Assembly Bill No. 220–Committee on Commerce and Labor

 

(On Behalf of the Contractors’ Board)

 

February 28, 2003

____________

 

Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor

 

SUMMARY—Makes various changes to provisions governing contractors. (BDR 54‑502)

 

FISCAL NOTE:  Effect on Local Government: No.

                           Effect on the State: No.

 

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

AN ACT relating to contractors; providing for the confidentiality of certain information obtained or received by the State Contractors’ Board; authorizing the Board to require a criminal investigator employed by the Board to conduct a background investigation of an applicant for employment with the Board; authorizing a district court in a proceeding for a judicial review of a final decision of the Board to dismiss an agency or person from the proceeding under certain circumstances; expanding the circumstances under which a criminal investigator employed by the Board may exercise the powers of a peace officer; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

1-1  Section 1. NRS 624.110 is hereby amended to read as follows:

1-2  624.110  1.  The Board may maintain offices in as many

1-3  localities in the State as it finds necessary to carry out the provisions

1-4  of this chapter, but it shall maintain one office in which there must

1-5  be at all times open to public inspection a complete record of

1-6  applications, licenses issued, licenses renewed and all revocations,

1-7  cancelations and suspensions of licenses.

2-1  2.  [Credit reports, references, investigative memoranda,

2-2  financial information and data pertaining to a licensee’s net worth

2-3  are] Unless disclosed by a member or employee of the Board

2-4  during a public hearing conducted by the Board:

2-5  (a) Any document, photograph, note, memorandum or other

2-6  information obtained or received by the Board or any investigator

2-7  employed by the Board in connection with an investigation of an

2-8  alleged violation of a provision of this chapter or regulation

2-9  adopted pursuant to this chapter; and

2-10      (b) Any credit report, reference or other financial information

2-11  relating to a licensee obtained or received by the Board,

2-12  is confidential and not open to public inspection.

2-13      3.  Any statement, report or other information obtained or

2-14  received by the Board or by any investigator employed by the

2-15  Board in connection with an investigation under, or the

2-16  administration or enforcement of, the provisions of this chapter or

2-17  any regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter must not be

2-18  admitted as evidence in any civil action other than:

2-19      (a) An action to enforce the provisions of this chapter or any

2-20  regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter; or

2-21      (b) A hearing or review conducted in accordance with this

2-22  chapter or any regulation adopted pursuant to this chapter.

2-23      Sec. 2.  NRS 624.115 is hereby amended to read as follows:

2-24      624.115  1.  The Board may employ attorneys, investigators

2-25  and other professional consultants and clerical personnel necessary

2-26  to the discharge of its duties.

2-27      2.  The Board may require criminal investigators who are

2-28  employed by the Board pursuant to NRS 624.112 to:

2-29      (a) Conduct a background investigation of [a] :

2-30          (1) A license or an applicant for a contractor’s license; or

2-31          (2) An applicant for employment with the Board;

2-32      (b) Locate and identify persons who:

2-33          (1) Engage in the business or act in the capacity of a

2-34  contractor within this state in violation of the provisions of this

2-35  chapter;

2-36          (2) Submit bids on jobs situated within this state in violation

2-37  of the provisions of this chapter; or

2-38          (3) Otherwise violate the provisions of this chapter or the

2-39  regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter; [and]

2-40      (c) Investigate any alleged occurrence of constructional fraud;

2-41  and

2-42      (d) Issue a misdemeanor citation prepared manually or

2-43  electronically pursuant to NRS 171.1773 to a person who violates a

2-44  provision of this chapter that is punishable as a misdemeanor. A

3-1  criminal investigator may request any constable, sheriff or other

3-2  peace officer to assist him in the issuance of such a citation.

3-3  Sec. 3.  NRS 624.335 is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-4  624.335  1.  The Investigations Office of the Board shall:

3-5  (a) Upon the receipt of a complaint against a licensee, initiate an

3-6  investigation of the complaint.

3-7  (b) Within 10 days after receiving such a complaint, notify the

3-8  licensee and, if known, the person making the complaint of the

3-9  initiation of the investigation, and provide a copy of the complaint

3-10  to the licensee.

3-11      (c) Upon the completion of its investigation of a complaint,

3-12  provide the licensee and, if known, the person making the complaint

3-13  with written notification of any action taken on the complaint and

3-14  the reasons for taking that action.

3-15      2.  The Investigations Office of the Board may attempt to

3-16  resolve the complaint by:

3-17      (a) Meeting and conferring with the licensee and the person

3-18  making the complaint; and

3-19      (b) Requesting the licensee to provide appropriate relief.

