§ 42-35.1-5. Small business enforcement ombudsman. (a) The director of the department of business regulation shall designate an existing staff member as a "small business regulatory enforcement ombudsman," who shall report to the director of business regulation.

(b) The ombudsman shall:

(1) Work with each agency with regulatory authority over small businesses to ensure that small business concerns that receive or are subject to an audit, on-site inspection, compliance assistance effort, or other enforcement related communication or contact by agency personnel are provided with a means to comment on the enforcement activity conducted by such personnel;

(2) Establish means to receive comments from small business concerns regarding actions by agency employees conducting compliance or enforcement activities;

(3) Within six (6) months of appointment, work with each regulating entity to develop and publish reporting policies;

(4) Based on substantiated comments received from small business concerns, the ombudsman shall annually report to the general assembly and affected agencies evaluating the enforcement activities of agency personnel, including a rating of the responsiveness of the regulatory agencies policies;

(5) Coordinate and report annually on the activities, findings, and recommendations to the general assembly and the directors of affected agencies; and

(6) Provide the affected agency with an opportunity to comment on reports prepared pursuant to this chapter, and include a section of the final report in which the affected agency may make such comments as are not addressed by the ombudsman.

History of Section. (P.L. 2009, ch. 229, § 1; P.L. 2009, ch. 230, § 1; P.L. 2014, ch. 145, art. 14, § 5; P.L. 2019, ch. 88, art. 4, § 16.)