198.13 Penalties.

1. Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this chapter or who shall impede, hinder or otherwise prevent, or attempt to prevent, said secretary or the secretary’s authorized agent in performance of that person’s duty in connection with the provisions of this chapter, shall be guilty of a simple misdemeanor.

2. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as requiring the secretary or the secretary’s representative to:

a. Report for prosecution.

b. Institute seizure proceedings.

c. Issue a withdrawal from distribution order, as a result of minor violations of the chapter, or when the secretary or representative believes the public interest will best be served by suitable notice of warning in writing.

3. It shall be the duty of each county attorney 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 secretary reports a violation for such prosecution, an opportunity shall be given the distributor to present the distributor’s view to the secretary.

4. The secretary may apply for and the court may 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 promulgated under the chapter notwithstanding the existence of other remedies at law. If granted, the injunction shall be issued without bond.

5. Any person adversely affected by an act, order, or ruling made pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may within forty-five days thereafter bring action in the district court for judicial review of such actions. The form of the proceeding shall be any which may be provided by statutes of this state to review decisions of administrative agencies, or in the absence or inadequacy thereof, any applicable form of legal action, including actions for declaratory judgments or writs or prohibitory or mandatory injunctions.

6. Any person who uses to the person’s own advantage, or reveals to other than the secretary, or officers of the department 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 serious misdemeanor. This prohibition shall not be deemed as prohibiting the secretary, or the secretary’s duly authorized agent, 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.

[C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §198.13]

Referred to in §198.8, 331.756(37)