TITLE 6. HEALTH CODE
CHAPTER 6-100. GENERAL PROVISIONS
§6-103. Penalties and Cease Operations Orders. [2]
(1) In addition to any other sanction or remedial
procedure provided, any person who shall violate any provision of this Title,
any Regulation adopted under it, any order of the Department issued thereunder,
or any condition of any license required thereunder and any person who knowingly
participates in any such violation by any other person or who has reason to know
that his participation will materially contribute to any such violation by
another person, shall be subject to a fine of not less than one hundred fifty
(150) dollars and not more than three hundred (300) dollars. In addition, any
person licensed under this Title who has not paid said fine and cost within ten
(10) days shall have said license suspended and shall cease operation until all
fines and costs are paid. Continuous violation of the same provision shall be a
separate violation for each day. In order to enforce this provision, the
Department of Licenses and Inspections may, without further notice, issue a
Cease Operations Order setting forth the unpaid fines and/or Court costs and
cause the premises to be vacated of all employees, patrons and occupants until
all such charges are paid.
(2) In addition to the fines set forth in
§ 6-505(l), any person who fails to comply with an order for his isolation
issued pursuant to §§ 6-204 and 6-502 of this Title shall be subject
to imprisonment for 90 days and during such term of imprisonment shall be
isolated in such place, for such period and in such manner as the Department may
designate.
(3) When the Department finds that a public nuisance exists,
as provided in § 6-402(9)(a) and when such nuisance is not corrected and
removed by the person responsible therefor, the Department may, in addition to
invoking any other sanction or remedial procedure provided:
(a) Certify
to the continuing existence of such nuisance to the Department of Licenses and
Inspections which shall itself or by contract abate and remove such nuisance;
charge the cost of such abatement and removal to the person responsible
therefor; and with the approval of the Law Department, collect such cost by lien
or otherwise as may be authorized by law.
(b) Apply through the Law
Department, to any Court of Common Pleas or the County Court of Philadelphia for
appropriate relief at law or in equity against any person responsible for such
nuisance, or against any person who knowingly participates in the creation and
maintenance of such nuisance by another person.
(4) Any Cease Operations
Order issued by the Department of Licenses and Inspections shall be posted at
every entrance to the premises in conspicuous places clearly visible to the
public and shall remain posted until removed by the Department of Licenses and
Inspections. The violator shall promptly notify the Department of Licenses and
Inspections when payment has been made. When the Department of Licenses and
Inspections is satisfied that no unpaid fines/costs remain, it shall remove
every Cease Operations Order which has been posted.
(5) No person shall
remove, damage or deface any Cease Operations Order.
(6) The Department
of Licenses and Inspections shall promptly notify the Police of the issuance of
every Cease Operations Order and of the removal thereof. The Police, upon the
request of the Department of Licenses and Inspections, shall render assistance
in the enforcement of any Cease Operations Order and shall have the right to
enter any premises for such purposes.
(7) Any person with knowledge of a
Cease Operations Order who permits the premises to be occupied after a Cease
Operations Order has been issued ordering the premises vacated, or who removes,
damages or defaces any Cease Operations Order shall be subject to arrest by the
Police and issued a citation and summons in such manner as provided by the
Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure applicable in Philadelphia to summary
offenses.
(8) Repeat Offenders. Any person who fails, on more than one
occasion, to comply with an order for his isolation issued pursuant to
§§ 6-204 and 6-502 of this Title, shall be subject to a fine of not
more than three hundred (300) dollars, or imprisonment for not more than ninety
(90) days, or both. A person shall be guilty of a Repeat Violation regardless
whether the second or subsequent violation occurs before or after a judicial
finding of a first or previous violation. Each violation, after the first, shall
constitute a separate Repeat Violation offense.