§266-27  Mooring of unauthorized vessel in
state harbors; impoundment and disposal proceedings.  (a)  No person shall
moor a vessel in a state commercial harbor without obtaining a use permit; nor
shall a person continue to moor a vessel in any state commercial harbor if the
use permit authorizing the vessel to moor has expired or otherwise been
terminated.  A vessel moored without a use permit or with a use permit that has
expired or been terminated is an unauthorized vessel and is subject to
subsections (b) to (e).



(b)  The department shall cause to be placed
upon, or as near to the unauthorized vessel as possible, a notice to remove
vessel, which shall indicate that the vessel is in violation of this section,
the date and time the notice was posted, and that the vessel must be removed
within seventy-two hours from the time the notice was posted.



(c)  An unauthorized vessel may be impounded by
the department at the sole cost and risk of the owner of the vessel, if such a
vessel is not removed after the seventy-two-hour period or if during said
period the vessel is removed and re-moored in said harbor or any other state
commercial harbor without a use permit.



(d)  Custody of an impounded vessel shall be
returned to the person entitled to possession upon payment to the department of
all fees and costs due, and fines levied by a court.  In addition, the
department, within seventy-two hours of impoundment, shall send by certified
mail, return receipt requested, a notice of impoundment to the registered owner
or operator of any impounded vessel.  The owner or operator of an impounded
vessel shall have ten days after receipt of notice of impoundment of the vessel
to request in writing an administrative hearing.  This administrative hearing
is solely for the purpose of allowing the owner or operator of an impounded
vessel to contest the basis given by the department for the impoundment of the
vessel.  The administrative hearing must be held within five days of the
department's receipt of the written request, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and
holidays designated under section 8-1.  The department shall adopt rules
pursuant to chapter 91 to implement the requirement for this post-seizure
administrative hearing process.



(e)  Any unauthorized vessel impounded under this
section, which remains unclaimed by the person entitled to possession, the
registered owner, or a lien holder for more than thirty days, may be sold by
the department at public auction.  Where no bid is received, the vessel may be
sold by negotiation, disposed of as junk, or donated to any governmental
agency. [L 1980, c 34, §1; am L 1988, c 103, §1; am L 1991, c 272, §§13, 14; am
L 1994, c 117, §1; am L 1995, c 113, §1]