Alabama § 8-7A-23 - Investigation and Subpoenas by Commission.

§ 8-7A-23. Investigation and Subpoenas by Commission.

(a) The commission may do any of the following:

(1) Make such public or private investigations within or outside of this state as it deems necessary to determine whether: Any license under this chapter should be granted, denied, suspended, or revoked; any person has violated or is about to violate any provision of this chapter or any rule or order hereunder; or to aid in the enforcement of this chapter or in the prescribing of rules and forms hereunder.

(2) Require or permit any person to file a statement in writing, under oath, or otherwise as the commission may determine, as to all the facts and circumstances concerning the matter to be investigated.

(3) Publish information concerning any violation of this chapter or any rule or order hereunder.

(b) In relation to any investigation or proceeding under this chapter, the commission, or any officer designated, may administer oaths and affirmations, subpoena witnesses, compel their attendance, take evidence, and require the production of any books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, agreements, or other documents or records which the commission deems relevant to the inquiry.

(c) In case of refusal to obey a subpoena, upon application by the commission, any court of competent jurisdiction may issue an order to the person failing to obey the subpoena requiring that person to appear before the commission or the officer designated by it, to produce documentary evidence if so ordered, or to give evidence touching the matter under investigation or in question. The court may hold any person who fails to obey an order of the court in contempt of court.

(d) No person is excused from attending and testifying or from producing any document or record before the commission or any officer designated by it, in any proceeding instituted by the commission, on the ground that the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, required of the person may tend to incriminate him or her or subject him or her to a penalty or forfeiture. No individual may be prosecuted or subjected to any penalty or forfeiture using or based on information he or she offered after asserting such privilege, except that the individual so testifying shall not be exempt from prosecution and punishment for perjury committed in so testifying. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the commission from prosecuting any person compelled to testify or provide evidence, if the commission has sufficient evidence, derived from other sources not discovered, derived, or revealed from such compelled testimony or evidence, to sustain a prosecution for a violation under this chapter.