CSHB 145(JUD): "An Act relating to a civil remedy available to the state or a municipality against persons who make false claims for, or certain misrepresentations regarding, state or municipal money or other property; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 145(JUD) 01 "An Act relating to a civil remedy available to the state or a municipality against 02 persons who make false claims for, or certain misrepresentations regarding, state or 03 municipal money or other property; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 36.30.687(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) A person who makes or uses, in support of a contract claim under this 07 chapter, a misrepresentation, or who practices or attempts to practice a fraud, at any 08 stage of proceedings relating to a procurement or contract controversy under this 09 chapter 10 (1) forfeits all claims relating to that procurement or contract; and 11 (2) is liable to the state for a false claim as provided in AS 37.10.090 12 [REIMBURSEMENT OF ALL SUMS PAID ON THE CLAIM, FOR ALL COSTS 13 ATTRIBUTABLE TO REVIEW OF THE CLAIM, AND FOR A CIVIL PENALTY 14 EQUAL TO THE AMOUNT BY WHICH THE CLAIM IS MISREPRESENTED].
01 * Sec. 2. AS 37.10.090 is repealed and reenacted to read: 02 Sec. 37.10.090. False claims and misrepresentation against state or 03 municipality. (a) A person is civilly liable to the state or a municipality in 04 accordance with the provisions of this section if the person commits any of the 05 following acts: 06 (1) knowingly presents or causes to be presented to an officer or 07 employee of the state or of a municipality a false claim for payment or approval by the 08 state or municipality; 09 (2) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used a false record 10 or statement to get a false claim paid or approved by the state or a municipality; 11 (3) conspires to defraud the state or a municipality by getting a false 12 claim allowed or paid by the state or municipality; 13 (4) has possession, custody, or control of public property or money 14 used or to be used by the state or a municipality and knowingly delivers or causes to 15 be delivered less money or property than the amount for which the person receives a 16 document certifying receipt; 17 (5) is authorized to make or deliver a document certifying receipt of 18 property used or to be used by the state or a municipality and knowingly makes or 19 delivers a receipt that falsely represents the property used or to be used; 20 (6) knowingly buys or receives as a pledge of an obligation or a debt 21 property of the state or a municipality from a person who may not lawfully sell or 22 pledge the property; 23 (7) knowingly makes, uses, or causes to be made or used a false record 24 or statement to conceal, avoid, or decrease an obligation to pay or transmit money or 25 property to the state or a municipality; or 26 (8) is a beneficiary of an inadvertent submission of a false claim to the 27 state or a municipality, subsequently discovers the falsity of the claim, and fails to 28 disclose the false claim to the state or the municipality within a reasonable time after 29 discovery of the false claim. 30 (b) If civil liability is found under (a) of this section, the person is liable to the 31 state or municipality for the following:
01 (1) except as provided in (c) of this section, three times the amount of 02 the damages that the state or municipality sustained because of the act of that person; 03 (2) a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each act for which liability is 04 found under (a) of this section; 05 (3) attorney fees and costs, awarded in accordance with the Alaska 06 Rules of Civil Procedure, to recover amounts under (1) and (2) of this subsection. 07 (c) The court may reduce the amount of damages under (b)(1) of this section 08 and may waive entirely the civil penalties under (b)(2) of this section if the standards 09 set out in this subsection are met. To be eligible for reduction or waiver, the person 10 must prove, and the court must find, all of the following: 11 (1) the person committing an act described in (a) of this section 12 furnished officials of the state or of the municipality responsible for investigating 13 violations of this section with all information known to that person about the violation 14 within 30 days after the date on which the person first obtained the information; 15 (2) the person fully cooperated with any investigation by the state or a 16 municipality; and 17 (3) at the time the person furnished the state or the municipality with 18 information, a criminal prosecution, civil action, or administrative action had not 19 started, and the person did not have actual knowledge of the existence of an 20 investigation. 21 (d) Liability under this section is joint and several for an act committed by two 22 or more persons. 23 (e) Except as provided in (g) of this section, the remedies provided under this 24 section are in addition to any other remedies provided by law. 25 (f) This section does not apply to a controversy involving an amount or value 26 of less than $500. 27 (g) This section does not apply to claims, records, or statements made to 28 present or support a claim under 29 (1) AS 23.20 (Alaska Employment Security Act); 30 (2) AS 23.30 (Alaska Workers' Compensation Act); 31 (3) AS 43 (revenue and taxation);
