied of record, and the certificate of the warden of said jail that the said defendant has been detained for the period specified in the commitment shall be sufficient warrant for the clerk of any court in which the judgment for the penalty and costs is docketed to discharge the same of record.

(d) The clerk of the court may sign and seal any process required to issue under this act, except a warrant of commitment. The costs recoverable in any such proceeding shall be the same as costs taxed in actions in said court and shall be recoverable by said Director of the Division of Taxation in the event of the conviction of the defendant. Execution may issue for the collection of any judgment obtained under this act against the goods and chattels and body of the defendant without any order first obtained for such purpose.

(e) The Director of the Division of Taxation may file a bill in the Superior Court for an injunction to prohibit any habitual violation of this act, or any of the orders, rules, or regulations made by the director, and every such action shall proceed in the Superior Court according to the rules and practice of that court, and cases of emergency shall have precedence over other litigation pending at the time in the Superior Court, and final hearing may be had within such time and on such notice as the court shall direct.

L.1938,c.163,s.401; amended 1991,c.91,s.524.