JAMES T. FLEMING, Commissioner
Edwin R. Rodriguez, Deputy Commissioner
Established - 1959
Statutory
authority - CGS Chap. 416,
Section 21a-1
Central
office - 165 Capitol Avenue,
Hartford,
CT 06106
Average number
of employees - 190 (All Funds)
Recurring
operating expenses - $13,015,910
Transportation
Fund Receipts Deposited $ 934,790
Business
Office: provides financial
and administrative support services such as budgeting, accounting, accounts
payable/receivable, payroll and procurement.
Consumer
Education: proactively provides
consumers with information helping them protect themselves and provides
educational seminars on issues such as the prevention of underage drinking and
playground safety.
Communications: keeps the public alerted through the media
to marketplace fraud, food and product recalls and the Agency's legal actions
by providing information to the media.
Also provides support to the Commissioner for research on emerging
issues or problems.
Drug Control
Division: enforces laws concerning the manufacture, sale and distribution
of all controlled substances and the adulteration and/or misbranding of all
drugs, cosmetics and medical devices.
Food &
Standards: oversees food safety and labeling and ensures accuracy of all
weights and measures of food, fuels and other consumer commodities by regular
inspections as well as inspections of accidents and other emergency sites. The Measurement Laboratory is the only
metrology certification laboratory in the State.
Human
Resources: administers all personnel, labor relations and affirmative
action activities.
Information
Systems Unit: provides information technology support to the agency. Our IT system also allows consumers to
obtain information on CT laws, file a complaint, download rosters and utilize
many other services.
Legal Staff: handles
the Agency's legal business, drafts legislative proposals and regulations, and
conducts compliance meetings and administrative hearings.
License
Services: processes 171,000 licenses, registrations and permits in 192
categories.
Liquor
Control: conducts inspections of licensed liquor establishments,
investigates new liquor applicants for suitability, conducts investigations
into complaints of violations of state liquor regulations and laws, works in a
collaborative manner with local, state and federal law enforcement officers,
provides training on state liquor laws and regulations
Public
Charities Unit: Registers professional
fund-raisers and profiles charitable organizations to protect the public from
charity fraud.
Trade
Practices: Investigates violations of law involving Connecticut’s Unfair
Trade Practices Act, Itinerant Vendors, Health Clubs, Closing Out Sales,
Product Safety, Home Improvement and New Home Construction. Also, enforces the provisions of the New
Car Warranty Act, known as “Lemon Law”.
Provides a consumer complaint center handling written complaints and
managing a consumer “hotline”.
Occupational
and Professional Licensing: oversees occupational,
professional, athletic, real estate and appraisal applications for licensure,
investigates violations and consumer complaints and assists 16 State Licensing
Boards and Commissions.
Enforcement
Operations: The Chief of Enforcement Operations oversees the enforcement
components of the Drug Control, Food and Standards, and Liquor Control
Divisions to ensure efficiency, to coordinate planning and budgeting, and to
promote utilization of new technologies for the highest level of efficiency.
The Department of Consumer Protection is dedicated to
ensuring a safe and equitable marketplace, and safe products and services for
consumers in the industries that we license, regulate and enforce. It is the first line of defense against
fraud and product hazards. The Agency
accomplishes its goals by; enforcing laws governing critical consumer products,
services and transactions; by administering guarantee funds and bringing legal
actions to obtain consumer restitution; by licensing more than 192 trades,
professions and business entities to ensure that license holders are qualified
to offer their services; and by helping prevent problems with continuing
communications and consumer education.
The Department is firmly committed to the
principles and objectives of equal employment opportunity for all
individuals. The Department's full-time
Affirmative Action Officer coordinates and monitors the Agency's programs and
ensures compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Fair
Employment Practices Act, Affirmative Action regulations and Contract
Compliance laws.
In FY 2002-2003, 49
percent of the Agency's employees were female and 51 percent were male, with
the following composition: 75 white, 15 percent black, 7 percent Hispanic, two
percent Asian and one percent Indian.
The Department's Affirmative Action plan has been approved by the CT
Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
The Agency had a banner year protecting
consumers. Some highlights:
·
Established
the State’s first full-scale online license renewal system. In the first year, 8,500 licensee’s renewed
their respective credentials online using the Department’s new e-commerce
website. The total fees collected from
online renewals were $1,081,330.
·
Provided
training to more than four hundred law enforcement officers on state liquor
laws and regulations, with special emphasis on sales to minors and intoxicated
persons.
·
A
major sting operation in Bristol netted seventy-one home improvement
contractors found in violation of the law.
·
Lemon
Law Program returned over five million dollars to consumers through
manufacturer’s compliance of arbitration awards.
·
Received
and implemented an Innovative Food Safety Grant from the FDA related to cider
and juice production.
·
Enrolled
in the FDA’s Program Standards Program for food safety inspection and completed
an initial baseline of inspections related to food safety risk factors in DCP
regulated food establishments.
·
Two
major undercover drug control operations, in cooperation with other agencies,
resulted in the arrest of a Bridgeport physician accused of illegally
prescribing Oxycontin to addicts and of being the leading prescriber of the
drug to Medicaid patients, and the arrest of a New Britain physician accused of
illegally prescribing controlled substances.