§1612. Penalties

            A. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this Part or the rules or regulations adopted under the provisions of this Part, or who alters, forges, or counterfeits, or uses without authority, any certificate or permit or other document provided for in this Part or in the rules or regulations adopted under the provisions of this Part, or who, except in compliance with the rules or regulations adopted by the commission, moves any regulated article which the commissioner found is infested by the boll weevil into this state from any other state shall be subject, in addition to any unpaid fees associated with the eradication program, to a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars for each act of violation and for each day of violation. Each day on which a violation occurs shall be a separate offense.

            B. Penalties may be assessed only by a ruling of the commissioner based upon an adjudicatory hearing held in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.

            C. In addition to civil penalties, the commissioner may assess the proportionate costs of the adjudicatory hearing against the violator. The commissioner, by rule, shall determine the amount of costs to be assessed.

            D. The commissioner may institute civil proceedings to enforce his rulings in the district court for the parish in which the violation occurred.

            E. The commissioner may institute civil proceedings seeking injunctive relief to restrain and prevent the violation of the provisions of this Part, or of the rules and regulations adopted under the provisions of this Part, in the district court for the parish in which the violation occurred.

            Acts 1992, No. 58, §1; Acts 2019, No. 185, §1, eff. June 11, 2019.