4551.03 Demand for proof of ownership. - Ohio Statutes

4551.03 Demand for proof of ownership.

Any forest or park officer, peace officer, or state highway patrol trooper of this state may stop any truck, trailer, or other vehicle engaged in the transporting of the evergreen trees or boughs described in section 4551.01 of the Revised Code, except trucks or trailers licensed for and engaged in interstate commerce, and require the operator to produce the bill, invoice, or statement of ownership required by sections 4551.01 and 4551.02 of the Revised Code as evidence of lawful ownership or custody of the cut trees or boughs. Failure to produce upon demand such bill of sale, invoice, or statement, or offering a bill of sale, invoice, or statement, that fails to provide the information required by such sections, is a violation of such sections; and such truck, trailer, or other vehicle together with its contents, shall be impounded by the investigating officer for a period of forty-eight hours, unless a satisfactory and genuine bill of sale, invoice, or statement is sooner presented.

Failure to furnish a satisfactory and genuine bill of sale, invoice, or statement within forty-eight hours from the time that such truck, trailer, or other vehicle is impounded constitutes prima-facie evidence that the trees or boughs so impounded are not the property of the person engaged in transporting them and that such person is unlawfully transporting such trees or boughs.

Effective Date: 08-08-1991