§328G-6  Enforcement; penalty.  [See Note at beginning of chapter.]  (a)  Any person who violates this chapter or any rule adopted by the department pursuant to this chapter shall be fined not more than $10,000 for each separate offense.  Any action taken to collect the penalty provided for in this subsection shall be considered a civil action.  In addition to any other administrative or judicial remedy provided by this chapter, or by rules adopted pursuant to this chapter, the director may impose by order the administrative penalty specified in this section or revoke a permit pursuant to this chapter.

     (b)  Any order issued under this chapter shall become final, unless not later than twenty days after the notice of order is served, the person or persons named therein request in writing a hearing before the director.  Any penalty imposed, including the revocation of a permit, shall become final, and any monetary penalty shall become due and payable twenty days after the order is served unless the person or persons named therein request in writing a hearing before the director.  Whenever a hearing is requested, the penalty imposed, including permit revocation, shall become final, and any monetary penalty shall become due and payable only upon completion of all review proceedings and the issuance of a final order confirming the penalty in whole or in part.  Any hearing shall be conducted in accordance with chapter 91.

     (c)  In any judicial proceeding to enforce an order issued by the department pursuant to this section, including but not limited to the recovery of administrative penalties imposed by order against a hemp processor, the director may petition any court of appropriate jurisdiction for relief and need only show that:

     (1)  Notice was given;

     (2)  A hearing was held or the time granted for requesting a hearing has expired without such a request;

     (3)  The administrative penalty was imposed or the hemp processor's permit was revoked; and

     (4)  The penalty remains unpaid or the hemp processor continues to operate.

     (d)  The director, in the event there is deemed a potential health hazard, may take precautionary measures to protect the public through imposition of an embargo, the detention and removal of hemp, hemp biomass, crude extract, or manufactured hemp products from the market, and the sequestration of hemp, hemp biomass, crude extract, or manufactured hemp products suspected to be contaminated or otherwise harmful to human health.  In the event of any embargo or detention of hemp, hemp biomass, crude extract, or manufactured hemp products, the person or persons so named in the order imposing the embargo or detention shall be afforded an opportunity to contest the findings of the department in a hearing pursuant to chapter 91.

     (e)  Nothing in this chapter shall limit any other legal remedy, or limit any civil or criminal action, available under any other statute, rule, or ordinance. [L 2020, c 14, pt of §2, §9; am L 2022, c 137, §2; am L 2023, c 263, §10]