| Sec. 4301.17. (A) Subject to local option as provided in | 15 |
|
sections 4301.32 to 4301.40 of the Revised Code, five state
liquor | 16 |
|
stores or agencies may be established in each county. One | 17 |
additional store may be established in any county for each
thirty | 18 |
| twenty-five
thousand of population of
that county or major | 19 |
|
fraction
thereof
in
excess of the first forty thousand, according | 20 |
|
to the
last
preceding federal
decennial census
or according to the | 21 |
|
population estimates certified by the department of development | 22 |
|
between decennial censuses. A person engaged in a mercantile | 23 |
|
business may act as the agent for the division of
liquor
control | 24 |
|
for the sale of spirituous liquor in a municipal
corporation, in | 25 |
the unincorporated area
of a township
of not less than two | 26 |
thousand population, or in
an area designated and approved as a | 27 |
resort area under section
4303.262 of the Revised Code, provided | 28 |
that not more than one
agency contract shall be awarded in the | 29 |
unincorporated area of a
county for each fifty thousand population | 30 |
of the county. The
division shall
fix
the compensation for such | 31 |
|
an agent
in
the
manner
it
considers best, but
the compensation | 32 |
|
shall not
exceed
seven per cent of the gross
sales made by
the | 33 |
|
agent in any
one
year. | 34 |
| Except as otherwise provided in this section, no mercantile | 35 |
|
business
that sells beer or intoxicating
liquor for consumption on | 36 |
|
the premises under a permit issued by
the division shall operate | 37 |
|
an agency store at
the premises or
at any adjacent premises.
An | 38 |
|
agency to which a D-1 permit has been
issued may offer for sale | 39 |
|
tasting samples of beer, an agency
to which a
D-2 permit has been | 40 |
|
issued may offer for sale tasting samples of wine
and mixed | 41 |
|
beverages, and an agency to which a D-5 permit
has been issued may | 42 |
|
offer for sale tasting samples of beer, wine, and mixed
beverages, | 43 |
|
but not spirituous liquor. A tasting sample shall not be sold
for | 44 |
|
the purpose of
general consumption. As used in this section, | 45 |
|
"tasting sample" means a small
amount of beer, wine, or mixed | 46 |
|
beverages that is provided in not more than
four servings of not | 47 |
|
more than two ounces each to an authorized purchaser and
that | 48 |
|
allows the purchaser to determine, by tasting only, the quality | 49 |
|
and
character of the beverage. | 50 |
| (B) When an agency contract is proposed or when an existing | 51 |
|
agency
contract is assigned, before entering into any
contract or | 52 |
|
consenting to any assignment, the division shall
notify the | 53 |
|
legislative authority of the municipal corporation
in
which the | 54 |
|
agency store is to be located, or the
board
of county | 55 |
|
commissioners and the board of township trustees
of the
county and | 56 |
|
the township in which the agency store is to be
located
if the | 57 |
|
agency store is to be located outside the
corporate limits
of a | 58 |
|
municipal corporation, of the proposed
contract
or assignment, and | 59 |
|
an
opportunity shall be provided officials or
employees of the | 60 |
|
municipal corporation or county and township for
a complete | 61 |
|
hearing upon the advisability of entering into the
contract
or | 62 |
|
consenting to the assignment. When the division sends notice
to | 63 |
|
the
legislative
authority of the political subdivision, the | 64 |
|
department shall
notify, by certified mail or by personal
service, | 65 |
|
the chief peace
officer of the political subdivision,
who may | 66 |
|
appear and testify,
either in person or through a
representative, | 67 |
|
at any hearing held
on the advisability of
entering into the | 68 |
|
contract
or consenting to the assignment. | 69 |
| If
the proposed agency store
would
be located within five | 70 |
|
hundred
feet of a school, church,
library,
public playground, or | 71 |
|
township
park, the division shall
not enter
into an agency | 72 |
|
contract
until it has provided notice of
the
proposed contract to | 73 |
|
the
authorities in control of the school,
church, library, public | 74 |
|
playground, or township park and has
provided
those authorities | 75 |
|
with
an opportunity for
a complete hearing
upon the advisability | 76 |
|
of
entering into the
