§ 23-24.2-6. Embargoed articles - Condemnation and destruction. (a) Whenever the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general finds or has probable cause to believe that any product, fabric, or related material fails to conform to an applicable standard under the provisions of § 23-24.2-4, the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general shall affix to that article a tag or other appropriate marking, giving notice that the article is or is suspected of being not in conformity with applicable standards promulgated under the provisions of § 23-24.2-4 and has been detained or embargoed, and warning all persons not to remove or dispose of that article by sale or otherwise until permission for removal or disposal is given by the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general under the court. It shall be unlawful for any person to remove or dispose of any detained or embargoed article by sale or otherwise without that permission.

(b) When an article detained or embargoed under subsection (a) has been found by the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general to be not in conformity with standards under the provisions of § 23-24.2-4, the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general shall petition the proper judge of the court in whose jurisdiction the article is detained or embargoed for libel condemnation of the article. When the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general has found that this detained or embargoed article is in conformity with standards under the provisions of § 23-24.2-4, the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general shall remove the tag or other marking.

(c) If the court finds that a detained or embargoed article is not in conformity with standards under the provisions of § 23-24.2-4, the article shall, after entry of the decree, be destroyed at the expense of its claimant, under the supervision of the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general, and all court costs, fees, and storage and other proper expenses, shall be taxed against the claimant of the article or his or her agent; provided, that when the article not in conformity with standards under the provisions of § 23-24.2-4 can be corrected, the court, after entry of the decree and after the costs, fees, and expenses have been paid and a good and sufficient bond, conditioned that the article has been properly corrected, has been executed, may, by order, direct that the article be delivered to its claimant for correction under the supervision of the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general. The expense of the supervision shall be paid by the claimant. The article shall be returned to the claimant of the article on representation to the court by the consumer protection unit of the department of attorney general that the article is no longer in violation of this chapter and that the expenses of supervision have been paid.

History of Section. (P.L. 1977, ch. 90, § 2; G.L. 1956, § 23-38.3-6; P.L. 1979, ch. 39, § 1.)