7201. Action by state. (a) Statutory penalty or forfeiture. (b) Forfeiture on conviction for treason. (c) Forfeiture of recognizance. 7202. Action by person aggrieved. 7203. Action by common informer. (a) When maintainable. (b) Service. (c) Action not barred by collusive recovery. 7204. Recovery of part of penalty or forfeiture. 7205. Defense of good faith reliance on judicial decision. S 7201. Action by state. (a) Statutory penalty or forfeiture. Where property has been forfeited or a penalty incurred to the state or to an officer, for its use, pursuant to statute, the attorney-general, or the district attorney of the county in which the action is triable, if such an action has not already been brought by the attorney-general, shall commence an action to recover the property or penalty. A recovery in such an action bars the recovery in any other action brought for the same cause. (b) Forfeiture on conviction for treason. Where personal property is forfeited to the state upon a conviction of outlawry for treason, the attorney-general shall commence an action to recover the property or its value. (c) Forfeiture of recognizance. Where the condition of a recognizance is broken, the recognizance is wholly forfeited by an order of the court directing its prosecution. Where a recognizance to the state is forfeited, it is not necessary to allege or prove any damages. S 7202. Action by person aggrieved. Where a penalty or forfeiture is given by a statute to a person aggrieved by the act or omission of another, the person aggrieved may commence an action to recover it. S 7203. Action by common informer. (a) When maintainable. Where a penalty or forfeiture is given by a statute to any person, an action to recover it may be maintained by any person in his own name; but the action cannot be compromised or settled without the leave of the court. (b) Service. The summons can be served only by an officer authorized by law to collect upon an execution issued out of the same court. The summons cannot be countermanded by the plaintiff before service. Immediately after it has been served, the officer shall file it with his certificate of service with the judge who issued it or with the clerk of the court. (c) Action not barred by collusive recovery. The plaintiff may recover, notwithstanding the recovery of a judgment, for or against the defendant, in an action brought by another person, if the former judgment was recovered collusively and fraudulently. S 7204. Recovery of part of penalty or forfeiture. Where a statute gives a pecuniary penalty or forfeiture not exceeding a specified sum, the whole sum or a part proportionate to the offense may be awarded. S 7205. Defense of good faith reliance on judicial decision. No action for a penalty or forfeiture may be brought for an act done in good faith and pursuant to a construction given to a statute by a decision of an appellate court and adjudged lawful thereby, where such act was done prior to a reversal or the overruling of such decision.
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