Department of Consumer Protection
At a Glance
EDWIN R. RODRIGUEZ, Commissioner
Jerry Farrell, Jr., Deputy
Commissioner
Established - 1959
Statutory authority - CGS Chap. 416, Section 21a-1
Central office - 165 Capitol Avenue,
Hartford, CT 06106
Average number of employees - 172 (All Funds)
Recurring operating expenses - $ 12,642,673
General Fund Revenue - $ 27,975,817
Transportation Fund
Receipts - $ 1,181,429
Total Revenue in Fiscal 2005
- $ 29,157,246
The mission of the Department of Consumer
Protection is to ensure a fair and equitable marketplace, safe products
and services for consumers in the industries that we license,
regulate and enforce.
Office of the Commissioner: Sets the agency’s course by identifying priorities and by
anticipating marketplace problems. The
Office maintains close working relationships with federal and State agencies as
well as the Office of the Attorney General and other officials at all levels of
government and representatives of agency-relevant interests. The Office develops policy and procedures
and proposes legislation tailored to meet the needs of Connecticut’s
marketplace while protecting consumer interests, and provides leadership and
direction to agency divisions for further development and action.
Athletic Unit: Sanctions and provides oversight to professional
boxing events held within Connecticut outside of the casinos. Licenses and regulates all
professional boxing contestants, managers, athlete agents, referees,
announcers, seconds, promoters and timekeepers.
Business Office: Provides financial and administrative support services such as
budgeting, accounting, accounts payable/receivable, payroll and procurement;
administers consumer restitution funds.
Consumer Education: Proactively provides consumers with information helping them
protect themselves and provides educational programs on issues such as
preventing underage drinking and hiring registered home improvement
contractors.
Communications:
Informs and alerts the public to marketplace fraud, food and product
recalls and the Agency's legal actions by providing information to the media
and on the agency website. Also
provides support to the Commissioner for research on emerging issues or
problems.
Drug Control: 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. The Division performs inspections of
pharmacies in retail and hospital settings, and investigates thefts involving
controlled substances as well as pharmaceutical errors in the marketplace. Provides support to federal agencies in
investigations. The Division also assists the Department of Public Health and
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with drug distribution during
public health emergencies.
Food and 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.
Operates the Measurement Laboratory, the only metrology certification
laboratory in the state.
Human Resources: Administers all personnel,
labor relations and affirmative action activities. Oversees agency ethics guidelines.
Technical Systems Unit: Provides information
technology support to the agency. The
IT system allows consumers to obtain information on Connecticut laws, verify
licenses, download complaint forms and rosters and utilize many other services.
Legal Services Office: Handles the Agency's legal and enforcement activities, drafts
legislative proposals and regulations, issues civil investigative demands and
subpoenas, submits investigative information and legal cases to the Office of
the Attorney General for prosecution, and conducts compliance meetings and
formal administrative hearings.
License Services: Processes
208,000 licenses, registrations, certificates, and permits in 206 categories.
Liquor
Control Commission: A
three-member regulatory body within the Department that is chaired by the
Commissioner, the Commission oversees provisional permits and holds formal
administrative hearings as well as compliance meetings regarding unlawful
activity by permittees or on permittee premises. The Commission also reviews and approves final liquor permits,
substitute permittee applications, and other related issues.
Liquor Control Division: Enforces laws concerning
sale of alcoholic liquor in Connecticut. 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, refers cases to the Liquor Control Commission
for review and action, and provides training on state liquor laws and
regulations.
Occupational
and Professional Licensing: The Division provides administrative support to
and works closely with the following sixteen licensing boards, commissions and
councils to administer and enforce laws relative to eligibility for licensure
and to develop and administer testing procedures, which determine competency: Plumbing and Piping Work Examining
Board; Heating, Piping and Cooling Work Examining Board; Electrical
Work Examining Board; Elevator Craftsman Work Examining Board; Fire
Protection Sprinkler Work Examining Board; Automotive and Flat Glass Work
Examining Board; Home Inspector Licensing Board; the Architectural
Licensing Board; the State Boards of Examiners for Professional Engineers
and Land Surveyors; the State Board of Landscape Architects; the
Real Estate Commission; the Real Estate Appraisal Commission; the
Board of Examiners of Shorthand Reporters; the Major Contractor Advisory
Council; the Boxing Promotion Commission and the Mobile Manufactured Home
Park Council.
Public
Charities Unit: Registers professional
fund-raisers and profiles charitable organizations to protect the public from
charity fraud. Works jointly with the Attorney General’s Office to investigate
and prosecute violators.
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 that responds to written complaints and manages a
consumer “hotline.”
The agency provided training
to more than 500 police officers, retailers, and community
members on
state liquor
laws and regulations. Additionally, the Department provided training to 3,215 law enforcement officers, pharmacists and health care providers on topics including the identification of narcotic drugs, signs and symptoms of drug abusers, new drug laws, and prevention of prescription errors.
Each year, the
Department provides monetary restitution to consumers who have been financially
damaged as a result of unfair business practices in the areas of new home
construction, home improvement, health club membership, and purchases from
itinerant vendors. Persons wishing to seek compensation from one of the funds
must meet certain conditions and follow certain steps and guidelines.
Payouts to consumers in 2004-2005 included:
$24,300 paid out from the Heath Club Guaranty Fund;
$5,278 paid from the Real Estate Guaranty Fund, nearly $2.1 million paid to
consumers from the Home Improvement Guaranty Fund, and $646,370 paid from the
New Home Construction Guaranty Fund.
In partnership with local and state law enforcement
officers and minors trained and provided by the Coalition to Stop Underage
Drinking, DCP liquor agents conducted 392 compliance checks of licensed
liquor retailers throughout the state to identify establishments that would
sell liquor to minors. The number of
compliance checks increased 36% over the previous year. Nearly one –third
of the checked establishments failed by making actual sales of alcoholic liquor
to minors.
