REPORT TITLE:
Liquor Commission


DESCRIPTION:
Makes various changes to chapter 281, HRS, relating to
intoxicating liquor.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           2541
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO INTOXICATING LIQUOR.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  Chapter 281, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 2 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
 3 read as follows:
 
 4      "§281-     Reports to the commission.  Any complaint filed
 
 5 by a Hawaii resident with the commission shall be reported to the
 
 6 respective neighborhood board for the area in which the resident
 
 7 resides."
 
 8      SECTION 2.  Section 281-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 9 amended by:
 
10      1.  Adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and
 
11 to read as follows:
 
12      ""Unclothed" means the partial or full exposure of a
 
13 person's pubic hair, anus, cleft of the buttocks, genitalia, or
 
14 nipple or areola of the female breast."
 
15      2.  Amending the definition of "premises" or "licensed
 
16 premises" to read as follows:
 
17      ""Premises" or "licensed premises" means the premises in
 
18 respect of which a license has been or is proposed to be
 
19 issued[.], including any interior area whether liquor is served
 

 
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 1 or consumed therein or not, the tract of land and the building
 
 2 addressed as the location of the liquor-serving establishment
 
 3 with appurtenant vehicle parking areas and grounds and with
 
 4 appurtenant other business premises under common ownership or
 
 5 common lease ownership or in any manner under the operation of
 
 6 the licensee."
 
 7      3.  Amending the definition of "standard bar" to read as
 
 8 follows:
 
 9      ""Standard bar" means any establishment licensed to sell
 
10 liquor for consumption on the premises, except:
 
11      (1)  Premises in which a person performs or entertains
 
12           unclothed or in attire restricted to use by
 
13           entertainers pursuant to commission [regulations;]
 
14           rules; or
 
15      (2)  Premises in which live entertainment or recorded music
 
16           is provided.  Facilities for dancing by the patrons may
 
17           be permitted as provided by commission rules; or
 
18      (3)  Premises in which employees or entertainers consume
 
19           nonalcoholic beverages while in the company of patrons
 
20           or sit with patrons pursuant to this chapter or
 
21           commission rules."
 
22      SECTION 3.  Section 281-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
23 amended to read as follows:
 

 
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 1      "§281-4 Liquor consumption on unlicensed premises
 
 2 prohibited[, when].(a)  It shall be unlawful for any person who
 
 3 keeps or maintains any restaurant or other premises where food,
 
 4 beverages, or entertainment are sold or provided for
 
 5 compensation, or to which members of the public, or members of an
 
 6 organization, resort for food, refreshment, or entertainment, and
 
 7 who is not a licensee of the commission under this chapter, to
 
 8 promote, encourage, aid or permit the consumption of liquor on
 
 9 the premises[, except during the hours between which licensed
 
10 premises of dispensers are permitted to be open for the
 
11 transaction of business in the county where the premises are
 
12 located].
 
13      (b)  It shall be unlawful for any person who is present at
 
14 any restaurant or other premises where food, beverages, or
 
15 entertainment are sold or provided for compensation, or to which
 
16 members of the public, or members of an organization, resort for
 
17 food, refreshment, or entertainment, and which premises are not
 
18 licensed by the commission under this chapter, to consume any
 
19 liquor on the premises[, except during the hours between which
 
20 licensed premises of dispensers are permitted to be open for the
 
21 transaction of business in the county where the premises are
 
22 located].
 
23      [(c)  It shall be unlawful for any person who keeps or
 

 
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 1 maintains any restaurant or other premises where food, beverages,
 
 2 or entertainment are sold or provided for compensation, to sell
 
 3 or provide any food or beverages to or for any of the following
 
 4 persons knowing that such person has, or is about to obtain,
 
 5 liquor for consumption by the person on the premises, to wit:
 
 6      (1)  Any minor,
 
 7      (2)  Any person at the time under the influence of liquor,
 
 8      (3)  Any disorderly person,
 
 9      (4)  Any person known to be addicted to the excessive use of
 
10           liquor,
 
11      (5)  Any person, for consumption in any vehicle on the
 
12           premises;
 
13 provided that the sale of or the providing of food or beverages
 
14 to or for a minor who has or is about to obtain liquor for
 
15 consumption by the minor on the premises shall not be deemed to
 
16 be a violation of this subsection if, at the time, the person so
 
17 selling or providing food or beverages was misled by the
 
18 appearance of the minor and the attending circumstances into
 
19 honestly believing that such minor was of legal age and the
 
20 person acted in good faith, and it shall be incumbent upon the
 
21 person to prove that the person so acted in good faith.
 
