(a) Except pursuant to an exemption granted by the department, no person licensed under this chapter shall employ any person as an agent, or who previously was an agent, who meets any of the following criteria: (1) Whose license has been revoked or is currently suspended. (2) Who has committed any one flagrant or repeated violations of this chapter or Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 55401). (3) Who failed to pay a producerâs claims for which the person, or, where the person controlled the decision to pay, the personâs employer, was liable, and which arose out of the conduct of a business licensed or required to be licensed under this chapter or Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 55401). (4) Who has been convicted of a crime that includes as one of its elements the financial victimization of another person. (b) The department may approve employment of any person covered by subdivision (a) if the licensee furnishes and maintains a surety bond in form and amount satisfactory to the department, but that shall not be less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), as assurance that the licenseeâs business will be conducted in accordance with this chapter and that the licensee will pay all amounts due farm products creditors. The department may approve employment without a surety bond after the expiration of four years from the effective date of the applicable disciplinary order. The department, based on changes in the nature and volume of business conducted by the licensee, may require an increase or authorize a reduction in the amount of the bond, but in no case shall the bond be reduced below ten thousand dollars ($10,000). A licensee who is notified by the department to provide a bond in an increased amount shall do so within a reasonable time to be specified by the department. If the licensee fails to do so, the approval of employment shall automatically terminate. The department may suspend or revoke the license of any licensee who, after the date given in the notice, continues to employ any person in violation of this section. (c) The department may obtain access to a licenseeâs or personâs criminal record during the course of a licensing investigation opened for other reasons or if the department is presented with a reasonable basis to believe a person or licensee satisfies any of the criteria set forth in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a). The Department of Justice shall furnish criminal record information to the department at the departmentâs request. If the information thereby obtained reveals a conviction for a crime that includes as one of its elements the financial victimization of another person, the department shall bring this to the attention of the licensee and the person by a written notice. This written notice shall set out the charges against the licensee or person, prohibit employment or revoke or deny the license effective if and when any rights to an administrative hearing have been exhausted, and set out the licenseeâs or personâs rights under this section. (d) The department may grant an exemption on presentation of substantial, clear, and convincing evidence to support a reasonable belief as to any of the following: (1) There has been a mistake of fact or identity. (2) The present role of the person provides no opportunity for a repeat of the prior behavior. (3) The person has been rehabilitated. All submissions shall be authenticated and verified under penalty of perjury. Unless the licensee or person can prove one of these three elements by substantial, clear, and convincing evidence, the department shall deny the request for exemption. (e) (1) A licensee or person who has been identified by the department as satisfying any of the criteria set forth in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a) and who has not been granted an exemption by the department shall be afforded a hearing upon the licenseeâs or personâs request under this chapter. The licensee or per
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