(a) The commission and the department shall establish standards and requirements concerning the content of courses, including, but not limited to, duration of courses, qualifications of instructors, program and certification fees, attendance requirements, and examinations. In order to be certified, a program shall meet the standards established by the commission and the department.

(b) Programs may be operated by any individual, partnership, corporation, association, civic group, club, county, municipality, board of education, school, or college or any public, private, or governmental entity.

(c) No official or employee, or his or her spouse, of the department or the State Board of Pardons or Paroles shall own, operate, instruct at, or be employed by a program except as provided by Code Section 19-13-15.

(d) The department is responsible for establishing requirements for the certification of programs. An applicant must meet the certification requirements promulgated by the department through standards established by the commission and the department. No program shall be approved unless the owner of the program agrees in writing to submit reports as required in the rules and regulations of the department and to allow the examination and audit of the books, records, and financial statements of the program or its authorized agent. No program will be certified unless the owner of the program agrees in writing to pay to the state, for the costs of administration, a fee as established by the commission, provided that nothing in this Code section shall be construed so as to allow the department to retain any funds required by the Constitution of this state to be paid into the state treasury; and provided, further, that the department shall comply with all provisions of Part 1 of Article 4 of Chapter 12 of Title 45, the "Budget Act," except Code Section 45-12-92, prior to expending any such miscellaneous funds. All programs operated by the department and the State Board of Pardons and Paroles shall be exempt from fee provisions relating to obtaining certification.

(e) The department has the authority to deny, suspend, or revoke a certificate under this article or to impose sanctions upon and discipline a program which is not complying with the rules and regulations set forth by the department. The department shall establish criteria to determine noncompliance with its rules and regulations, sanctions for noncompliance, and methods of appeal if certification is denied, suspended, or revoked.

(f) The department shall maintain a list of programs certified pursuant to this article and make the list available to the public and all courts.