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 an applicant’s or a

2-3  licensee’s net worth are confidential and not open to public

2-4  inspection.

2-5  3.  Any information or records obtained or received by the

2-6  Board or an investigator employed by the Board in conjunction

2-7  with an investigation and any report or other cumulative record of

2-8  the investigation are confidential and not open to public

2-9  inspection until the investigation is completed. After the

2-10  investigation is completed, the information or records must remain

2-11  confidential and not open to public inspection unless:

2-12      (a) The Board imposes disciplinary action as a result of the

2-13  investigation; or

2-14      (b) The person about whom the investigation was made

2-15  submits a written request to the Board that the materials be open

2-16  to public inspection.

2-17      4.  This section does not prevent or prohibit the Board from

2-18  communicating or cooperating with any other licensing board or

2-19  agency or any agency which is investigating an applicant or a

2-20  licensee, including a law enforcement agency.

2-21      Sec. 2.  NRS 624.115 is hereby amended to read as follows:

2-22      624.115  1.  The Board may employ attorneys, investigators

2-23  and other professional consultants and clerical personnel necessary

2-24  to the discharge of its duties.

2-25      2.  The Board may require criminal investigators who are

2-26  employed by the Board pursuant to NRS 624.112 to:

2-27      (a) Conduct a background investigation of [a] :

2-28          (1) A license or an applicant for a contractor’s license; or

2-29          (2) An applicant for employment with the Board;

2-30      (b) Locate and identify persons who:

2-31          (1) Engage in the business or act in the capacity of a

2-32  contractor within this state in violation of the provisions of this

2-33  chapter;

2-34          (2) Submit bids on jobs situated within this state in violation

2-35  of the provisions of this chapter; or

2-36          (3) Otherwise violate the provisions of this chapter or the

2-37  regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter; [and]

2-38      (c) Investigate any alleged occurrence of constructional fraud;

2-39  and

2-40      (d) Issue a misdemeanor citation prepared manually or

2-41  electronically pursuant to NRS 171.1773 to a person who violates a

2-42  provision of this chapter that is punishable as a misdemeanor. A

2-43  criminal investigator may request any constable, sheriff or other

2-44  peace officer to assist him in the issuance of such a citation.

 

3-1  Sec. 3.  NRS 624.335 is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-2  624.335  1.  The Investigations Office of the Board shall:

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

3-4  investigation of the complaint.

3-5  (b) Within 10 days after receiving such a complaint, notify the

3-6  licensee and, if known, the person making the complaint of the

3-7  initiation of the investigation, and provide a copy of the complaint

3-8  to the licensee.

3-9  (c) Upon the completion of its investigation of a complaint,

3-10  provide the licensee and, if known, the person making the complaint

3-11  with written notification of any action taken on the complaint and

3-12  the reasons for taking that action.

3-13      2.  The Investigations Office of the Board may attempt to

3-14  resolve the complaint by:

3-15      (a) Meeting and conferring with the licensee and the person

3-16  making the complaint; and

3-17      (b) Requesting the licensee to provide appropriate relief.

3-18      3.  If the subject matter of the complaint is not within the

3-19  jurisdiction of the Board, [or if the Board or the Investigations

3-20  Office is unable to resolve the complaint after exhausting all

3-21  reasonable remedies and methods of resolution,] the Board or its

3-22  designee [shall:] may:

3-23      (a) Forward the complaint, together with any evidence or other

3-24  information in the possession of the Board concerning the

3-25  complaint, to any public or private agency which, in the opinion of

3-26  the Board, would be effective in resolving the complaint; and

3-27      (b) Notify the person making the complaint of its action

3-28  pursuant to paragraph (a) and of any other procedures which may be

3-29  available to resolve the complaint.

3-30      Sec. 4.  NRS 624.470 is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-31      624.470  1.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, in

3-32  addition to the annual fee for a license required pursuant to NRS

3-33  624.280, a residential contractor shall pay to the Board an annual

3-34  assessment [in] not to exceed the following amount, if the monetary

3-35  limit on his license is:

 

3-36  Not more than $1,000,000............... $100

3-37  More than $1,000,000 but limited..... 250

3-38  Unlimited............................................. 500

 

3-39      2.  The Board shall administer and account separately for the

3-40  money received from the annual assessments collected pursuant to

3-41  subsection 1. The Board may refer to the money in the account as

3-42  the “Recovery Fund.”

