§ 106-284.44.  Penalties; enforcement of Article; judicial review; confidentiality of information.

(a) Any person who shall be adjudged to have violated any provision of this Article, or any regulation of the Board adopted pursuant to this Article, shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.  In addition, if any person continues to violate or further violates any provision of this Article after written notice from the Commissioner, or his duly designated agent, the court may determine that each day during which the violation continued or is repeated constitutes a separate violation subject to the foregoing penalties.

(b) Nothing in this Article shall be construed as requiring the Commissioner or his representative to: (i) report for prosecution, or (ii) institute seizure proceedings, or (iii) issue a withdrawal from distribution order, as a result of minor violations of the Article, or when he believes the public interest will best be served by suitable notice of warning in writing.

(c) It shall be the duty of each district 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 Commissioner reports a violation for such prosecution, an opportunity shall be given the distributor to present his view to the Commissioner or his designated agent.

(d) The Commissioner is hereby authorized to apply for and the court to grant a temporary restraining order and a preliminary or permanent injunction restraining any person from violating or continuing to violate any of the provisions of this Article or any rule or regulation promulgated under the Article notwithstanding the existence of other remedies at law.

(e) Any person adversely affected by an act, order, or ruling made pursuant to the provisions of this Article may within 30 days thereafter bring action in the Superior Court of Wake County for judicial review of such act, order or ruling according to the provisions of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes.

(f) Any person who uses to his own advantage, or reveals to other than the Board, or officers of the other State agencies whose requests are deemed justifiable by the Commissioner, or to the courts when relevant in any judicial proceeding, any information acquired under the authority of this Article, concerning any method, records, formulations, or processes which as a trade secret is entitled to protection, is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor; provided, that this prohibition shall not be deemed as prohibiting the Commissioner, or his duly authorized agent, from exchanging information of a regulatory nature with duly appointed officials of the United States government, or of the other states, who are similarly prohibited by law from revealing this information. (1973, c. 47, s. 2; c. 771, s. 15; c. 1331, s. 3; 1987, c. 827, s. 1; 1993, c. 539, ss. 760, 761; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c).)