contract. If an agency
store so located is | 77 |
|
operating under an
agency contract,
the
division may consent to | 78 |
|
the assignment of
that
contract to operate
an agency store at the | 79 |
|
same location,
but the division
shall not consent to an | 80 |
|
assignment
until it has notified the
authorities in control of the | 81 |
|
school,
church, library, public
playground, or township park and | 82 |
|
has
provided
those authorities with
an opportunity for
a complete | 83 |
|
hearing upon the advisability of
consenting to the
assignment. | 84 |
| Any hearing
provided for in this division shall be held in | 85 |
|
the
central office of the division,
except that upon
written | 86 |
|
request of the legislative authority of the municipal
corporation, | 87 |
the board of county commissioners,
orthe board of
township | 88 |
|
trustees,
or the authorities in control of the school, church, | 89 |
|
library, public playground, or township park,
the hearing shall be | 90 |
|
held in the county seat
of the county where
the proposed agency | 91 |
|
store is to be located. | 92 |
| (C) All agency contracts entered into by the division | 93 |
|
pursuant to this section shall be in writing and shall contain a | 94 |
|
clause providing for the termination of the contract at will by | 95 |
|
the division upon its giving ninety days' notice in writing to
| 96 |
|
the agent of its intention to do so. Any agency contract may | 97 |
|
include a clause requiring the agent to report to the appropriate | 98 |
|
law enforcement agency the name and address of any individual | 99 |
|
under twenty-one years of age who attempts to make an illegal | 100 |
|
purchase. | 101 |
| The division shall issue a C-1 and C-2 permit to each
agent | 105 |
|
who prior to
November 1, 1994, had not been issued both of these | 106 |
|
permits,
notwithstanding the population quota restrictions | 107 |
|
contained in section 4303.29
of the Revised Code or in any rule of | 108 |
|
the liquor control commission and
notwithstanding the requirements | 109 |
|
of section 4303.31 of the Revised Code. The
location of a C-1 or | 110 |
|
C-2 permit issued to such an agent shall not be
transferred. The | 111 |
|
division shall revoke any C-1 or C-2
permit issued to
an agent | 112 |
|
under this paragraph if the agent no longer operates an agency | 113 |
|
store. | 114 |
No person shall operate, or
have any interest, directly or | 115 |
indirectly, in more than
eight state
agencies in any one
county | 116 |
or
more than
sixteen state agencies in
the state for
the sale of | 117 |
spirituous liquor. For purposes of
this section, a
person has an | 118 |
interest in a state agency if the
person is a
partner, member, | 119 |
officer, or director of, or a
shareholder owning
ten per cent or | 120 |
more of the capital stock of,
any legal entity
with which the | 121 |
department has entered into an
agency contract. | 122 |
| (D) If the division closes a state liquor store and replaces | 128 |
|
that store with
an agency store, any employees of the division | 129 |
|
employed at that state liquor
store who lose their jobs at that | 130 |
|
store as a result shall be given
preference by the agent who | 131 |
|
operates the agency store in filling any vacancies that occur | 132 |
|
among the agent's employees, if
that preference does not
conflict | 133 |
|
with the agent's obligations pursuant to a collective
bargaining | 134 |
|
agreement. | 135 |
| If the division closes a state liquor store and replaces the | 136 |
|
store with an
agency store, any employees of the division employed | 137 |
|
at the state liquor store
who lose their jobs at that store as a | 138 |
|
result may displace other
employees as provided in sections | 139 |
|
124.321 to 124.328 of the Revised Code. If
an employee cannot | 140 |
|
displace other employees and is laid off, the employee
shall be | 141 |
|
reinstated in another job as provided in sections 124.321 to | 142 |
|
124.328
of the Revised Code, except that the employee's rights of | 143 |
|
reinstatement in a
job at a state liquor store shall continue for | 144 |
|
a period of two years after the
date of the employee's layoff and | 145 |
|
shall apply to jobs at state liquor stores
located in the | 146 |
|
employee's layoff jurisdiction and any layoff jurisdiction | 147 |
|
adjacent to the employee's layoff jurisdiction. | 148 |