1. 1. An action may be brought by the department, or by the attorney general on his or her own volition or at the request of the department or any other appropriate state agency, to temporarily or permanently enjoin or restrain any violation of sections 198.003 to 198.096, to enjoin the acceptance of new residents until substantial compliance with sections 198.003 to 198.096 is achieved, or to enjoin any specific action or practice of the facility. Any action brought pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be placed at the head of the docket by the court, and the court shall hold a hearing on any action brought pursuant to the provisions of this section no less than fifteen days after the filing of the action.
2. 2. The department may bring an action in circuit court to recover a civil penalty against the licensed operator of the facility as provided by this section. Such action shall be brought in the circuit court for the county in which the facility is located. The circuit court shall determine the amount of penalty to be assessed within the limits set out in this section. Appeals may be taken from the judgment of the circuit court as in other civil cases.

3. 3. The operator of any facility which has been cited with a violation of sections 198.003 to 198.096 or the regulations established pursuant thereto, or of subsection (b), (c), or (d) of Section 1396r of Title 42 of the United States Code or the regulations established pursuant thereto, is liable to the state for civil penalties of up to ten thousand dollars for each day that the violations existed or continue* to exist. Violations shall be presumed to continue to exist from the time they are found until the time the division of aging finds them to have been corrected. The amount of the penalty shall be determined as follows:

   1. (1) For each violation of a class I standard, not less than one hundred fifty dollars nor more than one thousand dollars;
   2. (2) For each violation of a class II standard, not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars;
   3. (3) For each violation of a class III standard, not less than fifteen dollars nor more than one hundred fifty dollars;
   4. (4) For each violation of a federal standard which does not also constitute a violation of a state law or regulation, not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars;

   5. (5) For each specific class I violation by the same operator which has been cited within the past twenty-four months and for each specific class II or III violation by the same operator which has been cited within the past twelve months, double the amount last imposed.

      ­­­As used in this subdivision the term "violation" shall mean a breach of a specific state or federal standard or statute which remains uncorrected and not in accord with the accepted plan of correction at the time of the reinspection conducted pursuant to subsection 3 of section 198.026 or the regulations established pursuant to Title 42 of the United States Code. A judgment rendered against the operator of a facility pursuant to this subsection shall bear interest as provided in subsection 1 of section 408.040, RSMo.

4. 4. Any individual who willfully and knowingly certifies pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(B)(i) of Section 1396r of Title 42 of the United States Code a material and false statement in a resident assessment is subject to a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars with respect to each assessment. Any individual who willfully and knowingly causes another individual to certify pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(B)(i) of Section 1396r of Title 42 of the United States Code a material and false statement in a resident assessment is subject to a civil penalty of not more than five thousand dollars with respect to each assessment.
5. 5. The imposition of any remedy provided for in sections 198.003 to 198.186 shall not bar the imposition of any other remedy.
6. 6. Penalties collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the division of aging elderly home-delivered meals trust fund as established in section 660.078, RSMo. Such penalties shall not be considered a charitable contribution for tax purposes.
7. 7. To recover any civil penalty, the moving party shall prove by clear and convincing evidence that the violation occurred.
8. 8. The licensed operator of a facility against whom an action to recover civil penalty is brought pursuant to this section may confess judgment as provided in section 511.070, RSMo, at any time prior to hearing. If such licensed operator agrees to confess judgment, the amount of the civil penalty recommended by the moving party in its petition shall be reduced by twenty-five percent and the confessed judgment shall be entered by the circuit court at the reduced amount.
9. 9. The amount of any civil penalty assessed by the circuit court pursuant to this section shall be reduced by the amount of any civil monetary penalty which the licensed operator of the facility may establish it has paid pursuant to the laws of the United States for the breach of the same federal standards for which the state action is brought.
10. 10. In addition to the civil penalties specified in subdivision (1) of subsection 3 of this section, any facility which is cited with a violation of a class I standard pursuant to subsection 1 of section 198.085, when such violation results in serious physical injury or abuse of a sexual nature pursuant to subdivision (1) of section 198.006, to any resident of that facility shall be liable to the state for a civil penalty of one hundred dollars multiplied by the number of beds licensed to the facility, up to a maximum of ten thousand dollars pursuant to subsections 1 and 2 of this section. The liability of the facility for civil penalties pursuant to this section shall be incurred immediately upon the citation of the violation and shall not be affected by any subsequent correction of the violation. For the purposes of this section, "serious physical injury" means physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes serious disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any part of the body.

(L. 1979 S.B. 328, et al. § 22, A.L. 1989 S.B. 203 & 270, A.L. 1996 H.B. 781, A.L. 1999 H.B. 316, et al. merged with S.B. 326)

* Word “continues” appears in original rolls.