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Business Taxes Law Guide—Revision 2024
California Cigarette Fire Safety and Firefighter Protection Act
Health and Safety Code
Division 12. Fires and Fire Protection
Part 8. Cigarettes
Section 14955
14955. Penalties. (a) A manufacturer or any other person or entity that knowingly sells or offers to sell cigarettes other than through retail sale in violation of this part is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each sale.
(b) A retailer, distributor, or wholesaler that knowingly sells or offers to sell cigarettes in violation of this part shall be subject to the following:
(1) A civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for each sale or offer for sale in which the total number of cigarettes sold or offered for sale does not exceed 50 packages of cigarettes.
(2) A civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each sale or offer for sale in which the total number of cigarettes sold or offered for sale exceeds 50 packages of cigarettes.
(c) The civil penalties imposed pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be deposited in the Cigarette Fire Safety and Firefighter Protection Fund.
(d) In addition to any other penalty prescribed by law, any corporation, partnership, sole proprietor, limited partnership, or association engaged in the manufacture of cigarettes that knowingly makes a false certification pursuant to Section 14953 is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each false certification.
(e) A person who violates any other provision in this part is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each violation. Any cigarettes that have been sold or offered for sale that do not comply with the performance standard required by Section 14952 shall be deemed contraband per se and subject to seizure and disposal by the department or a law enforcement agency.
(f) The Attorney General may bring an action on behalf of the people of the state to restrain further violations of this part and for any other relief that may be appropriate. In any action by the Attorney General to enforce this act, the Attorney General shall be entitled to recover costs of investigation, expert witness fees, costs of the action, and reasonable attorney's fees.
(g) It is a defense in any action for civil penalties that a distributor, wholesaler, retailer, or a person in the stream of commerce relied in good faith on the manufacturer's certificate or marking that the cigarettes comply with this part.
History—Stats. 2018, Ch. 613 (SB 1408), in effect January 1, 2019, substituted "A" for "Any" before "manufacturer or any other person" in subdivision (a); substituted "A" for "Any" before "retailer, distributor, or" in subdivision (b); deleted "of this section" after "subdivisions (a) and (b)" in subdivision (c); substituted "A" for "Any" before "person who violates", substituted "who violates" for "violating" after "A person", added "per se" after "shall be deemed contraband", and substituted "department" for "board" after "seizure and disposal by the", in subdivision (e); substituted "a" for "any" after "distributor, wholesaler, retailer, or" and deleted "the requirements of" after "cigarettes comply with" in subdivision (g). Stats. 2019, Ch. 497 (AB 991), in effect January 1, 2020, substituted "is" for "shall be" in subdivisions (d), (e), and (g); and substituted "penalties" for "penalties," after "in any action for civil" in subdivision (g).