(1) In any civil action or investigation resulting from a transaction involving a violation of the provisions of this part, except as provided in subsection (3), the department shall receive reasonable attorney’s fees and costs from the nonprevailing party.
(2) Any award of attorney’s fees or costs shall become a part of the judgment and subject to execution as the law allows.
(3) In any civil litigation initiated by the department resulting in a judgment or administrative order, the court may award to the prevailing party reasonable attorney’s fees and costs if the court finds that there was a complete absence of a justiciable issue of either law or fact raised by the losing party or if the court finds bad faith on the part of the losing party.
(4) The attorney for the prevailing party shall submit a sworn affidavit of his or her time spent on the case and his or her costs incurred.
History.—ss. 1, 2, ch. 91-237; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 641, ch. 97-103.