Sec. 33. (a) The department shall investigate a report of an unlicensed group home and report the department’s findings to the attorney general and to the local office and the prosecuting attorney in the county where the group home is located.

     (b) The attorney general or the department 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 group home if there is reasonable cause to believe that the group home is operating without a license required under this article.

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

     (c) An opportunity for an informal meeting with the department shall be available after injunctive relief is ordered under subsection (b)(2).

     (d) The civil penalties collected under this section shall be deposited in the department of child services child care fund established by IC 31-25-2-16.

As added by P.L.145-2006, SEC.273. Amended by P.L.1-2007, SEC.204; P.L.128-2012, SEC.128.