01 (4) AS 47.25 (public assistance); or 02 (5) AS 47.27 (Alaska temporary assistance program). 03 * Sec. 3. AS 37.10 is amended by adding new sections to read: 04 Sec. 37.10.092. Limitation of actions; standard of proof. (a) A civil action 05 under AS 37.10.090 may not be filed more than six years after the date of discovery 06 by the official of the state or municipality charged with responsibility to act in the 07 circumstances or, in any event, not more than 10 years after the date on which the act 08 giving rise to civil liability under AS 37.10.090 was committed. 09 (b) In an action brought under AS 37.10.090, the state or a municipality is 10 required to prove all essential elements of the cause of action, including damages, by a 11 preponderance of the evidence. 12 (c) A guilty verdict rendered in a criminal proceeding charging false 13 statements or fraud, whether upon a verdict after trial or upon a plea of guilty, estops 14 the defendant from denying the essential elements of the offense in a civil action 15 brought under AS 37.10.090 that involves the same activity as in the criminal 16 proceeding. 17 Sec. 37.10.094. Action by attorney general or municipal attorney. (a) The 18 attorney general shall investigate acts giving rise to civil liability under AS 37.10.090 19 involving state money or property. If the attorney general finds that a person has 20 committed or is committing any of the acts covered by AS 37.10.090, the attorney 21 general may bring a civil action under AS 37.10.090 against that person. If the 22 attorney general brings a civil action under AS 37.10.090 that involves municipal 23 money or property as well as state money or property, the attorney general shall, on 24 the same date that the complaint is filed in that action, provide a copy of the complaint 25 to the appropriate prosecuting authority of the municipality. 26 (b) The prosecuting authority of a municipality shall investigate acts giving 27 rise to civil liability under AS 37.10.090 involving municipal money or property. If 28 the prosecuting authority of the municipality finds that a person has committed or is 29 committing any of the acts covered by AS 37.10.090, the prosecuting authority may 30 bring a civil action under AS 37.10.090 against that person. If the prosecuting 31 authority brings a civil action under AS 37.10.090 that involves state money or
01 property as well as municipal money or property, the prosecuting authority shall, on 02 the same date that the complaint is filed in that action, provide a copy of the complaint 03 to the attorney general. Within 60 days after receiving the complaint, the attorney 04 general shall do one of the following: 05 (1) notify the court that the attorney general intends to proceed with 06 the action, in which case the attorney general shall assume primary responsibility for 07 conducting the action and the prosecuting authority of the municipality may continue 08 as a party; 09 (2) notify the court that the attorney general declines to proceed with 10 the action, in which case the prosecuting authority of the municipality may conduct 11 the action; notwithstanding AS 37.10.090, if the attorney general declines to proceed 12 with the action, the attorney general may authorize the prosecuting authority of the 13 municipality to assume lead responsibility for conducting the action for any state 14 money or property remaining in the action. 15 (c) If an action brought under AS 37.10.090 involves both state and municipal 16 money or property, any damages and civil penalties awarded shall be shared by the 17 state and the municipality after deducting and reimbursing the costs of recovery 18 incurred by the parties not covered by the award of costs and fees. Unless the state 19 and municipality agree otherwise, the share of each is determined according to the 20 proportion of the money or property of each involved to the total money or property 21 involved in the action. 22 * Sec. 4. AS 37.10 is amended by adding a new section to article 4 to read: 23 Sec. 37.10.190. Definitions. In AS 37.10.090 - 37.10.190, unless the context 24 requires otherwise, 25 (1) "controversy" means any one or more acts committed by the same 26 person in violation of AS 37.10.090, either singly or in the aggregate; 27 (2) "municipality" includes a school district; in this paragraph, "school 28 district" does not include a regional educational attendance area; 29 (3) "state" means a state agency or administrative unit, whether in the 30 legislative, judicial, or executive branch, and includes the University of Alaska, the 31 Alaska Railroad Corporation, a regional educational attendance area, and any public or
01 quasi-public corporation, board, or commission of the state. 02 * Sec. 5. AS 36.30.687(c) and AS 37.10.100 are repealed. 03 * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).