12-1116. Licenses; disciplinary actions; grounds; notice; administrative fine.

(1) The director may deny, revoke, or suspend any license of any pre-need seller or agent or may levy an administrative fine in accordance with subsection (3) of this section if the director finds that:

(a) The licensee has failed to pay the license fee prescribed for such license;

(b) The licensee, either knowingly or without the exercise of due care to prevent the same, has violated any of the provisions of the Burial Pre-Need Sale Act or any rule or regulation adopted and promulgated by the director pursuant to such act;

(c) An act or condition exists which, if it had existed at the time of the original application of such licensee, would have resulted in the director refusing to issue such license; or

(d) The licensee, upon receipt of a written inquiry from the department, has failed to respond to such inquiry or has failed to request an additional reasonable amount of time to respond to such inquiry within fifteen business days after such receipt.

(2) Written notification shall be provided to the licensee upon the director's making such determination, and the notice shall be mailed by the director to the last address on file for the licensee by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. The notice shall state the specific action contemplated by the director and the specific grounds for such action. The notice shall allow the licensee receiving such notice twenty days from the date of actual receipt to:

(a) Voluntarily surrender his or her license; or

(b) File a written notice of protest of the proposed action of the director. If a written notice of protest is filed by the licensee, the Administrative Procedure Act shall govern the hearing process and procedure, including all appeals. Failure to file a notice of protest within the twenty-day period shall be equivalent to a voluntary surrender of the licensee's license, and the licensee shall surrender the license to the director.

(3) In addition to or in lieu of any applicable denial, suspension, or revocation of a license, any person violating the Burial Pre-Need Sale Act may, after notice and hearing, be subject to an administrative fine of not more than one thousand dollars per violation. Such fine may be enforced in the same manner as civil judgments. Any person charged with a violation of the act may waive his or her right to a hearing and consent to such discipline as the director determines is appropriate. The Administrative Procedure Act shall govern all hearings held pursuant to the Burial Pre-Need Sale Act.

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