§ 113-55.2. Warning tickets for violations of the forest laws. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 113‑55.2. Warning tickets for violations of the forest laws.

(a)        To encourage the cooperation of the public in achieving theobjectives of the forest laws, the Secretary may provide for the issuance ofwarning tickets instead of the initiation of criminal prosecution by forestrangers and forest law‑enforcement officers. Issuance of the warningtickets shall be in accordance with criteria administratively promulgated bythe Secretary within the requirements of this section. These criteria areexempt from Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes.

(b)        No warning ticket may be issued unless all of the followingconditions are met:

(1)        The forest ranger or the forest law‑enforcementofficer must be convinced that the offense was not committed intentionally.

(2)        The offense is not one, or a type of offense, for which theSecretary has prohibited the issuance of warning tickets.

(3)        At the time of the violation it was not reasonablyforeseeable that the conduct of the offender could result in any significantdestruction of forests or woodlands or constitute a hazard to the public.

(c)        A warning ticket may not be issued if the offender haspreviously been charged with, or issued a warning ticket for, the same or asimilar offense within the preceding three years. A list of persons who havebeen issued warning tickets under this section within the preceding three yearsshall be maintained and periodically updated by the Secretary.

(d)        This section does not entitle any person who has committedan offense to the right to be issued a warning ticket, and the issuance of awarning ticket does not prohibit the later initiation of criminal prosecutionfor the same offense for which the warning ticket was issued. (1983, c. 327, s. 6; 1987, c. 827, s. 6; 2000‑189,s. 8.)