2023 Louisiana Laws › Revised Statutes › Title 37 - Professions and Occupations › §37:700. Enforcement proceedings against other persons; procedure

RS 37:700 - Enforcement proceedings against other persons; procedure
A. The board shall have the power to take enforcement action against any non-licensee or non-certificate holder found by the board to be guilty of any of the following acts or offenses:
(1) Practicing or offering to practice engineering or land surveying in the state of Louisiana without being licensed in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter.
(2) Presenting or attempting to use as one's own the license, certificate, seal, or stamp of another person.
(3) Any fraud, deceit, material misstatement, or perjury or the giving of any false or forged evidence in applying for a license or certificate, or in taking any examination.
(4) Falsely impersonating any licensee or certificate holder of like or different name.
(5) Using or attempting to use an expired, inactive, retired, or revoked license or certificate.
(6) Using or attempting to use a seal or stamp which is deceptively similar to the seals or stamps authorized by the board for use by its licensees.
(7) The use by any person of the words "engineer" or "engineering" or "land surveyor" or "land surveying" or any modification or derivative thereof in its name or form of business or activity except as licensed under this Chapter or in the pursuit of activities exempted by this Chapter.
(8) Falsely claiming that a person is licensed under this Chapter.
(9) Violation of any provisions of this Chapter or any rules or regulations adopted and promulgated by the board.
(10) Violation of or noncompliance with any order, ruling, or decision of the board.
(11) Failure to provide, within thirty calendar days of receipt of notice by certified mail, information or documents requested by the board relating to any alleged violation of this Chapter.
B. For purposes of this Chapter, the term "enforcement action" shall include but not be limited to a fine in an amount not to exceed five thousand dollars per violation.
C. The board shall have the power to take enforcement action against a firm if one or more of its officers, directors, managers, employees, agents, or representatives violate any provision of this Chapter.
D. Charges may be preferred against any non-licensee or non-certificate holder in the following manner:
(1) A complaint review committee of the board, on its own initiative, may prefer charges against any non-licensee or non-certificate holder who commits or engages in any of the acts or offenses listed in Subsection A of this Section. Any decision to prefer charges shall be made by a minimum two-thirds vote of the board members serving on the complaint review committee.
(2) A complaint review committee of the board, on receipt of a complaint from any person, may prefer charges against any non-licensee or non-certificate holder who commits or engages in any of the acts or offenses listed in Subsection A of this Section. Such complaint shall be in writing, shall be sworn to by the person or persons making the complaint, and shall be filed with the board. Any decision to prefer charges shall be made by a minimum two-thirds vote of the board members serving on the complaint review committee.
E. Within twenty days of the preferral of charges, the board shall mail a copy of said charges to the last known address of the non-licensee or non-certificate holder so charged.
F. In the event a complaint review committee of the board determines after investigation that the charges so preferred are completely unfounded, more appropriately resolved outside the formal enforcement proceedings, or not within the jurisdiction of the board, the committee shall so advise the charged party, in writing, of its determination and the charges shall be withdrawn. Otherwise, all charges shall be heard by the board or a hearing committee designated by the board within twelve months after the date on which they shall have been preferred. This twelve-month period may be extended with the consent of both the board and the charged party.
G. The date, time, and place for said hearing shall be fixed by the complaint review committee and a copy of the charges, together with a notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing, shall be personally served on or mailed to the last known address of the charged party, at least thirty days before the date fixed for hearing. At any hearing, the charged party shall have the right to appear in person, or by counsel, or both, to cross-examine witnesses in his defense, and to produce evidence and witnesses in his defense. If the charged party fails or refuses to appear at the hearing, the board or the hearing committee may proceed to hear and determine the validity of the charges.
H. If, after such hearing, a majority of the entire board membership authorized to participate in the proceeding vote in favor of sustaining the charges, the board may take enforcement action against the charged party. Any charges found by the board after a hearing to be unfounded shall be published in the official journal of the board, if requested in writing by the charged party.
I. A charged party aggrieved by any enforcement action taken by the board may appeal therefrom, pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.
J. In addition to any other action, the board may assess all reasonable costs incurred in connection with an enforcement proceeding, including investigators', stenographers', and attorneys' fees in conjunction with any other enforcement action taken. The assessment of costs may be considered enforcement action.
K. All enforcement actions taken shall be published on the official website and in the official journal of the board and may be released to other professional organizations relating to professional engineering and land surveying or to the news media.
L. The board may make informal disposition by consent order, agreement, settlement, or default of any enforcement proceeding pending before it. Each such informal disposition shall have no force or effect unless ratified by the board at its next regular meeting. Consent orders may be considered enforcement actions.
M. The board shall establish complaint review committees to investigate, mediate, or initiate enforcement or legal proceedings on behalf of the board with respect to complaints or information received by the board alleging that a non-licensee or non-certificate holder committed or engaged in any of the acts or offenses listed in Subsection A of this Section. Complaint review committees shall consist of at least three members of the board. Other employees or representatives of the board may be on the committees to provide administrative assistance, background information, legal advice, or any other assistance the committees deem necessary but shall not be granted voting privileges.
N. Any individual non-licensee or non-certificate holder found by a district court to have committed any of the acts or offenses listed in Subsection A of this Section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, suffer imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months. This penalty shall be in addition to any other enforcement action taken by the board.
O. It shall be the duty of the attorney general, all district attorneys, and all duly constituted officers of the law of this state, or any political subdivision thereof, to enforce the provisions of this Chapter and to prosecute any persons violating same. The attorney general of this state, or his assistant, shall act as legal advisor to the board if the board requests such and render such legal assistance as may be deemed necessary by the board in carrying out the provisions of this Chapter, provided that this shall not relieve the local prosecuting officers of any of their duties under the law as such.
P. Repealed by Acts 2004, No. 442, §2.
Q. Alternatively, following an investigation of any complaint or information received by the board alleging that a non-licensee or non-certificate holder committed or engaged in any of the acts or offenses listed in Subsection A of this Section, and dependent upon the result of such investigation, a complaint review committee of the board may present its findings to the district attorney in whose district such act or offense has occurred and shall aid in the prosecution of the violator; or the board may, if it deems necessary, prosecute any violator directly and in its own name, in any district court of this state for such act or offense. Such action may be instituted by any member, attorney, employee, or agent of the board acting on behalf of the board.
Acts 1980, No. 568, §1; Acts 1989, No. 149, §1; Acts 1993, No. 53, §1; Acts 1999, No. 396, §1; Acts 2003, No. 279, §5; Acts 2004, No. 442, §§1, 2; Acts 2010, No. 252, §1; Acts 2020, 2nd Ex. Sess., No. 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2021.