REPORT TITLE:
Liquor Commissions


DESCRIPTION:
Allows county liquor commissions to limit by ordinance total
number of licenses in any class or kind, and set hours of
operation and allow county councils to approve budgets of liquor
commissions.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2347
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO LIQUOR COMMISSIONS.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 281-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended to read as follows:
 
 3      "§281-16  County liquor commission and liquor control
 
 4 adjudication board funds; disposition of realization; payment of
 
 5 expenses.  All fees and other moneys collected or received by
 
 6 each liquor commission or liquor control adjudication board under
 
 7 this chapter shall be paid not less than weekly into the general
 
 8 fund of the respective county or a special fund as provided by
 
 9 ordinance.  All expenses of the commission or board, including
 
10 any expenses and compensation of its members and expenses and
 
11 salaries of its subordinates, shall be paid in the manner
 
12 provided by ordinance.  The budget of the commission or board
 
13 shall be approved by the legislative body of the county."
 
14      SECTION 2.  Section 281-17, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
15 amended to read as follows:
 
16      "§281-17  Jurisdiction and powers.  The liquor commission,
 
17 within its own county, shall have the sole jurisdiction, power,
 
18 authority, and discretion, subject only to this chapter:
 
19      (1)  To grant, refuse, suspend, and revoke any licenses for
 

 
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 1           the manufacture, importation, and sale of liquors;
 
 2      (2)  To take appropriate action against a person who,
 
 3           directly or indirectly, manufactures or sells any
 
 4           liquor without being authorized pursuant to this
 
 5           chapter; provided that in counties which have
 
 6           established by charter a liquor control adjudication
 
 7           board, the board shall have the jurisdiction, power,
 
 8           authority, and discretion to hear and determine
 
 9           administrative complaints of the director regarding
 
10           violations of the liquor laws of the State or of the
 
11           rules of the liquor commission, and impose penalties
 
12           [[]for[]] violations thereof as may be provided by law;
 
13      (3)  To control, supervise, and regulate the manufacture,
 
14           importation, and sale of liquors by investigation,
 
15           enforcement, and education; provided that any
 
16           educational program shall be limited to licensees and
 
17           their employees and shall be financed through the money
 
18           collected from the assessment of fines against
 
19           licensees;
 
20      (4)  From time to time to make, amend, and repeal such
 
21           rules, not inconsistent with this chapter, as in the
 
22           judgment of the commission seem appropriate for
 
23           carrying out this chapter and for the efficient
 

 
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 1           administration thereof, and the proper conduct of the
 
 2           business of all licensees, including every matter or
 
 3           thing required to be done or which may be done with the
 
 4           approval or consent or by order or under the direction
 
 5           or supervision of or as prescribed by the commission;
 
 6           which rules, when adopted as provided in chapter 91
 
 7           shall have the force and effect of law;
 
 8      (5)  Subject to chapters 76 and 77, to appoint and remove an
 
 9           administrator, who may also be appointed an
 
10           investigator and who shall be responsible for the
 
11           operations and activities of the staff.  The
 
12           administrator may hire and remove hearing officers,
 
13           investigators, and clerical or other assistants as its
 
14           business may from time to time require, to prescribe
 
15           their duties, and fix their compensation; to engage the
 
16           services of experts and persons engaged in the practice
 
17           of a profession, if deemed expedient.  Every
 
18           investigator, within the scope of the investigator's
 
19           duties, shall have the powers of a police officer.  No
 
20           employee of any commission, aside from exercising the
 
21           right to vote, shall support, advocate, or aid in the
 
22           election or defeat of any candidate for public office,
 
23           and upon satisfactory proof of such prohibited activity
 

 
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 1           the offender shall be summarily dismissed;
 
 2      (6)  To limit the number of licenses of any class or kind
 
 3           within the county, or the number of licenses of any
 
 4           class or kind to do business in any given locality,
 
 5           when in the judgment of the commission such limitations
 
 6           are in the public interest; provided, however, that
 
 7           each county may by ordinance limit the maximum total
 
 8           number of licenses or limit the maximum number of
 
 9           licenses of any class or kind, and provided further,
 
10           that each county may by ordinance restrict the granting
 
11           of licenses of any class or kind within a defined
 
12           geographic area;
 
13      (7)  To prescribe the nature of the proof to be furnished,
 
14           the notices to be given, and the conditions to be met
 
15           or observed in case of the issuance of a duplicate
 
16           license in place of one alleged to have been lost or
 
17           destroyed, including a requirement of any indemnity
 
18           deemed appropriate to the case;
 
19      (8)  To fix the hours between which licensed premises of any
 
20           class or classes may regularly be open for the
 
21           transaction of business, which shall be uniform
 
22           throughout the county as to each class respectively;
 
23           provided that each county may by ordinance enact hours
 

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

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           2347
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           for the unauthorized manufacturing or selling of any
 
 2           liquor.
 
 3      Subject only to this chapter, the commission or board and
 
 4 each member thereof shall have the same powers respecting the
 
 5 administering of oaths, compelling the attendance of witnesses
 
 6 and the production of documentary evidence, and examining the
 
 7 witnesses as are possessed by a circuit court, except that the
 
 8 commission or board and each member thereof shall not be bound by
 
 9 the strict legal rules of evidence.  In addition, the commission
 
10 or board shall have the power to require the production of, and
 
11 to examine any books, papers, and records of any licensee which
 
12 may pertain to the licensee's business under the license or which
 
13 may pertain to a matter at a hearing before the commission or
 
14 board or to an investigation by the commission or board.
 
15      The exercise by the commission or board of the power,
 
16 authority, and discretion vested in it pursuant to this chapter
 
17 shall be final and shall not be reviewable by or appealable to
 
18 any court or tribunal, except as otherwise provided in this
 
19 chapter or chapter 91."
 
20      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
21 New statutory material is underscored.
 

 
 
 
 
 
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 1      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 2 
 
 3                              INTRODUCED BY:______________________