§ 5-38.3-5. Investigation — Procedure — Remedies for failure to comply.
(a) When it appears to the attorney general that a person has engaged in, is engaging
in, or is about to engage in, any act or practice declared to be unlawful by this
chapter, or when the attorney general believes it to be in the public interest that
an investigation should be made to ascertain whether a person in fact has engaged
in, is engaging in, or is about to engage in, any act or practice declared to be unlawful
by this chapter, he or she may execute, in writing, and serve, upon any person who
is believed to have information, documentary material, or physical evidence relevant
to the alleged or suspected violation, an investigative demand, stating the general
subject matter of the investigation and the statute and section the alleged or suspected
violation of which is under investigation, and requiring the person to furnish, under
oath or otherwise, a report, in writing, stating the relevant facts and circumstances
of which the person has knowledge, or to appear and testify, or to produce relevant
documentary material or physical evidence for examination, at any reasonable time
and place that may be stated in the investigative demand, concerning the deceptive
and/or fraudulent practice in the repair of motor vehicles or the conduct of any trade
or commerce that is the subject matter of the investigation. All civil investigative
demands shall be filed in the superior court of the county in which the person served
with the demand dwells or has his or her principal place of business.
(b) At any time before the return date specified in an investigative demand, or within
twenty (20) days after the demand has been served, whichever period is shorter, a
petition to extend the return date or to modify or set aside the demand, stating good
cause, may be filed in the superior court in which the person served with the demand
dwells or has his or her principal place of business, or in the superior court of
Providence County.
(c) To accomplish the objectives and to carry out the duties prescribed by this chapter,
the attorney general, in addition to other powers conferred upon him or her by this
chapter, may issue subpoenas to any person, administer an oath or affirmation to any
person, and conduct hearings in aid of any investigation or inquiry; provided, that
none of the powers conferred by this chapter shall be used for the purpose of compelling
any natural person to furnish testimony or evidence that might tend to incriminate
that person or subject him or her to a penalty or forfeiture. Information obtained
pursuant to the powers conferred by this chapter shall not be made public or disclosed
by the attorney general or his or her employees beyond the extent necessary for law
enforcement purposes in the public interest.
(d) Service of any notice, demand, or subpoena under this chapter shall be made personally
within this state, but if personal service cannot be obtained, substituted service
may be made in the following manner:
(1) Personal service outside this state;
(2) The mailing by registered or certified mail to the last known place of business, residence,
or abode within or outside this state of the person for whom the service is intended;
(3) As to any person other than a natural person, in the manner provided in the rules
of civil procedure as if a complaint or other pleading that institutes a civil proceeding
had been filed; or
(4) Any service that the superior court may direct in lieu of personal service within
this state.
(e) A person upon whom a demand is served pursuant to the provisions of this section shall
comply with the terms of the demand unless otherwise provided. Subject to the protections
provided for in subsection (c) relating to self incrimination, any person who, with
intent to avoid, evade, or prevent compliance, in whole or in part, with any civil
investigative demand under this section, removes from any place, conceals, withholds,
or destroys, mutilates, alters, or by any other means falsifies any documentary material
in the possession, custody, or control of any person subject of any demand, or knowingly
conceals any relevant information, shall be fined not more than two thousand five
hundred dollars ($2,500).
(f) If any person fails or refuses to file any statement or report, or obey any subpoena
or investigative demand issued by the attorney general, the attorney general may file
in the superior court of the county in which the person dwells or can be found, or
has his or her principal place of business, or of Providence County, if the superior
court at that county is not in session, or if the person is a nonresident or has no
principal place of business in this state, or of the other county that may be agreed
upon by the parties to the petition, and serve upon the person a petition for an order
of the court for the enforcement of this section, and the petition may request and
the court has jurisdiction to grant after notice and hearing, an order:
(1) Granting injunctive relief to restrain the person from engaging in the deceptive and/or
fraudulent practice in the repair of motor vehicles or the conduct of any trade or
commerce that is involved in the alleged or suspected violation;
(2) Vacating, annulling, or suspending the corporate charter of a corporation created
by or under the laws of this state or revoking or suspending the certificate of authority
to do business in this state of a foreign corporation or revoking or suspending any
other licenses, permits, or certificates issued pursuant to law to the person that
are used to further the allegedly unlawful practice; and
(3) Granting any other relief that may be required, until the person files the statement
or report, or obeys the subpoena or investigative demand.
(4) Any final order entered is subject to appeal to the state supreme court. Any disobedience
of any final order entered under this section by any court shall be punished as a
contempt of the order.