HB 822 establishes a procedure in equity that could be used whenever someone makes a false or fraudulent claim for payment from the state or a county or fails to deliver all or any property owed to the state or a county to the state or county. It allows the Attorney General to initiate an investigation or to delegate the investigation to the district attorney "or other appropriate official of a local government."  If the Attorney General finds that a violation occurred, he may either initiate a civil action or give the local government the authority to initiate a civil action.  Private citizens may also initiate a proceeding on the county's behalf. A private person winning such a case may be awarded between 25% and 35% of the proceeds of the action.  The civil penalty is between $5,000 and $11,000 plus three times the amount of damages that the county sustains because of the fraud. This bill is similar to existing state Medicaid fraud law and brings the state law into compliance with federal Medicaid fraud law. Effective July 1, 2012 pending signature by the Governor.