A. The attorney general may, on behalf of the state, examine and investigate any charitable organization subject to the Charitable Solicitations Act to ascertain the conditions of its affairs and to what extent, if at all, it fails to comply with the trusts that it has assumed or if it has departed from the purposes for which it was formed. In the case of failure or departure, the attorney general may institute, in the name of the state, a proceeding necessary to correct the noncompliance or departure by any remedy available under the common law.
B. The attorney general may, in the name of the state, seek injunctive relief, civil penalties, financial accounting or restitution from any person who has failed to comply with the registration, filing or disclosure provisions of the Charitable Solicitations Act or who has otherwise violated the provisions of that act.
C. The attorney general, in the name of the state, may initiate appropriate proceedings to seek compliance with the provisions of the Charitable Solicitations Act and with any rules promulgated by the attorney general pursuant to that act. The attorney general may promulgate rules for the proper administration of that act.
D. Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude a person or group of persons from asserting a private cause of action against a charitable organization or professional fundraiser.
History: Laws 1983, ch. 140, § 9; 1999, ch. 124, § 9.
ANNOTATIONSThe 1999 amendment, effective July 1, 1999, rewrote Subsection B; in Subsection C, deleted "and regulations duly" preceding "promulgated", substituted "pursuant to that act" for thereunder", and added the final sentence; In Subsection D, deleted "they might have" following "cause of action", and added "or professional fundraiser"; and throughout the section, substituted "may" for "is authorized", deleted "Organizations and" following "Charitable", and made stylistic changes.
Authority to investigate and enforce are separate. — The attorney general's authority to investigate possible violations of the Charitable Solicitations Act, and in that capacity, to issue civil investigative demands and its authority to enforce the act are two separate powers and functions. The Coulston Found. v. Madrid, 2004-NMCA-060, 135 N.M.667, 92 P.3d 679.