| Sec. 4301.17. (A)(1) Subject to local option as provided in | 20 |
|
sections 4301.32 to 4301.40 of the Revised Code
and except as | 21 |
|
otherwise provided in division (A)(2) of this section, five state | 22 |
liquor stores or agencies may be established in each county.
One | 23 |
| Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(2) of this section, | 24 |
|
one additional store may be established in any county for each | 25 |
thirtytwenty-five
thousand of population of
suchthat county or | 26 |
|
major
fraction thereof
in excess of the first forty thousand, | 27 |
|
according
to the last
preceding
federal
decennial census
or | 28 |
|
according to the
population estimates certified by the department | 29 |
of development between decennial censuses.
AExcept as otherwise | 30 |
|
provided in division (A)(2) of this section, a
person engaged in a | 31 |
|
mercantile
business may act as the agent for
the division of | 32 |
|
liquor
control for the sale of spirituous liquor
in a municipal | 33 |
corporation, in the unincorporated area
of a
township
of not less | 34 |
than two thousand population, or in
an area
designated and | 35 |
|
approved as a resort area under section
4303.262 of
the Revised | 36 |
Code, provided that not more than one
agency contract
shall be | 37 |
awarded in the unincorporated area of a
county for each
fifty | 38 |
thousand population of the county. The
division shall
fix
the | 39 |
compensation for such
an agent in
suchthe manner
as it
deems | 40 |
considers best, but
suchthe compensation shall not
be less than | 41 |
|
six and one-half per cent of, nor exceed
seven
and one-half
per | 42 |
cent of, the gross sales made by
suchthe agent in any one
year. | 43 |
| Except as otherwise provided in this section, no mercantile | 44 |
|
business
that sells beer or intoxicating
liquor for consumption on | 45 |
|
the premises under a permit issued by
the division shall operate | 46 |
an agency store at
suchthe premises or
at any adjacent premises. | 47 |
|
An agency to which a D-1 permit has been
issued may offer for sale | 48 |
|
tasting samples of beer, an agency
to which a
D-2 permit has been | 49 |
|
issued may offer for sale tasting samples of wine
and mixed | 50 |
|
beverages, and an agency to which a D-5 permit
has been issued may | 51 |
|
offer for sale tasting samples of beer, wine, and mixed
beverages, | 52 |
|
but not spirituous liquor. A tasting sample shall not be sold
for | 53 |
|
the purpose of
general consumption. As used in this section, | 54 |
|
"tasting sample" means a small
amount of beer, wine, or mixed | 55 |
|
beverages that is provided in not more than
four servings of not | 56 |
|
more than two ounces each to an authorized purchaser and
that | 57 |
|
allows the purchaser to determine, by tasting only, the quality | 58 |
|
and
character of the beverage. | 59 |
| (B) When an agency contract is proposed or when an existing | 68 |
agency
contract is assigned, before entering into any
such | 69 |
|
contract or
consenting to any assignment, the division shall | 70 |
|
notify the
legislative authority of the municipal corporation
in | 71 |
|
which the agency store is to be located, or the
board of county | 72 |
|
commissioners and the board of township trustees
of the county and | 73 |
|
the township in which the agency store is to be
located if the | 74 |
|
agency store is to be located outside the
corporate limits of a | 75 |
|
municipal corporation, of the proposed
contract
or assignment, and | 76 |
|
an opportunity shall be provided officials or
employees of the | 77 |
|
municipal corporation or county and township for
a complete | 78 |
hearing upon the advisability of entering into the
agency contract | 79 |
| or consenting to the assignment. When the division sends notice | 80 |
|
to the
legislative authority of the political subdivision, the | 81 |
|
department shall notify, by certified mail or by personal
service, | 82 |
|
the chief peace officer of the political subdivision,
who may | 83 |
|
appear and testify, either in person or through a
representative, | 84 |
|
at any hearing held on the advisability of
entering into the | 85 |
agency contract
or consenting to the assignment. | 86 |
On or after July 21, 1986, ifIf the proposed agency store | 87 |
|
would be located within five hundred
feet of a school, church, | 88 |
|
library, public playground, or township
park, the division shall | 89 |
|
not enter into an agency contract
until it has provided notice of | 90 |
|
the proposed contract to the
authorities in control of the school, | 91 |
|
church, library, public
