By Cain                                         S.B. No. 1831

      75R8381 PAM-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to sanitary facilities required on the premises of certain

 1-3     applicants for an alcoholic beverage license.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 61.43, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is

 1-6     amended to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 61.43.  DISCRETIONARY GROUNDS FOR REFUSAL:  DISTRIBUTOR

 1-8     OR RETAILER.  (a)  The county judge may refuse to approve an

 1-9     application for a license as a distributor or retailer if the

1-10     county judge [he] has reasonable grounds to believe and finds that:

1-11                 (1)  the applicant has been finally convicted in a

1-12     court of competent jurisdiction for the violation of a provision of

1-13     this code during the two years immediately preceding the filing of

1-14     an [his] application;

1-15                 (2)  two years has not elapsed since the termination,

1-16     by pardon or otherwise, of a sentence imposed for conviction of a

1-17     felony;

1-18                 (3)  the applicant has violated or caused to be

1-19     violated a provision of this code or a rule or regulation of the

1-20     commission, for which a suspension was not imposed, during the

1-21     12-month period immediately preceding the filing of an [his]

1-22     application;

1-23                 (4)  the applicant failed to answer or falsely or

1-24     incorrectly answered a question in an [his] original or renewal

 2-1     application;

 2-2                 (5)  the applicant for a retail dealer's license does

 2-3     not have an adequate building available at the address for which

 2-4     the license is sought before conducting any activity authorized by

 2-5     the license;

 2-6                 (6)  the applicant or a person with whom the applicant

 2-7     [he] is residentially domiciled had an interest in a license or

 2-8     permit which was cancelled or revoked within the 12-month period

 2-9     immediately preceding the filing of an [his] application;

2-10                 (7)  the applicant failed or refused to furnish a true

2-11     copy of the [his] application to the commission's district office

2-12     in the district in which the premises sought to be licensed are

2-13     located;

2-14                 (8)  the premises on which beer is to be sold for

2-15     on-premises consumption does not have running water, if it is

2-16     available, or does not have separate free toilets for males and

2-17     females, properly identified, on the premises for which the license

2-18     is sought;

2-19                 (9)  the applicant for a retail dealer's license will

2-20     conduct [his] business in a manner contrary to law or in a place or

2-21     manner conducive to a violation of the law; or

2-22                 (10)  the place, building, or premises for which the

2-23     license is sought was used for selling alcoholic beverages in

2-24     violation of the law at any time during the six months immediately

2-25     preceding the filing of the application or was used, operated, or

2-26     frequented during that time for a purpose or in a manner which was

2-27     lewd, immoral, offensive to public decency, or contrary to this

 3-1     code.

 3-2           (b)  Subsection (a)(8) does not apply to an application under

 3-3     this section if the premises for which the application is submitted

 3-4     is part of a larger business complex with multiple tenant or

 3-5     commercial spaces, including a mall, that is open to the public and

 3-6     that offers the facilities required by Subsection (a)(8).

 3-7           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 3-8           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 3-9     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

3-10     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

3-11     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

3-12     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.