Section 76-19-12 - Penalties.
76-19-12. Penalties.
A. Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of the Commercial Feed Law [76-19-1 to 76-19-14 NMSA 1978] or the rules and regulations issued thereunder or who shall impede, obstruct, hinder or otherwise prevent or attempt to prevent said board or its duly authorized agent in performance of its duty in connection [with] the provisions of that act, shall be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than five dollars ($5.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100) for the first violation, and not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for a subsequent violation. In all prosecutions under the Commercial Feed Law involving the composition of a lot of commercial feed, a certified copy of the official analysis shall be accepted as prima facie evidence of the composition.
B. Nothing in the Commercial Feed Law shall be construed as requiring the board or its representative to report for prosecution or for the institution of seizure proceedings as a result of minor violations of that act when it believes that the public interest will be best served by a suitable notice of warning in writing.
C. It is the duty of each district attorney to whom any violation is reported to cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted and prosecuted in a court of competent jurisdiction without delay. Before the board reports a violation for such prosecution, an opportunity shall be given the distributor to present his view to the board.
D. The board is authorized to apply for, and the court to grant, [a] temporary or permanent injunction restraining any person from violating or continuing to violate any of the provisions of the Commercial Feed Law or any rule or regulation promulgated under that act notwithstanding the existence of other remedies at law. The injunction is to be issued without bond.