22      (d)] (c)  Within the meaning of this section the word
 
23 "premises" includes any vessel as well as any place, with or
 

 
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 1 without a structure thereon[, and the hours between which
 
 2 licensed premises of dispensers are permitted to be open for the
 
 3 transaction of business shall be deemed to be those during which
 
 4 such dispensers are permitted to keep open their premises for the
 
 5 sale, service, and consumption of liquor, or any of them]."
 
 6      SECTION 4.  Section 281-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 7 amended by amending subsection (f) to read as follows:
 
 8      "(f)  Class 5.  Dispensers' licenses.  A license under this
 
 9 class shall authorize the licensee to sell liquors specified in
 
10 this subsection for consumption on the premises.  A licensee
 
11 under this class shall be issued a license according to the
 
12 category of establishment the licensee owns or operates.  The
 
13 categories of establishments shall be as follows:
 
14      (1)  A standard bar;
 
15      (2)  A premise in which a person performs or entertains
 
16           unclothed or in attire restricted to use by
 
17           entertainers pursuant to commission rules; or
 
18      (3)  A premise in which live entertainment or recorded music
 
19           is provided; provided that facilities for dancing by
 
20           the patrons may be permitted as provided by commission
 
21           rules[; or
 
22      (4)  A premise in which employees or entertainers are
 
23           compensated to sit with patrons whether or not the
 

 
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 1           employees or entertainers are consuming nonalcoholic
 
 2           beverages while in the company of the patrons pursuant
 
 3           to commission rules].
 
 4 If a licensee under class 5 desires to change the category of
 
 5 establishment the licensee owns or operates, the licensee shall
 
 6 apply for a new license applicable to the category of the
 
 7 licensee's establishment.
 
 8      For each category of class 5 licenses there shall be the
 
 9 following kinds:
 
10      (1)  General (includes all liquors except alcohol);
 
11      (2)  Beer and wine; and
 
12      (3)  Beer."
 
13      SECTION 5.  Section 281-39.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
14 amended to read as follows:
 
15      "[[]§281-39.5[]]  Liquor license prohibited; where. (a)  The
 
16 liquor commission or agency of each county may deny or restrict
 
17 the issuance of a liquor license for on-site sale and consumption
 
18 by the drink to any applicant whose establishment is or would be
 
19 located within five hundred feet of a public or private
 
20 elementary, intermediate, or high school, or public playground
 
21 utilized extensively by minors, as determined by the liquor
 
22 commission of each county.  The distance of five hundred feet
 
23 shall be measured from the boundary of the school or public
 

 
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 1 playground to the boundary of the applicant's establishment.
 
 2 Public or private beaches, and public or private day care centers
 
 3 located in or adjacent to commercial areas shall not be deemed
 
 4 schools or public playgrounds for purposes of this section[.  The
 
 5 provisions of this] provided that:
 
 6      (1)  This section shall not apply to establishments located
 
 7           within areas designated by the appropriate counties for
 
 8           resort purposes, or to hotel liquor license
 
 9           applicants[.]; and
 
10      (2)  The liquor commission shall deny a liquor license to
 
11           applicant premises under sections 281-31(f)(2) and 281-
 
12           31(l) that are within five hundred feet of any
 
13           residence, public school, public park or playground,
 
14           church or place of worship, the Hawaii convention
 
15           center, any other premises licensed under this chapter,
 
16           or any other business that provides sex-oriented
 
17           entertainment.
 
18      (b)  This section shall apply [only] to the issuance of new
 
19 liquor licenses for on-site sale and consumption by the drink
 
20 [and not to any].  Subsection (a)(2) shall apply to both the
 
21 issuance of new liquor licenses and the renewal of [such] the
 
22 licenses."
 
