§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]