By Wilson                                             H.B. No. 1408
         76R6254 MCK-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to grounds for refusing an application for a liquor
 1-3     retailer.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 11.46(a), Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  The commission or administrator may refuse to issue an
 1-8     original or renewal permit with or without a hearing if it has
 1-9     reasonable grounds to believe and finds that any of the following
1-10     circumstances exists:
1-11                 (1)  the applicant has been convicted in a court of
1-12     competent jurisdiction of the violation of any provision of this
1-13     code during the two years immediately preceding the filing of his
1-14     application;
1-15                 (2)  three years have not elapsed since the
1-16     termination, by pardon or otherwise, of a sentence imposed on the
1-17     applicant for the conviction of a felony;
1-18                 (3)  within the six-month period immediately preceding
1-19     his application the applicant violated or caused to be violated a
1-20     provision of this code or a rule or regulation of the commission
1-21     which involves moral turpitude, as distinguished from a technical
1-22     violation of this code or of the rule;
1-23                 (4)  the applicant failed to answer or falsely or
1-24     incorrectly answered a question in an original or renewal
 2-1     application;
 2-2                 (5)  the applicant is indebted to the state for any
 2-3     taxes, fees, or payment of penalty imposed by this code or by rule
 2-4     of the commission;
 2-5                 (6)  the applicant is not of good moral character or
 2-6     his reputation for being a peaceable, law-abiding citizen in the
 2-7     community where he resides is bad;
 2-8                 (7)  the applicant is a minor;
 2-9                 (8)  the place or manner in which the applicant may
2-10     conduct his business warrants the refusal of a permit based on the
2-11     general welfare, health, peace, morals, and safety of the people
2-12     and on the public sense of decency;
2-13                 (9)  the applicant is in the habit of using alcoholic
2-14     beverages to excess or is physically or mentally incapacitated;
2-15                 (10)  the applicant will sell liquor unlawfully in a
2-16     dry area or in a manner contrary to law or will knowingly permit an
2-17     agent, servant, or employee to do so;
2-18                 (11)  the applicant is not a United States citizen or
2-19     has not been a citizen of Texas for a period of one year
2-20     immediately preceding the filing of his application, unless he was
2-21     issued a permit or renewal permit on or before September 1, 1948,
2-22     and has at some time been a United States citizen;
2-23                 (12)  the applicant does not provide an adequate
2-24     building available at the address for which the permit is sought
2-25     before conducting any activity authorized by the permit;
2-26                 (13)  the applicant is residentially domiciled with a
2-27     person whose permit or license has been cancelled for cause within
 3-1     the 12 months immediately preceding the date of his present
 3-2     application;
 3-3                 (14)  the applicant has failed or refused to furnish a
 3-4     true copy of his application to the commission's district office in
 3-5     the district in which the premises for which the permit is sought
 3-6     are located; or
 3-7                 (15)  the place, building, or premises for which the
 3-8     permit is sought was used for selling alcoholic beverages in
 3-9     violation of the law at any time during the six months immediately
3-10     preceding the filing of the application or was [the premises for
3-11     which  the permit is sought have been] operated, used, or
3-12     frequented during that time for a purpose or in a manner that was
3-13     [is] lewd, immoral, or offensive to public decency, or contrary to
3-14     this code.
3-15           SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies to all
3-16     alcoholic beverage permit holders, including a holder of a food and
3-17     beverage certificate, issued by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage
3-18     Commission.
3-19           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-20           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-21     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-22     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-23     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-24     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.