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Texas Agriculture Code - Section 76.156. Civil Penalty

Legal Research Home > Texas Lawyer > Agriculture Code > Texas Agriculture Code - Section 76.156. Civil Penalty

§ 76.156. CIVIL PENALTY.  (a) A person who violates a 
provision of this chapter administered by a regulatory agency other 
than the department or a rule adopted by a regulatory agency other 
than the department under this chapter is liable for a civil penalty 
of not less than $50 nor more than $1,000 for each day on which the 
violation occurs.
	(b)  A person who violates a provision of this chapter 
administered by the department or a rule adopted by the department 
under this chapter is liable for a civil penalty of not less than 
$50 nor more than $10,000 for each violation, provided that the 
penalty shall not exceed $25,000 for all violations related to a 
single incident.
	(c)  No civil penalty may be collected for any violation that 
constituted the basis for a department proceeding to assess an 
administrative penalty, regardless of whether the department was or 
was not successful in collecting the administrative penalty.
	(d)  A county attorney, a district attorney, or the attorney 
general shall sue in the name of the state for the collection of a 
civil penalty provided by this section.
	(e)  The appropriate regulatory agency may request an 
appropriate prosecuting attorney or the attorney general to bring 
suit under this section.
	(f)  A civil penalty collected under this section shall be 
deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the General Revenue 
Fund.  All civil penalties recovered in suits first instituted by a 
local government or governments under this section shall be equally 
divided between the State of Texas and the local government or 
governments with 50 percent of the recovery to be paid to the 
General Revenue Fund and the other 50 percent equally to the local 
government or governments first instituting the suit.

Added by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 2591, ch. 693, § 11, eff. Sept. 
1, 1981.  Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 230, § 102, eff. 
Sept. 1, 1989;  Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1369, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 
1997.

Last modified: August 10, 2007