Rhode Island General Laws Title 23. Health and Safety § 23-24-6. Embargoed articles--Condemnation and destruction

(a) Whenever the director of the consumer protection unit finds or has probable cause to believe that any article is a misbranded hazardous substance or a banned hazardous substance or that it presents an electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard within the meaning of this chapter, the director shall order to be affixed to the article a tag or other appropriate marking, giving notice that the article is or is suspected of being misbranded or banned, or an electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard and has been detained or embargoed, and warning all persons not to remove or dispose of the article by sale or otherwise until permission for removal or disposal is given by the director or the court. It shall be unlawful for any person to remove or dispose of any detained or embargoed article by sale or otherwise without permission.

(b) When an article detained or embargoed under subsection (a) has been found by the director to be misbranded or banned or an electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard, the director shall petition the proper judge of the court in whose jurisdiction the article is detained or embargoed for a libel condemnation of the article; when the director has found that an article detained or embargoed is not misbranded, banned, or an electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard, the director shall order the removal of the tag or other marking.

(c) If the court finds that a detained or embargoed article is misbranded, banned, or an electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard, the article shall, after entry of the decree, be destroyed at the expense of the claimant, under the supervision of the director or his or her designee, 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 misbranding or the electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard can be corrected, the court, after entry of the decree and after any 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 the claimant for the correction under the supervision of an agent of the director of the consumer protection unit or his or her designee. The expense of that 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 director of the consumer protection unit that the article is no longer in violation of this chapter and that the expenses of supervision have been paid.