§ 37:700 — Enforcement proceedings against other persons; procedure

§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.

Legislative History

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, 2 nd Ex. Sess., No. 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2021.