playground, or township park and has | 92 |
provided
such officialsthose authorities with
an opportunity for | 93 |
|
a complete hearing upon the advisability of
entering into the | 94 |
|
contract. If an agency store so located is
operating under an | 95 |
|
agency contract,
the division may consent to the assignment of | 96 |
|
that
contract to operate an agency store at the same location, | 97 |
provided thatbut the division shall not consent to an assignment | 98 |
|
until it has notified the authorities in control of the school, | 99 |
|
church, library, public playground, or township park and has | 100 |
provided
such officialsthose authorities with an opportunity for | 101 |
|
a complete
hearing upon the advisability of consenting to the | 102 |
|
assignment. | 103 |
| Any hearing
provided for in this division shall be held in | 104 |
|
the
central office of the division,
except that upon
written | 105 |
|
request of the legislative authority of the municipal
corporation, | 106 |
|
the board of county commissioners, or board of
township trustees, | 107 |
| or the autorities in control of the school, church, library, | 108 |
|
public playground, or township park,
the hearing shall be held in | 109 |
|
the county seat
of the county where
the proposed agency store is | 110 |
|
to be located. | 111 |
| (C) All agency contracts entered into by the division | 112 |
|
pursuant to this section shall be in writing and shall contain a | 113 |
|
clause providing for the termination of the contract at will by | 114 |
|
the division upon its giving ninety days' notice in writing to | 115 |
suchthe agent of its intention to do so. Any agency contract may | 116 |
|
include a clause requiring the agent to report to the appropriate | 117 |
|
law enforcement agency the name and address of any individual | 118 |
|
under twenty-one years of age who attempts to make an illegal | 119 |
|
purchase. | 120 |
| The division shall issue a C-1 and C-2 permit to each
agent | 124 |
|
who prior to
November 1, 1994, had not been issued both of these | 125 |
|
permits,
notwithstanding the population quota restrictions | 126 |
|
contained in section 4303.29
of the Revised Code or in any rule of | 127 |
|
the liquor control commission and
notwithstanding the requirements | 128 |
|
of section 4303.31 of the Revised Code. The
location of a C-1 or | 129 |
|
C-2 permit issued to such an agent shall not be
transferred. The | 130 |
|
division shall revoke any C-1 or C-2
permit issued to
an agent | 131 |
|
under this paragraph if the agent no longer operates an agency | 132 |
|
store. | 133 |
No person shall operate, or
have any interest, directly or | 134 |
indirectly, in more than four state
agencies in any one county
or | 135 |
more than eight state agencies in
the state for the sale of | 136 |
spirituous liquor. For purposes of
this section, a person has an | 137 |
interest in a state agency if the
person is a partner, member, | 138 |
officer, or director of, or a
shareholder owning ten per cent or | 139 |
more of the capital stock of,
any legal entity with which the | 140 |
department has entered into an
agency contract. | 141 |
| (D) If the division closes a state liquor store and replaces | 147 |
|
that store with
an agency store, any employees of the division | 148 |
|
employed at that state liquor
store who lose their jobs at that | 149 |
|
store as a result shall be given
preference by the agent who | 150 |
|
operates the agency store in filling any vacancies that occur | 151 |
among the agent's employees, if
suchthat preference does not | 152 |
|
conflict
with the agent's obligations pursuant to a collective | 153 |
|
bargaining
agreement. | 154 |
| If the division closes a state liquor store and replaces the | 155 |
|
store with an
agency store, any employees of the division employed | 156 |
|
at the state liquor store
who lose their jobs at that store as a | 157 |
|
result may displace other
employees as provided in sections | 158 |
|
124.321 to 124.328 of the Revised Code. If
an employee cannot | 159 |
|
displace other employees and is laid off, the employee
shall be | 160 |
|
reinstated in another job as provided in sections 124.321 to | 161 |
|
124.328
of the Revised Code, except that the employee's rights of | 162 |
|
reinstatement in a
job at a state liquor store shall continue for | 163 |
|
a period of two years after the
date of the employee's layoff and | 164 |
|
shall apply to jobs at state liquor stores
located in the | 165 |
|
employee's layoff jurisdiction and any layoff jurisdiction | 166 |
|
adjacent to the employee's layoff jurisdiction. | 167 |