Criminal proceedings

§ 6514. Criminal proceedings. 1. All alleged violations of sections sixty-five hundred twelve or sixty-five hundred thirteen of this article shall be reported to the department which shall cause an investigation to be instituted. All alleged violations of section sixty-five hundred thirty-one of the education law shall be reported to the department of health which shall cause an investigation to be instituted. If the investigation substantiates that violations exist, such violations shall be reported to the attorney general with a request for prosecution.

2. The attorney general shall prosecute such alleged offenses in the name of the state, provided, however, in the event of alleged violations of article one hundred fifty-five of this title, a district attorney may prosecute such alleged offenses in the name of the state provided, however, that any district attorney may prosecute such offenses where they are incidental to a criminal prosecution instituted by him under other statutes.

3. All criminal courts having jurisdiction over misdemeanors are hereby empowered to hear, try and determine alleged violations under this title, which constitute misdemeanors, without indictment and to impose applicable punishment of fines or imprisonments or both. It shall be necessary to prove in any prosecution under this title only a single prohibited act or a single holding out without proving a general course of conduct.

4. A proceeding before a committee on professional conduct shall not be deemed to be a criminal proceeding within the meaning of this section.