3-20      3.  If the subject matter of the complaint is not within the

3-21  jurisdiction of the Board, [or if the Board or the Investigations

3-22  Office is unable to resolve the complaint after exhausting all

3-23  reasonable remedies and methods of resolution,] the Board or its

3-24  designee [shall:] may:

3-25      (a) Forward the complaint, together with any evidence or other

3-26  information in the possession of the Board concerning the

3-27  complaint, to any public or private agency which, in the opinion of

3-28  the Board, would be effective in resolving the complaint; and

3-29      (b) Notify the person making the complaint of its action

3-30  pursuant to paragraph (a) and of any other procedures which may be

3-31  available to resolve the complaint.

3-32      Sec. 4.  NRS 624.470 is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-33      624.470  1.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, in

3-34  addition to the annual fee for a license required pursuant to NRS

3-35  624.280, a residential contractor shall pay to the Board an annual

3-36  assessment [in] not to exceed the following amount, if the monetary

3-37  limit on his license is:

 

3-38  Not more than $1,000,000............... $100

3-39  More than $1,000,000 but limited..... 250

3-40  Unlimited............................................. 500

 

3-41      2.  The Board shall administer and account separately for the

3-42  money received from the annual assessments collected pursuant to

4-1  subsection 1. The Board may refer to the money in the account as

4-2  the “Recovery Fund.”

4-3  3.  The Board shall [suspend the collection of] reduce the

4-4  amount of the assessments collected pursuant to subsection 1 when

4-5  the balance in the account reaches 150 percent of the largest balance

4-6  in the account during the previous fiscal year.

4-7  4.  Except as otherwise provided in NRS 624.540, the money in

4-8  the account must be used to pay claims made by owners who are

4-9  damaged by the failure of a residential contractor to perform

4-10  qualified services adequately, as provided in NRS 624.400 to

4-11  624.560, inclusive.

4-12      Sec. 5.  NRS 233B.130 is hereby amended to read as follows:

4-13      233B.130  1.  Any party who is:

4-14      (a) Identified as a party of record by an agency in an

4-15  administrative proceeding; and

4-16      (b) Aggrieved by a final decision in a contested case,

4-17  is entitled to judicial review of the decision. Where appeal is

4-18  provided within an agency, only the decision at the highest level is

4-19  reviewable unless a decision made at a lower level in the agency

4-20  is made final by statute. Any preliminary, procedural or intermediate

4-21  act or ruling by an agency in a contested case is reviewable if review

4-22  of the final decision of the agency would not provide an adequate

4-23  remedy.

4-24      2.  Petitions for judicial review must:

4-25      (a) Name as respondents the agency and all parties of record to

4-26  the administrative proceeding;

4-27      (b) Be instituted by filing a petition in the district court in and

4-28  for Carson City, in and for the county in which the aggrieved party

4-29  resides or in and for the county where the agency proceeding

4-30  occurred; and

4-31      (c) Be filed within 30 days after service of the final decision of

4-32  the agency.

4-33  Cross-petitions for judicial review must be filed within 10 days after

4-34  service of a petition for judicial review.

4-35      3.  The agency and any party desiring to participate in the

4-36  judicial review must file a statement of intent to participate in the

4-37  petition for judicial review and serve the statement upon the agency

4-38  and every party within 20 days after service of the petition.

4-39      4.  A petition for rehearing or reconsideration must be filed

4-40  within 15 days after the date of service of the final decision. An

4-41  order granting or denying the petition must be served on all parties

4-42  at least 5 days before the expiration of the time for filing the petition

4-43  for judicial review. If the petition is granted, the subsequent order

4-44  shall be deemed the final order for the purpose of judicial review.

5-1  5.  The petition for judicial review and any cross-petitions for

5-2  judicial review must be served upon the agency and every party

5-3  within 45 days after the filing of the petition, unless, upon a

5-4  showing of good cause, the district court extends the time for such

5-5  service. If the proceeding involves a petition for judicial review or

5-6  cross-petition for judicial review of a final decision of the State

5-7  Contractors’ Board, the district court may, on its own motion or

5-8  the motion of a party, dismiss from the proceeding any agency

5-9  or person who:

5-10      (a) Is named as a party in the petition for judicial review or

5-11  cross-petition for judicial review; and

5-12      (b) Was not a party to the administrative proceeding for which

5-13  the petition for judicial review or cross-petition for judicial review

5-14  was filed.

5-15      6.  The provisions of this chapter are the exclusive means of

5-16  judicial review of, or judicial action concerning , a final decision in

5-17  a contested case involving an agency to which this chapter applies.

5-18      Sec. 6. NRS 289.300 is hereby amended to read as follows:

5-19      289.300  1.  A person employed as an investigator by the

5-20  Private Investigator’s Licensing Board pursuant to NRS 648.025 has

5-21  the powers of a peace officer.

5-22      2.  A person employed as a criminal investigator by the State

5-23  Contractors’ Board pursuant to NRS 624.112 has the powers of a

5-24  peace officer to carry out his duties pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS

5-25  624.115 . [, for the limited purpose of obtaining and exchanging

5-26  information on persons who hold a contractor’s license or are

5-27  applying for a contractor’s license.]

 

5-28  H