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Alaska Statutes.

Title 45. Trade and Commerce

Chapter 50. Competitive Practices, Regulation of Competition, and Consumer Protection

Section 592. Investigatory Demand For Documentary Evidence.

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AS 45.50.592. Investigatory Demand For Documentary Evidence.

(a) If the attorney general determines that a person is in possession, custody, or control of a documentary evidence, wherever situated, that the attorney general believes to be relevant to an investigation authorized in AS 45.50.590 , the attorney general may execute in writing and cause to be served upon that person an investigative demand requiring the person to produce the documentary material and permit inspection and copying.

(b) Each demand must

(1) state the specific statute the alleged violation of which is under investigation, and the general subject matter of the investigation;

(2) describe, with reasonable specificity so as fairly to indicate the material demanded, the documentary material to be produced;

(3) prescribe a return date within which the documentary material is to be produced; and

(4) identify the state employees or representatives to whom the documentary material is to be made available for inspection and copying.

(c) A demand may not

(1) require the production of documentary material that would be privileged from disclosure if demanded by a subpoena duces tecum issued by a court of the state; or

(2) contain a requirement that would be unreasonable or improper if contained in a subpoena duces tecum issued by a court of the state; however, this does not limit the power of the attorney general to require production of documents located outside the state that pertain to matters affecting the state.

(d) The demand may be served by the attorney general or the designee of the attorney general by

(1) delivering a copy of it to the person to be served, or, if the person is not a natural person, to an officer of the person to be served;

(2) delivering a copy of it to a place of business in the state of the person to be served; or

(3) mailing by registered or certified mail a copy of it addressed to the person to be served at a place of business in the state, or, if the person has no place of business in the state, to principal office or place of business of the person.

(e) Documentary material produced pursuant to a demand, or copies of it, unless otherwise ordered by a superior court for good cause shown, may not be produced for inspection or copying by, nor may its contents be disclosed to, anyone other than an authorized employee of the state without the consent of the person who produced the material. However, under those reasonable terms and conditions the attorney general prescribes, copies of the documentary material shall be available for inspection and copying by the person who produced the material or an authorized representative of that person. The attorney general, or a designee, may use copies of the documentary material as the attorney general or designee considers necessary in the enforcement of AS 45.50.562 - 45.50.598, including presentation before a court; however, material that contains trade secrets may not be presented except with the approval of the court in which the action is pending after adequate notice to the person furnishing the material.

(f) At any time before the return date specified in the demand, or within 20 days after the demand has been served, whichever period is shorter, a petition to extend the return date for, or to modify or set aside a demand issued under (a) of this section, stating good cause, may be filed in the superior court for the judicial district where the parties reside. A petition by a person on whom a demand is served, stating good cause, to require the attorney general or another person to act in accordance with the requirements of (e) of this section, and all other petitions in connection with a demand, may be filed in the superior court for the judicial district in which the person on whom the demand is served resides.

(g) A person upon whom a demand is served under this section shall comply with the terms of the demand unless otherwise provided by an order of court issued in response to a petition filed under (f) of this section. A person who, with intent to avoid, prevent, or obstruct compliance, in whole or in part, with an investigative demand under this section, removes from any place, conceals, withholds, or destroys, mutilates, alters, or by any other means falsifies, a documentary material in the possession, custody, or control of a person which is the subject of a demand duly served upon any person, or who otherwise wilfully disobeys any such demand, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is punishable upon conviction by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or by both. Failure of the state to serve the demand properly under (d) of this section is a defense to prosecution under this subsection, but invalidity of the demand under (b) or (c) of this section is not a defense, and that invalidity may be tested only in an action under (f) of this section to modify or set aside the demand.

(h) Nothing in this section impairs the authority of the attorney general or a designee to lay before a grand jury of this state evidence concerning a violation of AS 45.50.562 - 45.50.596, to invoke the power of a court to compel the production of evidence before a grand jury, or to file a civil complaint or criminal information alleging a violation of AS 45.50.562 - 45.50.596.