Endangered Species - Enforcement and Penalties - North Carolina

...(a1) Any person convicted of violating this Article, or any rule of the Board adopted pursuant to this Article shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. Each illegal movement or distribution of a protected plant shall constitute a separate violation. In addition, if any person continues to violate or further violates any provision of this Article after written notice from the Board, the court may determine that each day during which the violation continued or is repeated constitutes a separate violation subject to the foregoing penalties.

(a2) A civil penalty of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) may be assessed by the Board against any person guilty of violating this Article a second or subsequent time. The clear proceeds of civil penalties assessed pursuant to this subsection shall be remitted to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund in accordance with G.S. 115C-457.2.

(b) The Commissioner or any employee or agent of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services designated by the Commissioner to enforce the provisions of this Article, may enter any place within the State at all reasonable times where plant materials are being grown, transported, or offered for sale and require the presentation for inspection of all pertinent papers and records relative to the provisions of this Article, after giving notice in writing to the owner or custodian of the premises to be entered. If he refuses to consent to the entry, the Commissioner may apply to any district court judge and the judge may order, without notice, that the owner or custodian of the place permit the Commissioner to enter the place for the purposes herein stated and failure by any person to obey the order may be punished as for contempt.

(c) The Commissioner of Agriculture is authorized to apply to the superior court for, and the court shall have jurisdiction upon hearing and, for cause shown, to grant a temporary or permanent injunction restraining any person from violating any provision of G.S. 106-202.19(a), regardless of whether there exists an adequate remedy at law.

Citation: N.C.G.S.A. § 106-202.19.

Upon conviction of any defendant for a violation of G.S. 106-202.19, the court, in its discretion, may order the defendant to forfeit any plant or plant parts which he possesses in violation of G.S. 106-202.19. The court shall direct disposition of any forfeited plant or plant part by destruction or sale. The clear proceeds of forfeitures and sales pursuant to this section shall be remitted to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund in accordance with G.S. 115C-457.2.

Citation: N.C.G.S.A. § 106-202.20.

...(b) Each person convicted of violating the provisions of this Article is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Citation: N.C.G.S.A. § 113-337.

...(c) Sanctions.--The operator of a facility that possesses an untagged or undocumented alligator commits a Class H felony if the operator knows the alligator is untagged or undocumented. Conviction of an operator of a facility under this section revokes the license of the facility for five years beginning on the date of the conviction. An operator convicted under this section may not be the operator of any other facility required to be licensed under this Article for five years beginning on the date of the conviction.

Citation: N.C.G.S.A. § 106-763.1.