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.