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Sub. H. B. No. 330As Passed by the HouseAs Passed by the House
124th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2001-2002 |
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REPRESENTATIVE Peterson
A BILL
To amend section 4301.17 of the Revised Code to allow
the Division of Liquor Control to base
the
population quota restrictions for agency
stores
that sell spirituous liquor on the Division's
behalf on state
population estimates determined by
the Department of
Development between federal
decennial censuses; to change these population
quota restrictions; and
to eliminate the
restriction
against the same
person operating or
having an
interest in more
than sixteen agency
stores in the
state or more than eight agency
stores in the same
county.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 4301.17 of the Revised Code be
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 4301.17. (A) Subject to local option as provided in
sections 4301.32 to 4301.40 of the Revised Code, five state
liquor
stores or agencies may be established in each county. One
additional store may be established in any county for each
thirty
twenty-five
thousand of population of
that county or major
fraction
thereof
in
excess of the first forty thousand, according
to the
last
preceding federal
decennial census
or according to the
population estimates certified by the department of development
between decennial censuses. A person engaged in a mercantile
business may act as the agent for the division of
liquor
control
for the sale of spirituous liquor in a municipal
corporation, in
the unincorporated area
of a township
of not less than two
thousand population, or in
an area designated and approved as a
resort area under section
4303.262 of the Revised Code, provided
that not more than one
agency contract shall be awarded in the
unincorporated area of a
county for each fifty thousand population
of the county. The
division shall
fix
the compensation for such
an agent
in
the
manner
it
considers best, but
the compensation
shall not
exceed
seven per cent of the gross
sales made by
the
agent in any
one
year. Except as otherwise provided in this section, no mercantile
business
that sells beer or intoxicating
liquor for consumption on
the premises under a permit issued by
the division shall operate
an agency store at
the premises or
at any adjacent premises.
An
agency to which a D-1 permit has been
issued may offer for sale
tasting samples of beer, an agency
to which a
D-2 permit has been
issued may offer for sale tasting samples of wine
and mixed
beverages, and an agency to which a D-5 permit
has been issued may
offer for sale tasting samples of beer, wine, and mixed
beverages,
but not spirituous liquor. A tasting sample shall not be sold
for
the purpose of
general consumption. As used in this section,
"tasting sample" means a small
amount of beer, wine, or mixed
beverages that is provided in not more than
four servings of not
more than two ounces each to an authorized purchaser and
that
allows the purchaser to determine, by tasting only, the quality
and
character of the beverage. (B) When an agency contract is proposed or when an existing
agency
contract is assigned, before entering into any
contract or
consenting to any assignment, the division shall
notify the
legislative authority of the municipal corporation
in
which the
agency store is to be located, or the
board
of county
commissioners and the board of township trustees
of the
county and
the township in which the agency store is to be
located
if the
agency store is to be located outside the
corporate limits
of a
municipal corporation, of the proposed
contract
or assignment, and
an
opportunity shall be provided officials or
employees of the
municipal corporation or county and township for
a complete
hearing upon the advisability of entering into the
contract
or
consenting to the assignment. When the division sends notice
to
the
legislative
authority of the political subdivision, the
department shall
notify, by certified mail or by personal
service,
the chief peace
officer of the political subdivision,
who may
appear and testify,
either in person or through a
representative,
at any hearing held
on the advisability of
entering into the
contract
or consenting to the assignment. If
the proposed agency store
would
be located within five
hundred
feet of a school, church,
library,
public playground, or
township
park, the division shall
not enter
into an agency
contract
until it has provided notice of
the
proposed contract to
the
authorities in control of the school,
church, library, public
playground, or township park and has
provided
those authorities
with
an opportunity for
a complete hearing
upon the advisability
of
entering into the
contract. If an agency
store so located is
operating under an
agency contract,
the
division may consent to
the assignment of
that
contract to operate
an agency store at the
same location,
but the division
shall not consent to an
assignment
until it has notified the
authorities in control of the
school,
church, library, public
playground, or township park and
has
provided
those authorities with
an opportunity for
a complete
hearing upon the advisability of
consenting to the
assignment. Any hearing
provided for in this division shall be held in
the
central office of the division,
except that upon
written
request of the legislative authority of the municipal
corporation,
the board of county commissioners,
or
the board of
township
trustees,
or the authorities in control of the school, church,
library, public playground, or township park,
the hearing shall be
held in the county seat
of the county where
the proposed agency
store is to be located. (C) All agency contracts entered into by the division
pursuant to this section shall be in writing and shall contain a
clause providing for the termination of the contract at will by
the division upon its giving ninety days' notice in writing to
the agent of its intention to do so. Any agency contract may
include a clause requiring the agent to report to the appropriate
law enforcement agency the name and address of any individual
under twenty-one years of age who attempts to make an illegal
purchase. An agent may engage in the selling of beer, mixed
beverages,
and wine pursuant to permits issued to the agent under
Chapter
4303. of the Revised Code. The division shall issue a C-1 and C-2 permit to each
agent
who prior to
November 1, 1994, had not been issued both of these
permits,
notwithstanding the population quota restrictions
contained in section 4303.29
of the Revised Code or in any rule of
the liquor control commission and
notwithstanding the requirements
of section 4303.31 of the Revised Code. The
location of a C-1 or
C-2 permit issued to such an agent shall not be
transferred. The
division shall revoke any C-1 or C-2
permit issued to
an agent
under this paragraph if the agent no longer operates an agency
store. No person shall operate, or
have any interest, directly or
indirectly, in more than
eight state
agencies in any one
county
or
more than
sixteen state agencies in
the state for
the sale of
spirituous liquor. For purposes of
this section, a
person has an
interest in a state agency if the
person is a
partner, member,
officer, or director of, or a
shareholder owning
ten per cent or
more of the capital stock of,
any legal entity
with which the
department has entered into an
agency contract.
The division may enter into agreements with the department
of
development to
implement a minority loan program to provide
low-interest loans to minority
business enterprises, as defined in
section 122.71 of the Revised Code, that
are awarded liquor agency
contracts or assignments. (D) If the division closes a state liquor store and replaces
that store with
an agency store, any employees of the division
employed at that state liquor
store who lose their jobs at that
store as a result shall be given
preference by the agent who
operates the agency store in filling any vacancies that occur
among the agent's employees, if
that preference does not
conflict
with the agent's obligations pursuant to a collective
bargaining
agreement. If the division closes a state liquor store and replaces the
store with an
agency store, any employees of the division employed
at the state liquor store
who lose their jobs at that store as a
result may displace other
employees as provided in sections
124.321 to 124.328 of the Revised Code. If
an employee cannot
displace other employees and is laid off, the employee
shall be
reinstated in another job as provided in sections 124.321 to
124.328
of the Revised Code, except that the employee's rights of
reinstatement in a
job at a state liquor store shall continue for
a period of two years after the
date of the employee's layoff and
shall apply to jobs at state liquor stores
located in the
employee's layoff jurisdiction and any layoff jurisdiction
adjacent to the employee's layoff jurisdiction. (E) The division shall require every
agent to
give bond
with surety to the satisfaction of the division, in
the
amount
the division fixes, conditioned for the faithful
performance of
the agent's
duties as prescribed by the division.
Section 2. That existing section 4301.17 of the Revised Code
is hereby repealed.
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