Section 5-25-16

Enforcement and penalties.

(a) Whenever it appears to the supervisor that any person required to be licensed or registered under this chapter has violated any law of this state or any order or regulation of the department, the supervisor after notice and hearing may order such person or an affiliate acting on behalf of such person to cease and desist from the unauthorized practices.

(b) Any person required to be licensed under this chapter or an affiliate of such person who is found by the supervisor after notice and hearing to have violated this chapter or the terms of any order issued pursuant to this section may be ordered by the supervisor to pay a civil penalty of not more than three thousand dollars ($3,000) in the aggregate for all violations of a similar nature or, where violations are knowing violations, not more than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), in addition to any other penalties provided by law, including, but not limited to, revocation of any licenses issued under this chapter.

(c) Violations shall be of a similar nature if the violations consist of the same or substantially the same course of action or practice irrespective of the number of times the course of action or practice occurred. All civil penalties collected shall be paid into the special fund provided by Section 5-2A-20, and used in the supervision and examination of licensees. At the hearing, the person or affiliate of a person shall be entitled to be represented by counsel. A person or affiliate of a person aggrieved by an order of the supervisor under this section may obtain judicial review of the order and the supervisor may obtain an order of the court for enforcement of its order in the circuit court. The proceedings shall be governed by the provisions of Section 5-19-26.

(Act 2001-692, p. 1439, §16.)