11-11-204. Director and division — Powers and duties.

11-11-204. Director and division — Powers and duties. (a) It shall be the duty of the Division of Labor, and it shall have the power, jurisdiction, and authority to administer and enforce the provisions of this subchapter. (b) The Director of the Division of Labor shall have the power, jurisdiction, and authority to issue licenses to employment agencies, agency managers, and counselors and to refuse to issue, revoke, or suspend the licenses when, after due investigation, and in compliance with the procedures set forth in §§ 11-11-221 and 11-11-222, the director finds that the applicant is for good and sufficient cause unfit to be an employment agent, agency manager, or counselor within the meaning of this subchapter or any rules or orders lawfully promulgated under this subchapter. (c)(1) Complaints against any person, employment agent, agency manager, or counselor may be made to the division orally or in writing. (2) The director shall have the power to compel attendance of witnesses by issuance of subpoenas, administer oaths, direct production of documents and records, and direct taking of testimony and evidence concerning all matters within the jurisdiction of the division. (3) The director may order testimony to be taken by deposition in any proceeding pending before the division at any stage of the proceeding. (4) The director or his or her duly authorized agent shall at all reasonable times have access to, for the purpose of examination and copying, the books, records, papers, and documents of any person being investigated or proceeded against under the provisions of this subchapter, so long as the books, records, papers, or documents sought to be inspected or copied are reasonably related to the investigation or proceeding being conducted by the director. (5) The director or his or her authorized agent shall, upon application of any party to proceedings before the director, issue to the party subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses or the production of any books, records, papers, or documents reasonably related to issues involved in proceedings before the director or an investigation conducted by the director. (6) If any person in proceedings before the director or in investigations conducted by the director disobeys or resists any lawful order or process issued by the director or his or her authorized agents, or fails to produce, after being lawfully directed to do so, any book, paper, record, or document, or refuses to appear and testify after being subpoenaed to do so, the director shall certify the facts to any court of competent jurisdiction in the state or to the Pulaski County Circuit Court. (7) The court shall have authority to conduct hearings and punish any person for failure or refusal to testify or produce books, papers, documents, or records subpoenaed or ordered by the director as though the conduct constituted contempt of court. (8) Witnesses summoned by the director or his or her authorized agent shall be paid the same fees and mileage paid to witnesses in the courts of this state. (d)(1) The director may prescribe such rules for the conduct of the business of private employment agencies as necessary to implement this subchapter. (2) These rules shall have the force and effect of law and shall be enforced by the director in the same manner as the provisions of this subchapter. (3) Adoption of rules pursuant to this subsection shall be carried out in compliance with the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq. (e) The division shall have authority to investigate employment agents, agency managers, and counselors. The division shall have the right to examine records required by law to be kept and maintained by employment agents, agency managers, and counselors and to examine the offices where the business is or shall be conducted by them. (f) The division may seek to recover in a court of competent jurisdiction fees charged or collected in violation of this subchapter.