Sec. 29. (a) The division shall investigate a report of an unlicensed child care center and report the division’s findings to the attorney general and to the division’s attorney and the prosecuting attorney in the county where the child care center is located.

     (b) The attorney general or the division’s attorney may do the following:

(1) Seek the issuance of a search warrant to assist in the investigation.

(2) File an action for injunctive relief to stop the operation of a child care center if there is reasonable cause to believe that:

(A) the child care center is operating without a license required under this article; or

(B) a licensee’s noncompliance with this article and the rules adopted under this article creates an imminent danger of serious bodily injury to a child or an imminent danger to the health of a child.

(3) Seek in a civil action a civil penalty not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100) a day for each day a child care center is operating without a license required under this article.

     (c) The division may provide for the removal of children from child care centers described in subsection (b).

     (d) An opportunity for an informal meeting with the division shall be available after the injunctive relief is ordered.

     (e) The civil penalties collected under this section shall be deposited in the division of family resources child care fund established by IC 12-17.2-2-3.

     (f) Section 34 of this chapter does not apply to the civil penalties imposed under this section.

As added by P.L.1-1993, SEC.141. Amended by P.L.145-2006, SEC.98; P.L.1-2007, SEC.123.