23      SECTION 6.  Section 281-45, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 

 
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 1 amended to read as follows:
 
 2      "§281-45  No license issued, when.  No license shall be
 
 3 issued under this chapter:
 
 4      (1)  To any minor or to any person who has been convicted of
 
 5           a felony and not pardoned (except that the commission
 
 6           may grant a license under this chapter to a corporation
 
 7           that has been convicted of a felony where the
 
 8           commission finds that the organization's officers and
 
 9           shareholders of twenty-five per cent or more of
 
10           outstanding stock are fit and proper persons to have a
 
11           license), or to any other person not deemed by the
 
12           commission to be a fit and proper person to have a
 
13           license;
 
14      (2)  To a corporation the officers and directors of which,
 
15           or any of them, would be disqualified under paragraph
 
16           (1) of this section from obtaining the license
 
17           individually, or a stockholder of which, owning or
 
18           controlling twenty-five per cent or more of the
 
19           outstanding capital stock would be disqualified under
 
20           that paragraph from obtaining the license individually;
 
21      (3)  Unless the applicant for a license or a renewal of a
 
22           license, or in the case of a transfer of a license,
 
23           both the transferor and the transferee, present to the
 

 
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 1           issuing agency a signed certificate from the director
 
 2           of taxation and from the Internal Revenue Service
 
 3           showing that the applicant or the transferor and
 
 4           transferee do not owe the state or federal governments
 
 5           any delinquent taxes, penalties, or interest; or
 
 6      (4)  To any applicant for a license or a renewal of a
 
 7           license, who has had any liquor license revoked less
 
 8           than two years previous to the date of the application
 
 9           for any like or other license under this chapter[.], or
 
10           who has violated any provision of this chapter less
 
11           than six months prior to a license or renewal
 
12           application."
 
13      SECTION 7.  Section 281-78, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
14 amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
 
15      "(b)  At no time under any circumstances shall any licensee
 
16 or its employee:
 
17      (1)  Sell, serve, or furnish any liquor to, or allow the
 
18           consumption of any liquor by:
 
19           (A)  Any minor;
 
20           (B)  Any person at the time under the influence of
 
21                liquor;
 
22           (C)  Any person known to the licensee to be addicted to
 
23                the excessive use of intoxicating liquor; or
 

 
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 1           (D)  Any person for consumption in any vehicle that is
 
 2                licensed to travel on public highways;
 
 3           provided that the consumption or sale of liquor to a
 
 4           minor shall not be deemed to be a violation of this
 
 5           subsection if, in making the sale or allowing the
 
 6           consumption of any liquor by a minor, the licensee was
 
 7           misled by the appearance of the minor and the attending
 
 8           circumstances into honestly believing that the minor
 
 9           was of legal age and the licensee acted in good faith;
 
10           and provided further that it shall be incumbent upon
 
11           the licensee to prove that the licensee so acted in
 
12           good faith;
 
13      (2)  Permit any liquor to be consumed on the premises of the
 
14           licensee or on any premises connected therewith,
 
15           whether there purchased or not, except as permitted by
 
16           the terms of its license;
 
17      (3)  Permit any liquor to be sold or served by any person
 
18           eighteen to twenty years of age except in licensed
 
19           establishments where selling or serving the
 
20           intoxicating liquor is part of the minor's employment,
 
21           and where there is proper supervision of these minor
 
22           employees to ensure that the minors shall not consume
 
23           the intoxicating liquor;
 

 
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 1      (4)  Permit any liquor to be sold or served by any person
 
 2           below the age of eighteen years upon any licensed
 
 3           premises, except in individually specified licensed
 
 4           establishments found to be otherwise suitable by the
 
 5           liquor commission in which an approved program of job
 
 6           training and employment for dining room waiters and
 
 7           waitresses is being conducted in cooperation with the
 
 8           University of Hawaii, the state community college
 
 9           system, or a federally sponsored personnel development
 
10           and training program, under arrangements that ensure
 
11           proper control and supervision of employees;
 
12      (5)  Knowingly permit any person under the influence of
 
13           liquor or disorderly person to be or remain in or on
 
14           the licensed premises;
 
15      (6)  Fail immediately to prevent or suppress any violent,
 
16           quarrelsome, disorderly, lewd, immoral, or unlawful
 
17           conduct of any person on the premises;
 
18      (7)  Sell any draught beer unless upon the faucet, spigot,
 
19           or outlet wherefrom the beer is drawn there is attached
 
20           a clear and legible notice, placard, or marker which in
 
21           the English language indicates and declares the name or
 
22           brand adopted by the manufacturer of the draught beer,
 
23           so situated as to be clearly legible for a distance of
 

 
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 1           at least ten feet from the spigot, faucet, or outlet,
 
 2           to a purchaser with normal vision;
 
 3      (8)  Knowingly allow any unclothed person to perform or
 
 4           entertain on the premises; and
 
 5      (9)  Receive from a person, as payment or as a consideration
 
 6           for liquor, any personal or household goods, including
 
 7           clothing and food, or any implements of trade.  Any
 
 8           person violating this paragraph shall be guilty of a
 
 9           misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished as
 
10           provided in section 281-102."
 
