33-2404. AGENT’S PERMIT. (1) No individual may act as an agent of a proprietary school required to be registered under the provisions of this chapter unless that individual holds a valid agent’s certificate of identification issued by the proprietary school that the agent represents.

(2) Each agent’s certificate of identification shall be reissued annually by the proprietary school that the agent represents on the first day of July. If courses are solicited or sold by more than one (1) agent, a separate certificate of identification is required for each agent.

(3) The agent’s certificate of identification shall consist of a pocket card and shall bear:

(a) The name and address of the agent;

(b) The name and address of the proprietary school that the agent represents;

(c) A statement that the bearer is an authorized agent of the proprietary school and may solicit students for the proprietary school.

(4) The agent shall surrender the agent’s certificate of identification to the proprietary school upon termination of employment or agency relationship.

(5) An agent representing more than one (1) proprietary school shall obtain a separate agent’s certificate of identification for each proprietary school represented.

(6) For every agent who will have unsupervised contact with minors, prior to issuing the agent a certificate of identification the proprietary school shall complete a criminal history check on the agent for particular criminal offenses, and in accordance with other guidelines, established in rule by the board. No agent shall be issued an agent’s certificate of identification if he or she is found to have been convicted of any of the offenses identified in board rule, or if he or she has been previously found in any judicial or administrative proceeding to have violated this chapter.

(7) An agent’s certificate of identification shall be valid for the state’s fiscal year in which it is issued, unless sooner revoked or suspended.

(8) The agent shall carry the agent’s certificate of identification with him or her for identification purposes when engaged in the solicitation of students away from the premises of the proprietary school and shall produce the agent’s certificate of identification for inspection upon request.

(9) The issuance of an agent’s certificate of identification pursuant to this section shall not be interpreted as, and it shall be unlawful for any individual holding any agent’s certificate of identification to expressly or impliedly represent by any means whatsoever, that the board has made any evaluation, recognition, accreditation or endorsement of any proprietary school or of any course of study being offered by the agent of any such proprietary school. Any oral or written statement, advertisement or solicitation by any proprietary school or agent which refers to the board shall state:

"(Name of school) is registered with the State Board of Education in accordance with Section 33-2403, Idaho Code."

(10) It shall be unlawful for any agent holding an agent’s certificate of identification under the provisions of this section to expressly or impliedly represent, by any means whatsoever, that the issuance of the agent’s certificate of identification constitutes an assurance by the board that any course of study being offered by the agent or proprietary school will provide and require of the student a course of education or training necessary to reach a professional, educational, or vocational objective, or will result in employment or personal earning for the student, or that the board has made any evaluation, recognition, accreditation, or endorsement of any course of study being offered by the agent or proprietary school.

(11) No agent shall make any statements or engage in any practices that are false, deceptive or misleading.

(12) The proprietary school shall maintain records for five (5) years of each application for an agent’s certificate of identification, and each issuance, denial, termination, suspension and revocation of an agent’s certificate of identification.

(13) The proprietary school shall provide as part of the annual registration process the names and results of the criminal history check for each agent to whom it has issued a certificate of identification. The criminal history check will be valid for five (5) years.

(14) A student may bring an action pursuant to the Idaho rules of civil procedure for an agent’s violation of the provisions of this chapter or any rule promulgated pursuant to this chapter, or any fraud or misrepresentation. The court shall determine which party is the "prevailing party" and the prevailing party shall be entitled to the recovery of damages, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs both at trial and on appeal.

History:

[(33-2404) 33-2405, added 1993, ch. 57, sec. 3, p. 157; am. and redesig. 2006, ch. 240, sec. 8, p. 730; am. 2009, ch. 26, sec. 5, p. 76; am. 2011, ch. 159, sec. 4, p. 449.]