§ 54-12-18 — Special fund established - Continuing appropriation

A special fund is established in the state treasury and designated as the attorney general
refund fund. The attorney general shall deposit all moneys recovered by the consumer

protection division for refunds to consumers in cases where persons or parties are found to
have violated the consumer fraud laws, all costs, expenses, attorney's fees, and civil penalties
collected by the division regarding any consumer protection or antitrust matter, all cash deposit
bonds paid by applicants for a transient merchant's license who do not provide a surety bond,
and all funds and fees collected by the gaming section for licensing tribal gaming and for the
investigation of gaming employees, applicants, organizations, manufacturers, distributors, or
tribes involved in state or tribal gaming. The moneys in the fund are appropriated, as necessary,
for the following purposes:
1. To provide refunds of moneys recovered by the consumer protection and antitrust
division on behalf of specifically named consumers;
2. To pay valid claims against cash deposit bonds posted by transient merchant
licensees;
3. To refund, upon expiration of the two-year period after the expiration of the transient
merchant's license, the balance of any cash deposit bond remaining after the payment
of valid claims;
4. To pay costs, expenses, and attorney's fees and salaries incurred in the operation of
the consumer protection division; and
5. To pay the actual costs of background investigations, licensing, and enforcement of
gaming in the state or pursuant to Indian gaming compacts.
At the end of each biennium any moneys in the fund in excess of the amounts required for
subsections 1, 2, 3, and 5 must be deposited in the general fund. The attorney general, with the
concurrence of the director of the office of management and budget, shall establish the
necessary accounting procedures for use of the attorney general refund fund, particularly with
respect to expenditures under subsection 4.