11      SECTION 8.  Section 281-101, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
12 amended to read as follows:
 
13      "§281-101  Manufacture or sale without license; penalty.  If
 
14 any person, acting in person or by or through any agent, servant,
 
15 or employee, manufactures or sells any liquor, either directly or
 
16 indirectly, or upon any pretense or by any subterfuge, except as
 
17 authorized pursuant to this chapter, the person shall be fined
 
18 not more than [$2,000] _______ or imprisoned not more than one
 
19 year, or both."
 
20      SECTION 9.  Section 281-101.4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
21 amended to read as follows:
 
22      "§281-101.4  Hearing, illegal manufacture, importation, or
 
23 sale of liquor.  The liquor commission or liquor control
 

 
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 1 adjudication board may assess and collect a penalty, or reprimand
 
 2 a person for not having a valid license to manufacture or sell
 
 3 any liquor in violation of this chapter or of any rule or
 
 4 regulation applicable thereto.
 
 5      In every case where the administrator elects to conduct
 
 6 proceedings under this section where it is proposed to assess and
 
 7 collect a penalty from a person for not having a valid license to
 
 8 manufacture or sell any liquor in violation of this chapter or of
 
 9 any rule or regulation applicable thereto, that person shall be
 
10 entitled to notice and hearing in conformity with chapter 91.
 
11      At the hearing, before final action is taken by the
 
12 commission or board, the person shall be entitled to be heard in
 
13 person or through counsel and shall be given a full and fair
 
14 opportunity to present facts showing that the alleged cause or
 
15 causes for the proposed action do not exist, or any reason why no
 
16 penalty should be imposed.  The testimony taken at the hearing
 
17 shall be under oath and recorded stenographically, or by machine,
 
18 but the parties shall not be bound by the strict rules of
 
19 evidence; certified copies of any transcript and of any other
 
20 record made of or at the hearing shall be furnished to a person
 
21 upon that person's request and at that person's expense.
 
22      Any order, reprimand, or penalty imposed by the commission
 
23 or board upon a person for not having a valid license to
 

 
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 1 manufacture or sell any liquor in violation of this chapter or of
 
 2 any rule or regulation applicable thereto shall be in addition to
 
 3 any penalty that might be imposed upon that person's conviction
 
 4 in a court of law for any violation of this chapter.  The amount
 
 5 of penalty assessed and collected by the commission or board from
 
 6 any person under this section for not having a valid license to
 
 7 manufacture or sell any liquor shall not exceed the sum of
 
 8 [$2,000] ________ for each charge.
 
 9      Whenever the service of any order or notice shall be
 
10 required by this section, the service shall be made in the
 
11 following manner:  in the case of any violation based upon the
 
12 personal observation of any investigator, a written notice of the
 
13 violation shall be given to the person charged with a violation
 
14 within a reasonable period of time after the alleged violation
 
15 occurred, the person charged shall be requested to acknowledge
 
16 receipt of the alleged violation, or, if the person cannot be
 
17 found after diligent search, by leaving a certified copy thereof
 
18 at the person's dwelling house or usual place of abode with some
 
19 person of suitable age and discretion residing therein; and if
 
20 the person cannot be found after diligent search, and service
 
21 cannot be made, then service may be made by depositing another
 
22 certified copy thereof in the certified mail of the United States
 
23 post office, postage prepaid, addressed to the person at the
 

 
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 1 person's last known residence address; provided, that in the case
 
 2 of a partnership, corporation, unincorporated association, or
 
 3 limited liability company, service may be made upon any partner,
 
 4 officer, or member  thereof."
 
 5      SECTION 10.  Section 281-102, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 6 amended to read as follows:
 
 7      "§281-102  Other offenses; penalty.  If any person violates
 
 8 this chapter or any rule [or regulation] in effect by authority
 
 9 of this chapter, whether in connection therewith a penalty is
 
10 referred to or not, for which violation no penalty is
 
11 specifically prescribed, the person shall be imprisoned not more
 
12 than six months or fined not more than [$1,000,] ______ or both."
 
13      SECTION 11.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
14 New statutory material is underscored.
 
15      SECTION 12.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
16 
 
17                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________