2.3 Prohibited Acts, Discipline & Division Oversight

2.3 Prohibited Acts, Discipline & Division Oversight

Quick Answer: Section 493.6118, F.S. lists more than twenty grounds for discipline — from fraud on a license application to impersonating a law enforcement officer — and lets FDACS deny, reprimand, fine, place on probation, or suspend/revoke a license. Section 493.6120, F.S. makes unlicensed practice a first-degree misdemeanor for a first offense and a third-degree felony for repeat offenses. The Division of Licensing within FDACS, empowered under s. 493.6121, F.S., investigates complaints, audits licensee records, and can issue cease-and-desist orders. Legal Aspects — including this discipline and enforcement framework — makes up 26 of the 170 questions on the Class D exam.

Grounds for Disciplinary Action (s. 493.6118, F.S.)

Section 493.6118(1), F.S. lists the acts that expose a licensee, agency, or applicant to discipline. The list runs from (a) through (z), but a handful of items are tested repeatedly:

Notice how many of these items connect directly back to the definitions covered earlier in this chapter. “Good moral character” and “conviction” are not abstract ideas — they are the standards FDACS applies when evaluating whether item (c) above has been triggered. Likewise, the impersonation prohibition in item (i) exists precisely because the Legislature's stated intent in s. 493.6100, F.S. is to protect the public from people who misuse positions of trust.

The Penalty Ladder: What FDACS Can Actually Do (s. 493.6118(2), F.S.)

When FDACS finds a violation, s. 493.6118(2), F.S. authorizes it to impose one or more of the following, in roughly increasing severity:

1. Deny an application for issuance or renewal of a license.
2. Issue a reprimand.
3. Impose an administrative fine in the Class I category under s. 570.971, F.S., for every count or separate offense.
4. Place the licensee on probation subject to conditions the department specifies.
5. Suspend or revoke the license outright.

These are civil, administrative remedies — separate from any criminal charges a licensee might also face for the same conduct.

Felony Convictions: The 10-Year and 3-Year Bars (s. 493.6118(4), F.S.)

Chapter 493 treats felony convictions differently from other disciplinary grounds because the statute removes FDACS's discretion. If an applicant or licensee has been convicted of a felony, s. 493.6118(4)(a), F.S. requires FDACS to deny the application or revoke the license until civil rights have been restored and 10 years have passed since final release from supervision. If adjudication of guilt was withheld after a guilty or no-contest plea to a felony, the bar under s. 493.6118(4)(c), F.S. is 3 years from final release from supervision. A Class “G” applicant with a felony conviction must additionally have had their specific right to possess, carry, or use a firearm restored by the state before FDACS may issue the license.

Criminal Penalties for Unlicensed Activity (s. 493.6120, F.S.)

Discipline under s. 493.6118 applies to people who already hold a license. Section 493.6120, F.S. addresses people who never should have been working at all. Practicing a Chapter 493-regulated activity without the required license is:

• A first-degree misdemeanor for a first violation.
• A third-degree felony for a second or subsequent violation, and FDACS may additionally seek a civil penalty of up to $10,000.

Separately, anyone convicted of any violation of Chapter 493 becomes ineligible for licensure for 5 years. And knowingly possessing, selling, or submitting a fraudulent training certificate — the kind of document a Class “DS” school or “DI”/“K” instructor issues after completing the 40-hour or 28-hour curricula covered in section 2.2 — is itself a third-degree felony under s. 493.6120(7), F.S.

The Division of Licensing's Enforcement Authority (s. 493.6121, F.S.)

FDACS carries out Chapter 493 through its Division of Licensing. Section 493.6121(1), F.S. gives the Division power to enforce the chapter “irrespective of the place or location in which the violation occurred,” and to investigate any suspected violation on its own initiative or on a complaint from any person. Licensees must maintain business records for 2 years at their principal place of business and produce them to the Division on request. If the Division finds a person or business advertising or performing regulated services without proper licensure, s. 493.6121(3), F.S. authorizes it to issue a cease-and-desist order, seek an injunction, or pursue other appropriate legal action.

Why This Matters on Exam Day

Prohibited acts, discipline, and Division oversight sit inside Legal Aspects, the domain worth 26 of the 170 questions on the Class D exam — more than any other single topic area. Questions in this space typically present a short scenario (an officer impersonating police, an agency hiring an unlicensed guard, a licensee with an unreported felony arrest) and ask which statute or penalty applies. Anchoring each scenario to the specific statutory citation, rather than a general sense that “that seems wrong,” is what separates a guess from a confident correct answer.