The attorney general or any county attorney may institute a civil action in the name of the state in the district court to revoke, deny or suspend for a period of time the license on the ground that the licensee has violated a provision of Laws 1981, chapter 333, sections 1 to 17. For this purpose, the attorney general or county attorney shall be invested with the additional powers contained in section 8.31. It is no defense to the action that the state has adequate remedies at law.