2016 -- S 2547

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW-GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS-

DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES

     Introduced By: Senators Conley, Lombardi, Lombardo, Archambault, and Lynch Prata

     Date Introduced: February 25, 2016

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     (Attorney General)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 6-13.1-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 6-13.1 entitled "Deceptive

Trade Practices" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     6-13.1-7. Investigations -- 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 cause to be served 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 under which the suspected violation is alleged and

require 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 advertisement, sale, or

offering for sale of any goods or services or the conduct of any trade or commerce that is the

subject matter of the investigation. All civil investigative demands shall may, at the discretion of

the attorney general, be filed in the superior court of the county in which the person served with

the demand shall dwell or have his 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 shall dwell or have 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; conduct hearings

in aid of any investigation or inquiry; and prescribe any forms and promulgate any rules and

regulations that may be necessary, which rules and regulations shall have the force of law;

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 the

person or subject him or her to a penalty or forfeiture; and provided further that 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 without this state;

      (2) The mailing of any notice, demand, or subpoena under this chapter by registered or

certified mail to the last known place of business, residence, or abode within or without 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 which institutes a civil proceeding had been

filed; or

      (4) 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 by order of court. Subject

to the protections provided for in subsection (c) of this section 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

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possession, custody, or control of any person subject of any demand, or knowingly conceals any

relevant information, shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000).

      (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 shall dwell or be found; or has his or her principal place

of business; or of Providence County, if the superior court at the previously mentioned county

shall not be in session, or if the person is a nonresident or has no principal place of business in

this state; or of the other county as 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 shall have jurisdiction to grant after notice and a hearing, an

order:

      (1) Granting injunctive relief to restrain the person from engaging in the advertising or

sale of any merchandise 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.

      (g) Any final order so entered shall be 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 court.

     (h) The information and materials supplied to the attorney general pursuant to an

investigative demand shall not be permitted to become public or disclosed by the attorney general

or their employees beyond the extent necessary for deceptive trade practices enforcement

purposes in the public interest.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO COMMERCIAL LAW-GENERAL REGULATORY PROVISIONS-

DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES

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     This act would provide that information and materials supplied to the attorney general

pursuant to an investigative demand not be made public or disclosed by the attorney general

beyond the extent necessary for enforcement of deceptive trade practice prohibitions, and would

make discretionary the formerly mandatory requirement that civil investigative demand be filed

in the Superior Court.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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