§ 15-76-303 - Penalties.
15-76-303. Penalties.
(a) Any person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject, upon conviction in any court of competent jurisdiction, to a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500) or imprisonment for a term of not more than six (6) months, or to both fine and imprisonment, who, for the purpose of evading this subchapter or of evading any rule, regulation, or order made thereunder, shall:
(1) Intentionally make or cause to be made any false entry or statement of fact in any report required to be made by this subchapter or by any rule, regulation, or order made hereunder; or
(2) Make or cause to be made any false entry in any account, record, or memorandum kept by any person in connection with the provisions of this subchapter or of any rule, regulation, or order made hereunder; or
(3) Omit to make, or cause to be omitted, full, true, and correct entries in those accounts, records, or memoranda, of all facts and transactions pertaining to the interest or activities in the brine industry of that person as may be required by the Oil and Gas Commission under authority given in this subchapter or by any rule, regulation, or order made hereunder; or
(4) Remove out of the jurisdiction of the state, or who shall mutilate, alter, or by any other means falsify, any book, record, or other paper made under this subchapter.
(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this subchapter or of any rule, regulation, or order of the commission made hereunder shall, in the event a penalty for the violation is not otherwise provided in this subchapter, be subject to a penalty of not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) a day for each and every day of the violation. For each and every act of violation, the penalty shall be recovered in a suit in the circuit court of the county where the defendant resides, or in the county of the residence of any defendant if there is more than one (1) defendant, or in the circuit court of the county where the violation took place. The place of suit shall be selected by the commission, and the suit, by direction of the commission, shall be instituted and conducted in the name of the commission by the attorney for the commission or by the Attorney General or under his or her direction by the prosecuting attorney of the county where the suit is instituted.
(c) Any person knowingly and willfully aiding or abetting any other person in the violation of any provision of this subchapter or any rule, regulation, or order made hereunder shall be subject to the same penalties as are prescribed herein for the violation by the other person.