44-635. Interrogatories and testimony; penalty for failure to testify; information deemed confidential; penalty for disclosing.
44-635
44-635. Interrogatories and testimony; penalty for failure to testify;information deemed confidential; penalty for disclosing.The secretary of labor is hereby authorized tofurnish and delivera written or printed list of interrogatories to any person, company, orthe proper officer of any corporation operating within the state, and requirefull and complete answers to be made thereto, and returned under oath. Thesecretary of labor shall have power to take andpreserve testimony,to issue subpoenas and administer oaths, and examine witnesses under oathin all matters relating to the duties herein required by thesecretaryof labor, such testimony to be taken in somesuitable place inthe vicinity to which the testimony is applicable. Witnesses subpoenaedand testifying before the secretary of laborshall be paid thesame fees as witnesses before the district court; such payment to be madefrom the incidental fund of the secretary oflabor.
Any person duly subpoenaed under the provisions of this act who shall willfullyneglect or refuse to attend, or refuse to answer any question propoundedto such person concerning the subject of suchexamination as provided inthis act, or if any person to whom a written or printed list of interrogatorieshas been furnished by the secretary of labor shall neglect orrefuse to answer and return the same under oath, such person or personsshall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon complaint of the secretaryof labor before a court of competentjurisdiction, and uponconvictionthereof, such person or persons shall be fined in a sum not less than$25 nor more than $100, orby imprisonment in the countyjail not exceeding 90 days, or by both such fine andimprisonment. Nowitness shall be compelled to go outside of the county in which suchwitnessresides to testify. In the report of the secretary oflabor nouse shall be made of the names of individuals, firms or corporations supplyingthe information called for by this act, unless by written permission, suchinformation being deemed confidential and not for the purpose of disclosingpersonal affairs; and any officer, agent or employee of the secretary oflabor violating this provision shall forfeit asum not exceeding$500, or be imprisoned not more than oneyear.
History: L. 1898, ch. 34, § 4; R.S. 1923, 44-635;L. 1976, ch. 370, § 45;L. 2004, ch. 179, § 44; July 1.