The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Pennsylvania
- Level
- State
- Authority
- Police power of the Commonwealth
- Issued
- 1905-04-27 Apr. 27, 1905
- Effective
- Standing law throughout 2020 and 2021 (read as 1905-04-27)
- End
- standing (read as 2021-09-30)
- In force
- Standing since Apr. 27, 1905 (a statutory duty; in force throughout the six quarters)
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Quarantine and isolationStanding duty
- Addressees
- persons generally ('every person'); owners and occupants of premises (sec. 9)
- Character
- order penalty
- Collection
- Standing duties: Pennsylvania DUT-PA
Operative words
Every person who violates any order or regulation of the Department of Health, or who resists or interferes with any officer or agent thereof..., shall, upon conviction thereof in a summary proceeding..., be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than ten ($10.00) dollars and costs nor more than fifty ($50.00) dollars and costs
Penalty
sec. 16: fine of $10 to $50 and costs; confinement in the county jail for 30 days in default; sec. 9: abatement at the owner's or occupant's expense, secured by lien
What it required
Made it a summary offense for 'every person' to violate 'any order or regulation of the Department of Health' (sec. 16); imposed on the Department the duty 'to protect the health of the people of the State, and to determine and employ the most efficient and practical means for the prevention and suppression of disease' (sec. 8(a)); and empowered the Secretary 'to order nuisances, detrimental to the public health, or the causes of disease and mortality, to be abated and removed, and to enforce quarantine regulations,' entering any premises whose 'owner or occupant... fails to comply' (sec. 9).
Retrieval noteThe Commonwealth's enforcement guidance (Ex. DUT-PA-010) quoted sec. 16 (71 P.S. sec. 1409) in full and stated: 'any person that fails to abide by the Orders, or any other order of the Department of Health... is in violation of 71 P.S. sec. 1409, and subject to the criminal penalties stated therein,' and that 'citations for businesses in violation of the Orders would reference 71 P.S. sec. 1409 and/or 35 P.S. sec. 521.20(a).' PA-007 and PA-008 recite the duty provision as '71 P.S. sec. 1402(a)'; PA-002 and the Corman opinion recite it as 71 P.S. sec. 1403(a); the operative words are those of sec. 8(a) quoted above.