1. Any person convicted of violating any of the provisions of this chapter or who shall impede, hinder or otherwise prevent, or attempt to prevent, said secretary or the secretary’s authorized agent in performance of that person’s duty in connection with the provisions of this chapter, shall be guilty of a simple misdemeanor.

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 198.13

  • Department: means the department of environmental quality in a reference to a time before July 1, 1983, the department of water, air and waste management in a reference to a time on or after July 1, 1983, and through June 30, 1986, and the department of natural resources on or after July 1, 1986, and includes any officer or agency within that department. See Iowa Code 172D.1
  • 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.
  • person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • United States: includes all the states. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as requiring the secretary or the secretary’s representative to:

 a. Report for prosecution.
 b. Institute seizure proceedings.
 c. Issue a withdrawal from distribution order, as a result of minor violations of the chapter, or when the secretary or representative believes the public interest will best be served by suitable notice of warning in writing.
 3. It shall be the duty of each county attorney to whom any violation is reported to cause appropriate proceedings to be instituted and prosecuted in a court of competent jurisdiction without delay. Before the secretary reports a violation for such prosecution, an opportunity shall be given the distributor to present the distributor’s view to the secretary.
 4. The secretary may apply for and the court may grant a temporary or permanent injunction restraining any person from violating or continuing to violate any of the provisions of this chapter or any rule promulgated under the chapter notwithstanding the existence of other remedies at law. If granted, the injunction shall be issued without bond.
 5. Any person adversely affected by an act, order, or ruling made pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may within forty-five days thereafter bring action in the district court for judicial review of such actions. The form of the proceeding shall be any which may be provided by statutes of this state to review decisions of administrative agencies, or in the absence or inadequacy thereof, any applicable form of legal action, including actions for declaratory judgments or writs or prohibitory or mandatory injunctions.
 6. Any person who uses to the person’s own advantage, or reveals to other than the secretary, or officers of the department or to the courts when relevant in any judicial proceeding, any information acquired under the authority of this chapter, concerning any method, records, formulations or processes which as a trade secret is entitled to protection, is guilty of a serious misdemeanor. This prohibition shall not be deemed as prohibiting the secretary, or the secretary’s duly authorized agent, from exchanging information of a regulatory nature with appointed officials of the United States government, or of other states, who are similarly prohibited by law from revealing this information.