2003S0508-1 03/06/03


By:  Armbrister                                                   S.B. No. 1273


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to alternatives to suspension of alcoholic beverage 
licenses and permits.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 11.64, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 11.64.  ALTERNATIVES TO SUSPENSION, CANCELLATION.  
(a)  When the commission or administrator is authorized to suspend 
a permit or license under this code, the commission or 
administrator shall give the permittee or licensee the opportunity 
to pay a civil penalty rather than have the permit or license 
suspended, unless the basis for the suspension is a violation of 
Section 11.61(b)(14), 22.12, 28.11, 61.71(a)(5), 61.71(a)(6), 
61.74(a)(14), 69.13, 71.09, 101.63, 106.03, 106.06, or 106.15 or an 
offense relating to prostitution or gambling, in which case the 
commission or administrator shall determine whether the permittee 
or licensee may have the opportunity to pay a civil penalty rather 
than have the permit or license suspended.  The commission shall 
adopt rules addressing when suspension may be imposed pursuant to 
this section without the opportunity to pay a civil penalty.  In 
adopting rules under this subsection, the commission shall consider 
the type of license or permit held, the type of violation, any 
aggravating or ameliorating circumstances concerning the 
violation, and any past violations of this code by the permittee or 
licensee.  In cases in which a civil penalty is assessed, the 
commission or administrator shall determine the amount of the 
penalty [and in doing so shall consider the economic impact a 
suspension would have on the permittee or licensee].  The amount of 
the civil penalty may not be less than $150 or more than $25,000 for 
each day the permit or license was to have been suspended.  If the 
licensee or permittee does not pay the penalty before the sixth day 
after the commission or administrator notifies him of the amount, 
the commission or administrator shall impose the suspension.  The 
commission or administrator shall not determine the amount of the 
civil penalty on the basis of the volume of alcoholic beverage sold, 
the receipts of the business, the taxes paid, or the financial 
condition of the permittee or licensee.
	(b)  In the case of a violation of this code by a permittee or 
a [retail dealer's off-premise] licensee, the commission or 
administrator may relax any provision of the code relating to the 
suspension or cancellation of the permit or license and assess a 
sanction the commission or administrator finds just under the 
circumstances, and the commission or administrator may reinstate 
the license or permit at any time during the period of suspension on 
payment by the permittee or licensee of a fee of not less than $75 
nor more than $500, if the commission or administrator finds that 
any of the circumstances described in Subsection (c) [of this 
section] exist.
	(c)  The following circumstances justify the application of 
Subsection (b) [of this section]:
		(1)  That the violation could not reasonably have been 
prevented by the permittee or licensee by the exercise of due 
diligence;
		(2)  that the permittee or licensee was entrapped;                            
		(3)  that an agent, servant, or employee of the 
permittee or licensee violated this code without the knowledge of 
the permittee or licensee;
		(4)  that the permittee or licensee did not knowingly 
violate this code; or 
		(5)  that the violation was a technical one.                                  
	(d)  Fees and civil penalties received by the commission 
under this section shall be deposited in the [confiscated liquor 
fund until the unexpended and unencumbered balance contained in the 
confiscated liquor fund on September 1, 1983, and the amount 
deposited in the fund from all sources on or after September 1, 
1983, totals $2.4 million.  Thereafter, fees and civil penalties 
received by the commission under this section shall be deposited in 
the] general revenue fund.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.