The Legal Division carried forward the Department’s enforcement activities to effective resolutions. In this fiscal year the Division conducted 320 compliance meetings, issued 1137 formal complaints and six civil investigative demands, crafted and executed 241 Assurances of Voluntary Compliance and held 19 investigative hearings with persons and establishments regulated by the Department of Consumer Protection.
Heating
oil and gasoline costs continued to be of great concern. The Department conducted numerous long-term
investigations of heating fuel dealerships this year. In response to one
investigation, the Division initiated the arrest of a licensed heating oil
dealer on larceny charges. The agency
sought and achieved passage of legislation to regulate the sale of prepaid
heating fuel contracts, in order to protect consumers from financial harm.
The Department continued to upgrade its local area
network and e-license software system to meet the needs of its customers.
The Department officially sanctioned two professional boxing events at the New Haven Athletic Center on April 1, 2005 and July 8, 2005. The two title matches were the WBC World Youth Middleweight Championship and IBF/USBA Featherweight Championship. The boxing events were broadcasted on live television by four major sports network to approximately 16 countries around the world, including the entire United States.
The Liquor Control Division investigated citizen
complaints and police referrals about violations of the Liquor Control Act and
its regulations, conducted undercover operations, assisted local and state law
enforcement officers in the investigation of underage sales and sales to
intoxicated patrons, and provided full-time enforcement at the state’s two
casinos to deter underage service of alcoholic liquor and service to already
intoxicated patrons.
In
May, the agency concluded a major sting operation in Montville that netted 100
home improvement contractors for violating requirements of the Home Improvement
Act. Enforcement actions have increased registrations to over 25,000
registrants and $2.3 million paid in restitution to consumers out of the Home
Improvement Guaranty Fund.
The
Department recovered and returned hundreds of thousands of dollars in
compensation to Connecticut consumers through administrative orders or
litigation brought under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The Liquor Control Commission met 104 times during
the year to rule on final and provisional permits, vote to proceed with formal
enforcement actions or dismissals, review and approve transfer of stocks of
backers, review and extend provisional permits beyond 90 days, and review and
approve additional consumer bar applications, outdoor patio endorsements,
substitute permittees, and requests for extension of permit premises. In
addition, the Liquor Control Commission scheduled approximately 200 compliance
meetings, of which 61 proceeded to a formal administrative hearing, and
held approximately 48 formal hearings on matters involving new liquor
applications. During the 2005 fiscal year, the Commission revoked the
permits of two establishments and imposed suspensions and a total of $$664,246 in fines on 136 permittees
for violations of State liquor laws.
Agency
food inspectors responded to 41 traffic and highway accidents involving food
and beverage products in 2004-2005.
The
Connecticut Lemon Law program returned $3,767,000 to consumers in replacement
value or refund of money spent on their new cars through manufacturers’
compliance with arbitration awards.
The
Department issued 72 press releases on issues ranging from limousine services
to recalled hot dogs, illegal pharmacies, home heating oil contracts, alcohol
sales to minors, email scams and unregistered home improvement contractors. In
addition, the agency launched an initiative to disseminate its press releases
in Spanish to Latino media outlets and to translate consumer information into
Spanish for public dissemination and posting to the website. The Agency participated at the Eastern
States Exposition in Springfield, Massachusetts for three days in September
2004 and provided literature and person-to person information to approximately
51,000 Connecticut residents who visited the DCP booth. In total, public speaking engagements,
training sessions and appearances totaled 149 this year, directly reaching an
additional 5,300 consumers, professionals and law enforcement officials.
The
agency responded to thousands of consumer calls and nearly 8,000 written
consumer complaints.
The
Drug Control Division expanded its educational programs to other branches of
the law enforcement community.
The
agency completed a major initiative to upgrade its public website and migrate
it to the Connecticut government portal. Over the year, the
website was enhanced to include real-time announcements of liquor control
permit suspensions, a comprehensive index of much sought-after consumer
information, on-line completion of most application forms, and information on
how citizens can object to the issuance of a new liquor permit or the renewal
of an existing liquor permit.
Real
Estate and Professional and Occupational Enforcement activities were merged
into the Trade Practices Division to utilize best practices related to the
intake, processing, investigation and resolution of complaints.
The Drug Control Division successfully investigated large volume
distribution of controlled substances from a pharmacy, conducted an undercover
operation involving the dispensing of expired medications from a pharmacy, and
executed three separate arrests: a physician for illegally obtaining,
possessing and prescribing controlled substances; a pharmacist for illegally
dispensing medication to a family member; and a pharmacist for illegally
dispensing prescription medications from an unlicensed pharmacy.
The
Department put into service three new trailer-mounted gasoline provers. The new equipment is helping the agency to
achieve greater efficiencies in gasoline inspections, to meet the agency goal
of inspecting each licensed gasoline station once each year.
The agency, through the Commissioner’s Office,
issues regular press releases on Department activities, agency consumer advisories
and enforcement actions. This year, in
order to provide more frequent and timely information to consumers and to keep
the public apprised of important issues, the agency more than tripled the number of
news releases from the prior year and began regularly releasing results of its
local alcohol compliance checks to the press.
Information Reported as Required by State Statute
The Department of
Consumer Protection 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, state
Affirmative Action regulations and Contract Compliance laws.
In
FY 2005, 49 percent of the Agency's employees were female and 51 percent were
male, with the following composition: 73 percent white, 16 percent black, 7
percent Hispanic, 2 percent Asian and 2 percent Indian. The Department's Affirmative Action plan has
been approved by the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.