§ 40:6 — Penalties for violation of state Sanitary Code

§6. Penalties for violation of state Sanitary Code
A. Except as provided otherwise in Subsection H of this Section, whoever violates
any provision of the sanitary code, except those provisions dealing with isolation or
quarantine of communicable disease, shall be fined not more than twenty-five dollars or be
imprisoned for not more than ten days, or both, for the first offense. For the second offense,
he shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars or be imprisoned
for not less than ten days nor more than thirty days, or both. For any subsequent offense, he
shall be fined one hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not less than thirty days, or both.
B.(1) Whoever violates those provisions of the sanitary code dealing with the
isolation or quarantine of communicable disease, or any person having such a communicable
disease that may cause a severe health hazard to the community and who, after having been
officially isolated or quarantined by any local health officer or by the state health officer or
the duly authorized representative of either health officer, violates the provisions of the
isolation or quarantine shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred
dollars or be imprisoned for not more than two years, or both.
(2) Any person convicted of violating the provisions of the sanitary code regarding
isolation or quarantine under this Section may be confined either to the parish jail, to any
state-operated hospital, or to the hospital section of the state penitentiary, at the discretion
of the court. If, however, any person convicted under this Section and committed to any
state-operated hospital unlawfully leaves that institution before serving his full sentence, the
district court shall then commit him to the hospital section of the state penitentiary. If the
superintendent of any state-operated hospital or the medical director of the hospital at the
state penitentiary determines that any person committed to their respective institution under
this Section is no longer harboring a communicable disease or if the disease is no longer in
a communicable or infectious state and the person has not completed serving the sentence
imposed upon him, the said superintendent or medical director shall transmit this information
immediately to the district court which committed the person, with a request for
commutation of sentence, and said district court is hereby authorized, in its discretion, to
commute said sentence. Nothing in this Section is to be construed as depriving any
individual of the right to decline any medical treatment or to provide other care or treatment
for himself or herself at his or her own expense, which care does not cause a severe health
hazard to the community, provided that the sanitary and quarantine laws, rules, and
regulations relating to communicable disease are complied with.
C.(1) In addition to a criminal prosecution, the district attorney may, upon request
of the state health officer or secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health, or his duly
authorized representative, petition the district court, and the district court may, upon such
petition and for cause, restrain any person by temporary or permanent injunction for the
violation of any provision of the state Sanitary Code when necessary to arrest or prevent
epidemics or to abate any imminent menace to the public health.
(2) The secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health or the state health officer
may also petition the court to seek injunctive relief for violations of the state Sanitary Code.
D. In addition to a criminal prosecution, to assist in enforcement and encourage
abatement of violations of the state Sanitary Code, the secretary of the Louisiana Department
of Health, upon the recommendation of the state health officer, or their duly authorized
representatives, may assess civil fines or other sanctions, including but not limited to
requesting injunctions, or both, against violators of the state Sanitary Code. Injunctions
may be sought for Class A and Class B violations only. The secretary of the Louisiana
Department of Health, upon the recommendation of the state health officer, may exercise his
discretion and mitigate these civil fines or other sanctions, or both, in cases where he is
satisfied the violator has abated the violation and demonstrated a sincere intent to prevent
future violations. These civil fines shall not exceed one hundred dollars per day per violation
and shall not exceed ten thousand dollars per violator per calendar year. These civil fines or
other sanctions, or both, may include but are not limited to:
(1) Requiring the violator or his employee designee to attend training seminars in the
area of the violator's operations, in lieu of a civil fine; or
(2) Civil fines determined by the gravity of the violation. These civil fines shall be
assessed only after a violator of the state Sanitary Code has received notice of violation and
been furnished an opportunity to comply, and upon reinspection been found to still be in
violation of the state Sanitary Code and had a compliance order issued against the violator
to remedy the violation of the state Sanitary Code, and the violation continues. These civil
fines shall not apply to those areas of the state Sanitary Code which have their own special
penalty and fine provisions by state or federal statute or regulation, including but not limited
to the milk and dairy program and public water system supervision program.
E. In addition to a criminal prosecution, to assist in collection of license or permit
renewals, the Louisiana Department of Health, office of public health, shall assess late
charges for failure to timely renew licenses or permits issued by the Louisiana Department
of Health, office of public health, which late fees shall be ten percent of the license or permit
fee, but no more than one hundred dollars, if paid to and received by the Louisiana
Department of Health after thirty days of the due date, and if not paid and received within
ninety days of the due date, the renewal fee late charge shall be equal to the original renewal
fee.
F. The provisions of Paragraph (C)(2), and Subsections D and E shall not apply to
floating camps, including but not limited to houseboats which are classified as vessels by the
United States Coast Guard.
G.(1) In all cases wherein the secretary and state health officer have issued an order
assessing a civil penalty or requiring specific compliance actions to be undertaken, which
order has become final as a result of all appeals being exhausted or delays having lapsed, if
the penalty assessed has not been paid or the actions undertaken, attorneys for the department
may file an ex parte petition in the district court for the parish in which the violation
occurred, in accordance with Code of Civil Procedure Article 2782, attaching a certified copy
of the order to the petition, seeking to make the order of the secretary and state health officer
a judgment of the district court and making the judgment executory.
(2) The district court shall grant the relief prayed for and issue a judgment without
a trial de novo of the facts supporting the order. Upon good cause shown and upon the
posting of a bond in favor of the state as the court may require, a person against whom a
judgment is rendered requiring specific compliance actions to be undertaken may, within ten
days of service of the judgment, seek an extension, modification, or suspension of the
judgment by summary proceeding. The hearing shall be limited to the issue of whether or
not good cause has been shown for granting an extension, modification, or suspension of the
order and whether or not compliance has taken place.
H. Any violation of the rules and regulations contained in Chapter 3 of Part IX of
Title 51 of the Louisiana Administrative Code pertaining to refrigeration of oysters, clams,
and mussels, shall constitute a class four violation as delineated in R.S. 56:34(A) but shall
not include forfeiture of anything seized in connection with the violation as required by R.S.
56:34(B).

Legislative History

Acts 1976, No. 346, §1. Amended by Acts 1977, No. 401, §1; Acts 2001, No. 516, §1; Acts 2004, No. 772, §1; Acts 2008, No. 574, §1; Acts 2013, No. 35, §1.