16-6-206. Failure to employ state laborers; penalty.

(a) A person who willfully or intentionally fails to use Wyoming laborers as required in this act shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) per nonresident laborer employed per day, not to exceed a total penalty of ten percent (10%) of the amount of the person's contract. Each separate case of failure to employ Wyoming laborers on public works projects constitutes a separate offense.

(b) In the event a second offense occurs within a twelve (12) month period from the date of the first offense, the person shall be barred from bidding on any contract subject to the provisions of this act or submitting any request for proposal on any project subject to the provisions of this act for one (1) year from the date the second violation is corrected.

(c) Before a civil penalty is imposed under this section, the department of workforce services shall notify the person accused of a violation. The notice shall be served in accordance with the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure and contain:

(i) A statement of the grounds for imposing the civil penalty, including a citation to the statute involved;

(ii) A statement of the facts in support of the allegations;

(iii) A statement informing the person of the right to a hearing and that failure to timely request a hearing will result in imposition of the civil penalty stated.

(d) A request for hearing on a proposed civil penalty shall be in writing and shall be submitted to the department no later than seven (7) days after receipt of the notice from the department. The hearing shall be conducted as a contested case before a hearing examiner of the office of administrative hearings. The hearing shall be no later than fifteen (15) days after receipt of the request for hearing, unless the person subject to the proposed civil penalty requests an extension of time for good cause shown. The hearing officer shall recommend a decision to the director of the department. After hearing or upon failure of the accused to request a hearing, the director of the department shall determine the amount of the civil penalty to be imposed in accordance with the limitations in this section. Judicial review, if any, shall be from the decision of the director and in accordance with the provisions of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act.

(e) A civil penalty may be recovered in an action brought by the attorney general in the name of the state of Wyoming in any court of appropriate jurisdiction.