Food and Agricultural Code section 56631
(a)
Except as specified in Section 56632, any misdemeanor which is prescribed in this article is punishable by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) or more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.(b)
For a violation of the offense described in subdivision (a), the department may recover investigative costs, excluding attorneys’ fees and administrative overhead, for those charges where there has been a conviction in a court of law, or a court-supervised settlement has been reached. Nothing in this section allows the department to recover investigative costs for an administrative licensing action or any action that has not been filed in a court of law.(c)
Any person or entity responsible for investigative costs under this section shall be allowed to audit the department’s investigative costs. The audit must be performed by a third-party certified public accountant and paid for by the person or entity requesting the audit. The department shall promulgate regulations to implement this subdivision by June 1, 2002.
Source:
Section 56631, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=FAC§ionNum=56631. (accessed Apr. 24, 2025).