(a) Any person who violates the terms of an injunction or order issued under this chapter shall forfeit and pay a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 per violation and shall be adjudged in contempt. For the purpose of this section, any circuit court issuing an injunction or order under this chapter shall retain jurisdiction, and in such cases the Attorney General or the district attorney acting in the name of the state may petition for recovery of such civil penalties.

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 8-19-11

  • circuit: means judicial circuit. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • 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.
  • Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • 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
(b) Any person who is knowingly engaging in or has knowingly engaged in any act or practice declared unlawful by Section 8-19-5 shall forfeit and pay a civil penalty of not more than $2,000 per violation upon petition by the Attorney General or a district attorney acting in the name of the state to the circuit court for the county in which the defendant resides, is doing business, or has his/her principal place of business, or the county in which the unlawful act or practice was or is being committed.
(c) Furthermore, upon a second or continuing violation of an injunction after imposition of the sanctions in subsection (a) of this section, and upon petition by the Attorney General or a district attorney, the circuit court of general jurisdiction of a county may, in its discretion, order the dissolution or suspension or forfeiture of the franchise of any corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship which willfully violates the terms of any injunction issued under Section 8-19-8.
(d) The penalties authorized under this section shall not apply to any offender who shows by a preponderance of evidence that he had established reasonable procedures to comply with this chapter or with any injunction issued under Section 8-19-8.
(e) In any successful action or petition brought under this section, the court shall award the office of the Attorney General and/or the office of the district attorney reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
(f) All penalties collected under this section shall be remitted by the circuit court to the state treasurer and shall be credited to the account of either the office of the Attorney General or the office of the district attorney, whichever initiated the action or petition resulting in imposition of such penalties.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 19 Contents