75-67-215 - Penalties. - Mississippi Statutes

§ 75-67-215. Penalties.
 

(1)  If any person engages in business as provided for in this article without paying the license fee provided for in this article before commencing business or before the expiration of the person's current license, as the case may be, then the person shall be liable for the full amount of the license fee plus a penalty in an amount not to exceed Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) for each day that the person has engaged in the business without a license or after the expiration of a license. 

(2)  The commissioner may, after notice and hearing as defined in Section 75-67-237 in cases of revocation of license, impose a civil penalty against any licensee if the licensee is adjudged by the commissioner to be in willful violation of the provisions of this article. The civil penalty shall not exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per violation and shall be deposited into the Consumer Finance Fund of the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance. Any licensee who has been imposed a civil penalty by the commissioner may, within twenty (20) days after the fine is imposed, appeal to the circuit court of the county where the business is being conducted, as in cases from an order of a lesser tribunal. The trial on appeal shall be de novo. 

(3)  When the commissioner has reasonable cause to believe that a person is violating any provision of this article, the commissioner, in addition to and without prejudice to the authority provided elsewhere in this article, may enter an order requiring the person to stop or to refrain from the violation. The commissioner may sue in any circuit court of the state having jurisdiction and venue to enjoin the person from engaging in or continuing the violation or from doing any act in furtherance of the violation. In such an action, the court may enter an order or judgment awarding a preliminary or permanent injunction. 
 

Sources: Codes, 1942, § 5591-38; Laws,  1958, ch. 168, § 8; Laws, 2000, ch. 621, § 17; Laws, 2004, ch. 449, § 2, eff from and after passage (approved Apr. 28, 2004.)