1. Any person establishing, conducting, managing, or operating any health care facility without a license shall be guilty of a serious misdemeanor. Each day of continuing violation after conviction or notice from the department by certified mail of a violation shall be considered a separate offense or chargeable offense. Any such person establishing, conducting, managing or operating any health care facility without a license may be by any court of competent jurisdiction temporarily or permanently restrained therefrom in any action brought by the state.

Attorney's Note

Under the Iowa Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Serious misdemeanorup to 1 yearbetween $430 and $2,560
Simple misdemeanorup to 30 daysbetween $105 and $855
For details, see Iowa Code§ 903.1

Terms Used In Iowa Code 135C.21

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Department: means the Iowa department of public health. See Iowa Code 154A.1
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • lawful enforcement: includes but is not limited to the following:
  • License: means a license issued by the state under this chapter to a hearing aid specialist. See Iowa Code 154A.1
  • Person: means a natural person. See Iowa Code 154A.1
  • State: means a state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See Iowa Code 152E.3
 2. Any person who prevents or interferes with or attempts to impede in any way any duly authorized representative of the department or of any of the agencies referred to in section 135C.17 in the lawful enforcement of this chapter or of the rules adopted pursuant to it is guilty of a simple misdemeanor. As used in this subsection, lawful enforcement includes but is not limited to:

 a. Contacting or interviewing any resident of a health care facility in private at any reasonable hour and without advance notice.
 b. Examining any relevant books or records of a health care facility.
 c. Preserving evidence of any violation of this chapter or of the rules adopted pursuant to it.