Mississippi § 75-67-333 - Additional civil and criminal penalties for violations of this article; injunctions.

§ 75-67-333. Additional civil and criminal penalties for violations of this article; injunctions.

In addition to any other penalty which may be applicable, any licensee or employee who willfully violates any provision of this article, or who willfully makes a false entry in any record specifically required by this article, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine not in excess of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) per violation or false entry. In addition to any other penalty which may be applicable, any licensee or employee who fails to make a record of a pawnshop transaction and subsequently sells or disposes of the pledged goods from such transaction shall be punished as follows: For a first offense, the licensee or employee shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine not in excess of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or both fine and imprisonment; For a second offense, the licensee or employee shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable by a fine not in excess of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or by imprisonment in the custody of the State Department of Corrections for a term not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, or by both fine and imprisonment. Any licensee convicted in the manner provided in this subsection (2) shall forfeit the surety bond or deposit required in Section 75-67-323 and the amount of such bond or deposit shall be credited to the budget of the state or local agency, which directly participated in the prosecution of such licensee, for the specific purpose of increasing law enforcement resources for that specific state or local agency. Such bond or deposit shall be used to augment existing state and local law enforcement budgets and not to supplant them. Compliance with the criminal provisions of this article shall be enforced by the appropriate law enforcement agency who may exercise for such purpose any authority conferred upon such agency by law. When the commissioner has reasonable cause to believe that a person is violating any provision of this article, the commissioner, in addition to and without prejudice to the authority provided elsewhere in this article, may enter an order requiring the person to stop or to refrain from the violation. The commissioner may sue in any circuit court of the state having jurisdiction and venue to enjoin the person from engaging in or continuing the violation or from doing any act in furtherance of the violation. In such an action, the court may enter an order or judgment awarding a preliminary or permanent injunction. The commissioner may, after notice and a hearing, impose a civil penalty against any licensee adjudged by the commissioner to be in violation of the provisions of this article. Such civil penalty shall not exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per violation and shall be deposited into the State General Fund.