A. The administration of the provisions of this Act shall be vested in the Securities Commissioner. It shall be the duty of the Securities Commissioner and the Attorney General to see that its provisions are at all times obeyed and to take such measures and to make such investigations as will prevent or detect the violation of any provision thereof. The Commissioner shall at once lay before the District or County Attorney of the proper county any evidence which shall come to his knowledge of criminality under this Act. In the event of the neglect or refusal of such attorney to institute and prosecute such violation, the Commissioner shall submit such evidence to the Attorney General, who is hereby authorized to proceed therein with all the rights, privileges and powers conferred by law upon district or county attorneys, including the power to appear before grand juries and to interrogate witnesses before such grand juries.

B. Subject to Subsection E of this section, the Board may provide assistance to a county or district attorney who requests assistance in a criminal prosecution involving an alleged violation of this Act that is referred by the Board to the attorney under Subsection A of this section.

C. Before referring a case to a county or district attorney for prosecution as required by Subsection A of this section, the Commissioner shall make a determination of:

(1) the potential resources of the Board, including the number and types of Board employees, that would be needed to assist in the prosecution of the case; and

(2) the availability of Board employees and other resources necessary to carry out any request for assistance.

D. The Board by rule shall establish a process to enable the Commissioner to determine whether to provide any requested assistance to the appropriate prosecuting attorney following referral of a case under Subsection A of this section and, if so, the appropriate amount of such assistance. The rules must require the Commissioner to consider:

(1) whether resources are available after taking into account any ongoing Board investigations, investigations under Section 28 of this Act, and criminal prosecutions for which assistance is being provided;

(2) the seriousness of the alleged violation or violations in the case, including the severity of the harm and number of victims involved; and

(3) the state's interest in the prosecution of a particular case and the availability of other methods of redress for the alleged violations, including the pursuit of a civil action.

E. In response to a request for assistance under Subsection B of this section, the Board may provide only those Board employees or resources, if any, determined to be available for that case in accordance with Subsection C of this section. If a change in circumstances occurs after the time of the determination under Subsection C of this section, the Commissioner may reconsider the Commissioner's determination under that subsection and may increase or reduce the number of Board employees or other resources to be made available for a case using the process established under Subsection D of this section.

F. The Attorney General, at least biennially, shall review a sample of criminal cases for which the Board provided requested assistance to county or district attorneys under this section. The review must include an evaluation of the pre-referral determination of available resources to support each case being reviewed as required by Subsection C of this section and any subsequent determination of those resources made by the Commissioner as authorized under Subsection E of this section. The Attorney General may report any concerns the Attorney General has in connection with the Board's provision of assistance to the standing committee of each house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over Board matters.

Acts 1957, 55th Leg., p. 575, ch. 269, Sec. 3.

Amended by:

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 772 (H.B. 1535), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2019.

Text of article effective until January 01, 2022