MOTION FOR EMERGENCY PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION: EMERGENCY CLOSURE

Transcription

1 MOTION FOR EMERGENCY PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION: EMERGENCY CLOSURE 37

2 IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF (COUNTY) COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA (COUNTY) COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT : Plaintiff : v. : : (DEFENDANT) : Defendant : GD-(DOCKET NO.) MOTION FOR EMERGENY PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AND NOW comes Plaintiff, the (County) County Health Department, by and through its attorney, (Solicitor Name), Esquire, and files the following Motion for Emergency Preliminary Injunction, averring as follows: 1. (Property) located at (Property Address), (County) County, Pennsylvania, is under the ownership and/or control of Defendant based upon tax records of the municipality; and 2. The (County) County Health Department is a local health department as defined by The Local Health Administration Law. 16 P.S et seq.; and 3. The Local Health Administration Law and The Disease Prevention and Control Law of 1955 empower the (County) County Health Department to control and prevent disease in (County) County. 16 P.S and 35 P.S ( DPCL ); and 4. The (County) County Health Department has the statutory authority to use appropriate control measures to prevent conditions that threaten the public s health. 16 P.S (c); and 5. In exigent circumstances, an ex parte hearing may occur, the result of which is an Emergency Preliminary Injunction. Pa.R.C.P. No. 1531(a); and 6. The (County) County Health Department has attempted to notify (Defendant) by hand delivery of (a(n) Emergency Notice of Violation OR Notice of Communicable Disease) and Order to Close (Property) on (Date) (Attached hereto as Exhibit A ) ; and 7. The exigent circumstances before this Court are: (Exigent Circumstances); and 8. A Preliminary Injunction will issue when: (1) the injunction is necessary to prevent immediate and irreparable harm not compensable in damages; (2) greater harm would

3 result from denying the injunction than from granting it; (3) the activity sought to be restrained is actionable, and the Plaintiff's right to relief is clear; and (4) the status quo be restored if the injunction is granted. The Woods At Wayne Homeowners Assn. v. Gambone Bros. Construction Co., Inc., 893 A.2d 196, 204. (2006); and 9. Ordering the temporary closure of a venue, such as (Property), to control and prevent disease is an appropriate measure to prevent harm to the public s health; and 10. The (County) County Health Department has determined in (an inspection OR Report of Communicable Disease) (Attached hereto as Exhibit B. ), that ((a) violation(s) of the (County) County Health Department s Rules and Regulations OR persons/foods harboring (Disease)) present at (Property) present(s) a significant threat to the public s health; and 11. On (Order Date), the (County) County Health Department ordered (Defendant) to temporarily close (Property) as a method of safeguarding the public s health; and 12. (Defendant) has refused to comply with the (County) County Health Department Order and has offered no valid reason for such refusal; and 13. There are no less restrictive means of protecting the public s health other than by closing (Property) until such time as the aforementioned (health regulation violations OR conditions likely to spread communicable disease) have been abated to the (County) County Health Department s satisfaction; and 14. Because the matter before this Court is a public health emergency, this Court may issue an Emergency Preliminary Injunction, without the need for a hearing. Pa.R.C.P. No. 1531(a); and 15. The Plaintiff, the (County) County Health Department, a statutorily created agency of (County) County is not required to post a bond. Pa.R.C.P. No. 1531(b). WHEREFORE, the (County) County Health Department respectfully requests that this Honorable Court issue an Emergency Preliminary Injunction, ordering (Defendant) to close (Property) until such time that the aforementioned conditions threatening the public s health are abated to the satisfaction of the (County) County Health Department. Respectfully submitted, (Solicitor s Name), Esquire

4 EXHIBIT A (Notice of Violation OR Notice of Communicable Disease) and Order to Close (Property)

5 EXHIBIT B (County) County Health Department (Inspection Report OR Report of Communicable Disease) If this Exhibit Contains Individually Identifiable Health Information, the local health department should move that it be reviewed by the Court in Camera.