1-1     By:  Cain                                             S.B. No. 1831

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 14, 1997; March 24, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;

 1-4     April 17, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 13,

 1-5     Nays 0; April 17, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to sanitary facilities required on the premises of certain

 1-9     applicants for an alcoholic beverage license.

1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 61.43, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is

1-12     amended to read as follows:

1-13           Sec. 61.43.  DISCRETIONARY GROUNDS FOR REFUSAL:  DISTRIBUTOR

1-14     OR RETAILER. (a)  The county judge may refuse to approve an

1-15     application for a license as a distributor or retailer if the

1-16     county judge [he] has reasonable grounds to believe and finds that:

1-17                 (1)  the applicant has been finally convicted in a

1-18     court of competent jurisdiction for the violation of a provision of

1-19     this code during the two years immediately preceding the filing of

1-20     an [his] application;

1-21                 (2)  two years has not elapsed since the termination,

1-22     by pardon or otherwise, of a sentence imposed for conviction of a

1-23     felony;

1-24                 (3)  the applicant has violated or caused to be

1-25     violated a provision of this code or a rule or regulation of the

1-26     commission, for which a suspension was not imposed, during the

1-27     12-month period immediately preceding the filing of an [his]

1-28     application;

1-29                 (4)  the applicant failed to answer or falsely or

1-30     incorrectly answered a question in an [his] original or renewal

1-31     application;

1-32                 (5)  the applicant for a retail dealer's license does

1-33     not have an adequate building available at the address for which

1-34     the license is sought before conducting any activity authorized by

1-35     the license;

1-36                 (6)  the applicant or a person with whom the applicant

1-37     [he] is residentially domiciled had an interest in a license or

1-38     permit which was cancelled or revoked within the 12-month period

1-39     immediately preceding the filing of an [his] application;

1-40                 (7)  the applicant failed or refused to furnish a true

1-41     copy of the [his] application to the commission's district office

1-42     in the district in which the premises sought to be licensed are

1-43     located;

1-44                 (8)  the premises on which beer is to be sold for

1-45     on-premises consumption does not have running water, if it is

1-46     available, or does not have separate free toilets for males and

1-47     females, properly identified, on the premises for which the license

1-48     is sought;

1-49                 (9)  the applicant for a retail dealer's license will

1-50     conduct [his] business in a manner contrary to law or in a place or

1-51     manner conducive to a violation of the law; or

1-52                 (10)  the place, building, or premises for which the

1-53     license is sought was used for selling alcoholic beverages in

1-54     violation of the law at any time during the six months immediately

1-55     preceding the filing of the application or was used, operated, or

1-56     frequented during that time for a purpose or in a manner which was

1-57     lewd, immoral, offensive to public decency, or contrary to this

1-58     code.

1-59           (b)  Subsection (a)(8) does not apply to an application under

1-60     this section if the premises for which the application is submitted

1-61     is part of a larger business complex with multiple tenant or

1-62     commercial spaces, including a mall, that is open to the public and

1-63     that offers the facilities required by Subsection (a)(8).

1-64           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 2-1           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

 2-2     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 2-3     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 2-4     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 2-5     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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