4-1  3.  The Board shall [suspend the collection of] reduce the

4-2  amount of the assessments collected pursuant to subsection 1 when

4-3  the balance in the account reaches 150 percent of the largest balance

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

4-5  4.  Except as otherwise provided in NRS 624.540, the money in

4-6  the account must be used to pay claims made by owners who are

4-7  damaged by the failure of a residential contractor to perform

4-8  qualified services adequately, as provided in NRS 624.400 to

4-9  624.560, inclusive.

4-10      Sec. 5.  NRS 233B.130 is hereby amended to read as follows:

4-11      233B.130  1.  Any party who is:

4-12      (a) Identified as a party of record by an agency in an

4-13  administrative proceeding; and

4-14      (b) Aggrieved by a final decision in a contested case,

4-15  is entitled to judicial review of the decision. Where appeal is

4-16  provided within an agency, only the decision at the highest level is

4-17  reviewable unless a decision made at a lower level in the agency

4-18  is made final by statute. Any preliminary, procedural or intermediate

4-19  act or ruling by an agency in a contested case is reviewable if review

4-20  of the final decision of the agency would not provide an adequate

4-21  remedy.

4-22      2.  Petitions for judicial review must:

4-23      (a) Name as respondents the agency and all parties of record to

4-24  the administrative proceeding;

4-25      (b) Be instituted by filing a petition in the district court in and

4-26  for Carson City, in and for the county in which the aggrieved party

4-27  resides or in and for the county where the agency proceeding

4-28  occurred; and

4-29      (c) Be filed within 30 days after service of the final decision of

4-30  the agency.

4-31  Cross-petitions for judicial review must be filed within 10 days

4-32  after service of a petition for judicial review.

4-33      3.  The agency and any party desiring to participate in the

4-34  judicial review must file a statement of intent to participate in the

4-35  petition for judicial review and serve the statement upon the agency

4-36  and every party within 20 days after service of the petition.

4-37      4.  A petition for rehearing or reconsideration must be filed

4-38  within 15 days after the date of service of the final decision. An

4-39  order granting or denying the petition must be served on all parties

4-40  at least 5 days before the expiration of the time for filing the petition

4-41  for judicial review. If the petition is granted, the subsequent order

4-42  shall be deemed the final order for the purpose of judicial review.

4-43      5.  The petition for judicial review and any cross-petitions for

4-44  judicial review must be served upon the agency and every party

4-45  within 45 days after the filing of the petition, unless, upon a

5-1  showing of good cause, the district court extends the time for such

5-2  service. If the proceeding involves a petition for judicial review or

5-3  cross-petition for judicial review of a final decision of the State

5-4  Contractors’ Board, the district court may, on its own motion or

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

5-6  or person who:

5-7  (a) Is named as a party in the petition for judicial review or

5-8  cross-petition for judicial review; and

5-9  (b) Was not a party to the administrative proceeding for which

5-10  the petition for judicial review or cross-petition for judicial review

5-11  was filed.

5-12      6.  The provisions of this chapter are the exclusive means of

5-13  judicial review of, or judicial action concerning , a final decision in

5-14  a contested case involving an agency to which this chapter applies.

5-15      Sec. 6. NRS 289.300 is hereby amended to read as follows:

5-16      289.300  1.  A person employed as an investigator by the

5-17  Private Investigator’s Licensing Board pursuant to NRS 648.025 has

5-18  the powers of a peace officer.

5-19      2.  A person employed as a criminal investigator by the State

5-20  Contractors’ Board pursuant to NRS 624.112 has the powers of a

5-21  peace officer to carry out his duties pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS

5-22  624.115 . [, for the limited purpose of obtaining and exchanging

5-23  information on persons who hold a contractor’s license or are

5-24  applying for a contractor’s license.]

 

5-25  H