To amend section 4301.04 of the Revised Code to require that certain hearings of the Liquor Control Commission be held in the county seat of the county where the premises that is the subject of the hearing is located.

Section 1. That section 4301.04 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 4301.04.  The liquor control commission has the following powers which it may exercise by the vote of a majority of the commissioners:

(A) To suspend, revoke, and cancel permits. A majority of the commissioners constitutes a quorum for the transaction of any business, for the performance of any duty, or for the exercise of any power of the commission. No vacancy in the commission shall impair the right of the remaining commissioners to exercise all powers of the commission. The act of a majority of the commission, when in session, is the act of the commission. A finding, order, or decision of the commission to suspend a permit shall state and fix the effective date of the commencement and the period of duration of such suspension. Such finding, order, or decision of the commission to revoke or cancel a permit shall state and fix the effective date thereof.

(B) To consider, hear, and determine all appeals authorized by Chapters 4301. and 4303. of the Revised Code, to be taken from any decision, determination, or order of the division of liquor control, and all complaints for the revocation of permits. The liquor control commission shall accord a hearing to any person appealing or complained against, at which such person has the right to be present, to be represented by counsel, to offer evidence, and to require the attendance of witnesses.

Whenever the commission conducts a final hearing relating to the issuance, renewal, transfer of ownership, transfer of location, suspension, or revocation of a permit, the commission shall conduct the hearing in the county seat of the county in which the premises that is the subject of the hearing is located.

(C) To adopt, repeal, and amend bylaws in relation to its meetings and the transaction of its business and regulating its procedure on appeal.

(D) To consider and make recommendations upon any matter which the superintendent of liquor control submits to it for recommendation and determine any matter which the superintendent submits to it for determination.

(E) To require of the superintendent and of any officer, department, board, or commission of the state of any county, township, or municipal officer in this state, information with respect to the social and economic effects of such chapters; and all such officers, departments, boards, and commissions shall furnish such information when requested in writing by the liquor control commission.

(F) To submit to the governor amendments to any laws affecting the sale of intoxicating liquor in this state when it deems desirable.

(G) For the purpose of any hearing or investigation which they are respectively authorized or required by such chapters to conduct, the liquor control commission or any member thereof, the superintendent, or any agent of the division designated in writing for that purpose, may administer oaths, take depositions, issue subpoenas, compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, accounts, papers, records, documents, and testimony. In case of disobedience of any person with respect to an order of the commission or a subpoena issued by the liquor control commission or any member thereof, the superintendent or such agent, or on the refusal of a witness to testify to any matter regarding which the witness may be lawfully interrogated, a judge of the court of common pleas of the county in which the person resides, on application of any member of the liquor control commission or the superintendent, shall compel obedience by attachment proceedings as for contempt, as in the case of disobedience with respect to the requirements of a subpoena issued from such court or a refusal to testify in such court. Each officer who serves such subpoena shall receive the same fees as a sheriff, and each witness who appears, in obedience to a subpoena, before the liquor control commission or any member thereof, or the superintendent, shall receive for attendance the fees and mileage provided for witnesses in civil cases in courts of common pleas, which shall be audited and paid upon presentation of proper vouchers approved by any two members of the commission. No witness subpoenaed at the instance of a party other than the liquor control commission or any member thereof, the superintendent, or such agent, is entitled to compensation unless the commission certifies that the testimony of the witness was material to the matter investigated.

Section 2. That existing section 4301.04 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.