Rhode Island § 4-2-12 - Commercial Feeds

§ 4-2-12. Penalties.

(a) Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this chapter or who impedes, hinders, or otherwise prevents, or attempts to prevent, the director or his or her authorized agent in performance of his or her duty in connection with the provisions of this chapter shall be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined not less than one hundred dollars ($100) or more than two hundred dollars ($200) for the first violation, and not less than two hundred dollars ($200) or more than five hundred dollars ($500) for each subsequent violation.

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as requiring the director or the director’s representative to:

(1) Report for prosecution;

(2) Institute seizure proceedings; or

(3) Issue a withdrawal from distribution order, as a result of minor violations of the chapter, or when he or she believes the public interest will best be served by suitable notice of warning in writing.

(c) It shall be the duty of the attorney general 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 director reports violations for prosecution, an opportunity shall be given the distributor to present his or her view to the director.

(d) The director 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 this chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated under the chapter notwithstanding the existence of other remedies at law. The injunction shall be issued without bond.

(e) Any person adversely affected by an act, order, or ruling made pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may within forty-five (45) days bring action in superior court in the county where the enforcement official has his or her office for judicial review of those actions. The form of the proceeding is any which may be provided by the statutes of this state to review decisions of administrative agencies, or in the absence or inadequacy of a form of proceeding, any applicable form of legal action, including actions for declaratory judgments or writs or prohibitory or mandatory injunctions.

(f) Any person who uses to his or her own advantage, or reveals to other than the director, or the director’s authorized agent(s), or to the courts when relevant in any judicial proceeding, any information acquired under the authority of this chapter, concerning any method, records, formulations, or processes which as a trade secret is entitled to protection, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall on conviction be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisoned for not more than one year or both. This prohibition shall not be deemed as prohibiting the director, or his or her authorized agent(s), from exchanging information of a regulatory nature with appointed officials of the United States government, or of other states, who are similarly prohibited by law from revealing this information.