REPORT TITLE:
Liquor Commission


DESCRIPTION:
Adds to liquor commission's jurisdiction the control, supervision
and regulation of alcohol abuse treatment and prevention programs
to be financed from licensee fees as well as fines.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        2658
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO INTOXICATING LIQUOR.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 281-17, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "§281-17  Jurisdiction and powers.  (a)  The liquor
 
 4 commission, within its own county, shall have the sole
 
 5 jurisdiction, power, authority, and discretion, subject only to
 
 6 this chapter:
 
 7      (1)  To grant, refuse, suspend, and revoke any licenses for
 
 8           the manufacture, importation, and sale of liquors;
 
 9      (2)  To take appropriate action against a person who,
 
10           directly or indirectly, manufactures or sells any
 
11           liquor without being authorized pursuant to this
 
12           chapter; provided that in counties which have
 
13           established by charter a liquor control adjudication
 
14           board, the board shall have the jurisdiction, power,
 
15           authority, and discretion to hear and determine
 
16           administrative complaints of the director regarding
 
17           violations of the liquor laws of the State or of the
 
18           rules of the liquor commission, and impose penalties
 
19           [[]for[]] violations thereof as may be provided by law;
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (3)  To control, supervise, and regulate the manufacture,
 
 2           importation, and sale of liquors by investigation,
 
 3           enforcement, alcohol abuse treatment, prevention, and
 
 4           education; provided that any alcohol abuse treatment,
 
 5           prevention, or educational program shall be [limited to
 
 6           licensees and their employees and shall be] financed
 
 7           through the money collected from the assessment of
 
 8           fines against licensees[;] and licensee fees;
 
 9      (4)  From time to time to make, amend, and repeal such
 
10           rules, not inconsistent with this chapter, as in the
 
11           judgment of the commission seem appropriate for
 
12           carrying out this chapter and for the efficient
 
13           administration thereof, and the proper conduct of the
 
14           business of all licensees, including every matter or
 
15           thing required to be done or which may be done with the
 
16           approval or consent or by order or under the direction
 
17           or supervision of or as prescribed by the commission;
 
18           which rules, when adopted as provided in chapter 91
 
19           shall have the force and effect of law;
 
20      (5)  Subject to chapters 76 and 77, to appoint and remove an
 
21           administrator, who may also be appointed an
 
22           investigator and who shall be responsible for the
 
23           operations and activities of the staff.  The
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           administrator may hire and remove hearing officers,
 
 2           investigators, and clerical or other assistants as its
 
 3           business may from time to time require, to prescribe
 
 4           their duties, and fix their compensation; to engage the
 
 5           services of experts and persons engaged in the practice
 
 6           of a profession, if deemed expedient.  Every
 
 7           investigator, within the scope of the investigator's
 
 8           duties, shall have the powers of a police officer.  No
 
 9           employee of any commission, aside from exercising the
 
10           right to vote, shall support, advocate, or aid in the
 
11           election or defeat of any candidate for public office,
 
12           and upon satisfactory proof of such prohibited activity
 
13           the offender shall be summarily dismissed;
 
14      (6)  To limit the number of licenses of any class or kind
 
15           within the county, or the number of licenses of any
 
16           class or kind to do business in any given locality,
 
17           when in the judgment of the commission such limitations
 
18           are in the public interest;
 
19      (7)  To prescribe the nature of the proof to be furnished,
 
20           the notices to be given, and the conditions to be met
 
21           or observed in case of the issuance of a duplicate
 
22           license in place of one alleged to have been lost or
 
23           destroyed, including a requirement of any indemnity
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           deemed appropriate to the case;
 
 2      (8)  To fix the hours between which licensed premises of any
 
 3           class or classes may regularly be open for the
 
 4           transaction of business, which shall be uniform
 
 5           throughout the county as to each class respectively;
 
 6      (9)  To prescribe all forms to be used for the purposes of
 
 7           this chapter not otherwise provided for in this
 
 8           chapter, and the character and manner of keeping of
 
 9           books, records, and accounts to be kept by licensees in
 
10           any matter pertaining to their business;
 
11     (10)  To investigate violations of this chapter, chapter 244D
 
12           and, notwithstanding any law to the contrary,
 
13           violations of the applicable department of health's
 
14           allowable noise levels, through its investigators or
 
15           otherwise, to include covert operations, and to report
 
16           violations to the prosecuting officer for prosecution
 
17           and, where appropriate, the director of taxation to
 
18           hear and determine complaints against any licensee;
 
19     (11)  To prescribe, by rule, the terms, conditions, and
 
20           circumstances under which persons or any class of
 
21           persons may be employed by holders of licenses;
 
22     (12)  To prescribe, by rule, the term of any license or
 
23           solicitor's and representative's permit authorized by
 

 
Page 5                                                     2658
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           this chapter, the annual or prorated amount, the manner
 
 2           of payment of fees for the licenses and permits, and
 
 3           the amount of filing fees; and
 
 4     (13)  To prescribe, by rule, the circumstances and penalty
 
 5           for the unauthorized manufacturing or selling of any
 
 6           liquor.
 
 7      (b)  Subject only to this chapter, the commission or board
 
 8 and each member thereof shall have the same powers respecting the
 
 9 administering of oaths, compelling the attendance of witnesses
 
10 and the production of documentary evidence, and examining the
 
11 witnesses as are possessed by a circuit court, except that the
 
12 commission or board and each member thereof shall not be bound by
 
13 the strict legal rules of evidence.  In addition, the commission
 
14 or board shall have the power to require the production of, and
 
15 to examine any books, papers, and records of any licensee which
 
16 may pertain to the licensee's business under the license or which
 
17 may pertain to a matter at a hearing before the commission or
 
18 board or to an investigation by the commission or board.
 
19      The exercise by the commission or board of the power,
 
20 authority, and discretion vested in it pursuant to this chapter
 
21 shall be final and shall not be reviewable by or appealable to
 
22 any court or tribunal, except as otherwise provided in this
 
23 chapter or chapter 91."
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      SECTION 2.  Section 281-17.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
 
 3      "(b)  Any [such] liquor license fees or any moneys collected
 
 4 or received by any liquor commission under this chapter may only
 
 5 be used for alcohol abuse education, prevention, and treatment
 
 6 programs and costs and expenses directly relating to operational
 
 7 and administrative costs actually incurred by the liquor
 
 8 commission collecting or receiving [such] those liquor license
 
 9 fees or moneys.  [Such] The fees or moneys shall not be used for
 
10 any costs or expenses other than those directly relating to its
 
11 operation and administration."
 
12      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
13 New statutory material is underscored.
 
14      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
15 
 
16                              INTRODUCED BY:______________________