(a)  Whenever the department, upon its own motion or upon complaint of any person, has reason to believe that any person is violating any of the provisions of this chapter, it may, if warranted, take any of the following actions:

(1)  Revoke, suspend, or deny a registration of a charitable organization or professional fundraiser or professional solicitor or fundraising counsel;

(2)  Assess an administrative fine against the violator of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each act or omission constituting a violation; provided, that in determining the amount of the fine to be assessed, the director shall take into account factors like the nature and severity of the violation and the willfulness of the violation;

(3)  Issue an order to that person commanding them to appear before the department at a hearing to be held not sooner than ten (10) days nor later than twenty (20) days after issuance of the order to show cause why the department should not issue an order to the person to cease and desist from the violation of the provisions of this chapter. An order to show cause may be served on any person by any person by mailing a copy of the order to the person at any address at which that person had done business or at which the person may live. If upon the hearing the department is satisfied that the person is in fact violating any provision of this chapter, then the department shall order that person, in writing, to cease and desist from the violation. At any hearing, the department shall not be bound by common law rules of evidence, but may receive and consider any statements, documents, and things that shall be considered by it necessary or useful in arriving at its decision. If that person thereafter fails to comply with the order of the department, the superior court for Providence County shall have jurisdiction upon the complaint of the department to restrain and enjoin that person from violating this chapter. The findings and order of the department shall constitute prima facie evidence that the person ordered by the department to cease and desist has violated the provisions of this chapter. The attorney general shall afford the department any necessary assistance in obtaining relief in the superior court.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-14

  • Charitable organization: means any organization soliciting for a charitable purpose or any organization holding themselves out as such. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
  • 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.
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Department: means the department of business regulation. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
  • Director: means the director of the department. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
  • 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.
  • Fundraising counsel: means any person who for compensation consults with a charitable organization or who plans, manages, advises, or assists with respect to the solicitation of contributions for or on behalf of a charitable organization, but who does not have access to contributions or other receipts from a solicitation and who does not solicit. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
  • in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
  • 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 and shall include any individual, organization, group, association, partnership, corporation, trust, limited-liability company, and combination of the foregoing, however formed, as well as any and all other entities, however formed. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
  • Professional fundraiser: means any person who directly or indirectly for compensation or other consideration plans, manages, conducts, carries on, or assists in connection with a solicitation for charitable purposes or individually solicits or who or that employs or otherwise engages on any basis another person to solicit for or on behalf of any charitable organization, or who or that engages in the business of, or holds himself, herself, or itself out to persons as independently engaged in the business of soliciting for the charitable purpose. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1
  • Professional solicitor: means any person who is employed or retained for compensation by a professional fundraiser to solicit contributions for charitable purposes. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-53.1-1

(b)  The director shall, before denying, revoking or suspending any registration or assessing a civil penalty, notify the applicant or registrant in writing and provide an opportunity for hearing in accordance with the provisions of the administrative procedures act, chapter 35 of Title 42, and in accordance with other rules and regulations that the director may promulgate to effectuate the purposes of this chapter. Any person who has exhausted all administrative remedies available to him or her and who is aggrieved by a final decision of the department shall be entitled to judicial review in accordance with the provisions of the administrative procedures act, chapter 35 of Title 42. The written notice may be served by personal delivery to the person or by regular mail to his, her, or its last-known business address. A hearing must be requested within thirty (30) days of receipt of the notice from the director or shall be automatically waived. Any hearing shall be held within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the request by the director, at a time and place that the director shall prescribe. The director or the director’s designee may issue subpoenas in accordance with the laws of Rhode Island, compel the attendance of witnesses at the hearing, administer oaths, take proof, and make determinations of relevant facts. The respondent may appear at the hearing and may cross-examine all witnesses and produce evidence on his, her, or its behalf. The director or the director’s designee shall not be bound by the rules of evidence during the conduct of the hearing. A final determination shall be made by the director or the director’s designee.

History of Section.
P.L. 1999, ch. 152, § 2.