Nev. Rev. Stat. § 370.595 — Suspension or revocation of license; civil penalties; powers and duties of Department

NRS  370.595    Suspension or revocation of license; civil penalties; powers and
duties of Department.
1.  After notice to the licensee and a
hearing as prescribed by the Department, the Department may suspend or revoke
the license of a licensee who:
(a) Fails to file a report or certification
required by this chapter or files an incomplete or inaccurate report or
certification required by this chapter;
(b) Fails to pay any tax owed upon cigarettes or
other tobacco products required by this chapter;
(c) Is licensed as a wholesale dealer of
cigarettes and fails to cure any shortfall for which the wholesale dealer of
cigarettes is liable pursuant to NRS 370.683 ;
(d) Sells in this State, purchases or possesses
any cigarettes, cigarette packages or other tobacco products in violation of
any provision of this chapter;
(e) Imports into or exports from this State any
cigarettes, cigarette packages or other tobacco products in violation of any
provision of this chapter; or
(f) Otherwise violates, or causes or permits to
be violated, the provisions of this chapter or any regulation adopted
thereunder.
2.  Except as otherwise provided by
subsection 4, the Department, upon a finding that the licensee has knowingly or
negligently failed to comply with any provision of this chapter or any
regulation adopted by the Commission, may:
(a) Impose on the licensee a civil penalty
pursuant to NRS 370.523 ;
(b) In the case of a first violation of a
provision of this chapter or any regulation adopted by the Commission, suspend
the license of the licensee for not more than 60 consecutive calendar days;
(c) In the case of a second or subsequent
violation of the same provision of this chapter or any regulation adopted by
the Commission, suspend the license of the licensee for not more than 180
consecutive calendar days or permanently revoke the license of the licensee; or
(d) Take any combination of the actions
authorized by paragraphs (a), (b) and (c).
3.  A person whose license has been
suspended or revoked shall not purchase or sell cigarettes or other tobacco
products or permit cigarettes or other tobacco products to be sold during the
period of suspension or revocation:
(a) On the premises in this State occupied or
controlled by the person; or
(b) From any premises located outside this State
if the cigarettes or other tobacco products are purchased or sold for
distribution in this State.
4.  The expiration, transfer, surrender,
continuance, renewal or extension of a license issued pursuant to this chapter
does not bar or abate any disciplinary proceedings or action.
5.  The Department shall permanently revoke
the license of any licensee who knowingly or negligently:
(a) Sells or otherwise disposes of cigarettes or
other tobacco products that are in the constructive possession of the
Department; or
(b) Is convicted of any felony relating to the
manufacture, distribution or sale of cigarettes or other tobacco products.
6.  In determining the penalty to be
imposed on a licensee for a violation of paragraph (a) of subsection 1, the
Department shall consider:
(a) The documented reporting and discipline
record of the licensee with the Department from the immediately preceding 24
months;
(b) The timeliness of the licensee in correcting
any inaccurate information included in a report or certification required by
this chapter;
(c) The efforts of the licensee to provide an
explanation of the reason for any inaccurate information included in a report
or certification required by this chapter or the basis for the omission of
information from such a report or certification;
(d) If a report or certification is inaccurate
because of a variance between the inventory of cigarettes provided in the
report or certification and the actual inventory of cigarettes, the quantity of
the variance, the materiality of the variance and the extent to which the
licensee accounts for the variance by brand or by whether tax has been paid on
the cigarettes;
(e) Any remedial measures initiated by the
licensee to prevent future violations of a similar nature; and
(f) Any other mitigating factors offered by the
licensee or aggravating or mitigating factors identified by the Department.
7.  For the purposes of this section, a
report or certification required by this chapter is:
(a) Inaccurate if the report or certification
does not correctly record factual information or there is a discrepancy in the
information included in the report and the factual information.
(b) Incomplete if the report or certification
does not include all necessary or responsive information.