§ 6-13.1-7 - Investigations – Procedure – Remedies for failure to comply.
SECTION 6-13.1-7
§ 6-13.1-7 Investigations – Procedure– Remedies for failure to comply. – (a) When it appears to the attorney general that a person has engaged in, isengaging in, or is about to engage in any act or practice declared to beunlawful by this chapter, or when the attorney general believes it to be in thepublic interest that an investigation should be made to ascertain whether aperson in fact has engaged in, is engaging in, or is about to engage in any actor practice declared to be unlawful by this chapter, he or she may execute, inwriting, and cause to be served upon any person who is believed to haveinformation, documentary material, or physical evidence relevant to the allegedor suspected violation, an investigative demand, stating the general subjectmatter of the investigation and the statute and section the alleged orsuspected violation of which is under investigation and requiring the person tofurnish, under oath or otherwise, a report in writing stating the relevantfacts and circumstances of which the person has knowledge, or to appear andtestify or to produce relevant documentary material or physical evidence forexamination, at any reasonable time and place that may be stated in theinvestigative demand, concerning the advertisement, sale, or offering for saleof any goods or services or the conduct of any trade or commerce that is thesubject matter of the investigation. All civil investigative demands shall befiled in the superior court of the county in which the person served with thedemand shall dwell or have his principal place of business.
(b) At any time before the return date specified in aninvestigative demand, or within twenty (20) days after the demand has beenserved, whichever period is shorter, a petition to extend the return date or tomodify or set aside the demand, stating good cause, may be filed in thesuperior court in which the person served with the demand shall dwell or havehis or her principal place of business, or in the superior court of ProvidenceCounty.
(c) To accomplish the objectives and to carry out the dutiesprescribed by this chapter, the attorney general, in addition to other powersconferred upon him or her by this chapter, may issue subpoenas to any person,administer an oath or affirmation to any person, conduct hearings in aid of anyinvestigation or inquiry, and prescribe any forms and promulgate any rules andregulations that may be necessary, which rules and regulations shall have theforce of law; provided that none of the powers conferred by this chapter shallbe used for the purpose of compelling any natural person to furnish testimonyor evidence which might tend to incriminate the person or subject him or her toa penalty or forfeiture; and provided further that information obtainedpursuant to the powers conferred by this chapter shall not be made public ordisclosed by the attorney general or his or her employees beyond the extentnecessary for law enforcement purposes in the public interest.
(d) Service of any notice, demand, or subpoena under thischapter shall be made personally within this state, but if personal servicecannot be obtained, substituted service may be made in the following manner:
(1) Personal service without this state;
(2) The mailing of any notice, demand, or subpoena under thischapter by registered or certified mail to the last known place of business,residence, or abode within or without this state of the person for whom theservice is intended;
(3) As to any person other than a natural person, in themanner provided in the Rules of Civil Procedure as if a complaint or otherpleading which institutes a civil proceeding had been filed; or
(4) Service that the superior court may direct in lieu ofpersonal service within this state.
(e) A person upon whom a demand is served pursuant to theprovisions of this section shall comply with the terms of the demand unlessotherwise provided by order of court. Subject to the protections provided forin subsection (c) of this section relating to self incrimination, any personwho, with intent to avoid, evade, or prevent compliance, in whole or in part,with any civil investigative demand under this section, removes from any place,conceals, withholds, or destroys, mutilates, alters, or by any other meansfalsifies any documentary material in the possession, custody, or control ofany person subject of any demand, or knowingly conceals any relevantinformation, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(f) If any person fails or refuses to file any statement orreport, or obey any subpoena or investigative demand issued by the attorneygeneral, the attorney general may file in the superior court of the county inwhich the person shall dwell or be found, or has his or her principal place ofbusiness, or of Providence County, if the superior court at the previouslymentioned county shall not be in session, or if the person is a nonresident orhas no principal place of business in this state, or of the other county as maybe agreed upon by the parties to the petition, and serve upon the person apetition for an order of the court for the enforcement of this section, and thepetition may request and the court shall have jurisdiction to grant afternotice and a hearing, an order:
(1) Granting injunctive relief to restrain the person fromengaging in the advertising or sale of any merchandise or the conduct of anytrade or commerce that is involved in the alleged or suspected violation;
(2) Vacating, annulling, or suspending the corporate charterof a corporation created by or under the laws of this state or revoking orsuspending the certificate of authority to do business in this state of aforeign corporation or revoking or suspending any other licenses, permits, orcertificates issued pursuant to law to the person which are used to further theallegedly unlawful practice; and
(3) Granting any other relief that may be required, until theperson files the statement or report, or obeys the subpoena or investigativedemand.
(g) Any final order so entered shall be subject to appeal tothe state supreme court. Any disobedience of any final order entered under thissection by any court shall be punished as a contempt of court.