ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY.

(a) The commission may assess an administrative penalty against a person who:

(1) violates this chapter, a rule, standard, or order adopted under this chapter, or a term of a license issued under this chapter;

(2) makes a false statement of a material fact that the person knows or should know is false:

(A) on an application for issuance or renewal of a license or in an attachment to the application; or

(B) with respect to a matter under investigation by the commission;

(3) refuses to allow a representative of the commission to inspect:

(A) a book, record, or file required to be maintained by a day activity and health services facility; or

(B) any portion of the premises of a day activity and health services facility;

(4) wilfully interferes with the work of a representative of the commission or the enforcement of this chapter;

(5) wilfully interferes with a representative of the commission preserving evidence of a violation of this chapter, a rule, standard, or order adopted under this chapter, or a term of a license issued under this chapter;

(6) fails to pay a penalty assessed under this chapter not later than the 30th day after the date the assessment of the penalty becomes final; or

(7) fails to notify the commission of a change of ownership before the effective date of the change of ownership.

(b) Except as provided by Section 103.013(c), the penalty may not exceed $500 for each violation.

(c) Each day of a continuing violation constitutes a separate violation.

(d) The executive commissioner shall establish gradations of penalties in accordance with the relative seriousness of the violation.

(e) In determining the amount of a penalty, the commission shall consider any matter that justice may require, including:

(1) the gradations of penalties established under Subsection (d);

(2) the seriousness of the violation, including the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the prohibited act and the hazard or potential hazard created by the act to the health or safety of the public;

(3) the history of previous violations;

(4) the deterrence of future violations; and

(5) the efforts to correct the violation.

(f) A penalty assessed under Subsection (a)(6) is in addition to the penalty previously assessed and not timely paid.

(g) The commission shall develop and use a system to record and track the scope and severity of each violation of this chapter or a rule, standard, or order adopted under this chapter for the purpose of assessing an administrative penalty for the violation or taking some other enforcement action against the appropriate facility to deter future violations. The system:

(1) must be comparable to the system used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to categorize the scope and severity of violations for nursing homes; and

(2) may be modified, as appropriate, to reflect changes in industry practice or changes made to the system used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.