(a) The enforcement of this chapter shall be vested in the Department of Insurance. It shall be the duty of the department to see that the provisions of this chapter are at all times obeyed and to take such measures and to make such investigations as will prevent or detect the violation of any provision thereof. The department may present to the Attorney General any credible evidence coming to its knowledge of criminality under this chapter. In the event of the neglect or refusal of the Attorney General to institute and prosecute the violation, the department shall be authorized to proceed therein with all the rights, privileges, and powers conferred by law upon the Attorney General including the power to appear before grand juries and to interrogate witnesses before grand juries.

Attorney's Note

Under the Alabama Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Violationup to 30 daysup to $200
For details, see Ala. Code § 13A-5-7

Terms Used In Alabama Code 27-12A-7

  • Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • juries: include courts or judges in all cases when a jury trial is waived, or when the court or judge is authorized to ascertain and determine the facts as well as the law. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(b) Nothing in this article limits the power of the state to punish any person for any conduct which constitutes a crime by statute or at common law.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as state regulation of self-insured employee welfare benefit plans as defined in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.
(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as expanding the authority of the Department of Insurance to investigate or audit the records of the sponsor or members of a sponsor group of self-insured employee welfare benefit plans as defined in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.
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