2015 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 4 - Management of State Agencies
Chapter 47 - State Property and Funds
Section 4-28n - Cigarette manufacturers: Agents for service of process. Surety bonds.

(a) Any nonparticipating manufacturer that has not registered to do business in this state, pursuant to title 33 or 34, as a foreign corporation or business entity shall, as a condition precedent to having its brand families listed or retained in the directory maintained pursuant to section 4-28m, appoint and continually engage without interruption the services of an agent in this state to act as agent for the service of process on whom all process and any action or proceeding against it concerning or arising out of the enforcement of the provisions of sections 4-28h to 4-28r, inclusive, may be served in any manner authorized by law. Such service shall constitute legal and valid service of process on the nonparticipating manufacturer. The nonparticipating manufacturer shall provide the name, address, telephone number and proof of the appointment and availability of such agent to, and to the satisfaction of, the commissioner and the Attorney General.

(b) A nonparticipating manufacturer shall provide notice to the commissioner and the Attorney General at least thirty calendar days prior to termination of the authority of an agent and shall further provide proof, to the satisfaction of the commissioner and the Attorney General, of the appointment of a new agent no less than five calendar days prior to the termination of an existing agent appointment. In the event an agent terminates an agency, the nonparticipating manufacturer shall notify the commissioner and the Attorney General of such termination not later than five calendar days after such termination and shall include proof, to the satisfaction of the commissioner and the Attorney General, of the appointment of a new agent.

(c) Any nonparticipating manufacturer whose products are sold in this state without appointing or designating an agent as required in this section shall be deemed to have appointed the Secretary of the State as such agent and may be proceeded against in courts of this state by service of process upon the Secretary of the State, except that the appointment of the Secretary of the State as such agent shall not satisfy the condition precedent to having the brand families of the nonparticipating manufacturer listed or retained in the directory.

(d) As a condition precedent to having its brand families listed or retained in the directory, a nonparticipating manufacturer located outside of the United States shall cause each of its importers into the United States of each of its brand families to be sold in the state to appoint and maintain the services of an agent in the state, and shall provide notification to the commissioner and the Attorney General regarding the agents of its importers in the manner prescribed in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. Each importer of a nonparticipating manufacturer’s cigarettes that are sold in the state who does not appoint or designate an agent as required in this section shall be deemed to have appointed the Secretary of the State as such agent and may be proceeded against in courts of this state by service of process upon the Secretary of the State, except that the appointment of the Secretary of the State as such agent shall not satisfy the condition precedent to having the brand families of the nonparticipating manufacturer listed or retained in the directory.

(e) (1) At least ten days prior to the first day of each calendar quarter, as a condition precedent to having its brand families listed or retained in the directory, each nonparticipating manufacturer shall file with the commissioner a surety bond, the form of which shall be approved by the Attorney General, that is issued by a bonding company or insurance company authorized to do business in this state. The bond shall be in favor of the commissioner and be in the principal sum of the greater of (A) twenty-five thousand dollars, or (B) the greatest amount of the total escrow payments owed in any of the five calendar years preceding the filing of such bond.

(2) If the nonparticipating manufacturer that posted a bond has failed to make, or have made on its behalf, escrow deposits equal to the full amount owed for a quarter not later than fifteen days following the due date for the quarter under section 4-28i, the commissioner may execute on the bond, to (A) recover the delinquent escrow, which amount shall be deposited into a qualified escrow account as defined in section 4-28h, or a reasonable alternative account as determined by the commissioner, and (B) recover civil penalties and costs authorized under section 4-28j. Escrow amounts above the amount collected on the bond shall remain due from the nonparticipating manufacturer and, as provided in subsection (d) of section 4-28j, from the importers that sold such nonparticipating manufacturer’s cigarettes in this state during such calendar quarter.

(P.A. 04-218, S. 4; P.A. 14-155, S. 9.)

History: P.A. 14-155 added Subsec. (d) re appointment of agent by importers and Subsec. (e) re surety bond requirements, effective January 1, 2015.