BILL NUMBER: AB 2082 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 23, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Campos
FEBRUARY 17, 2016
An act to add Section 23059 to the Business and Professions Code,
relating to alcoholic beverages.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2082, as amended, Campos. Alcoholic beverages: licenses:
emergency orders.
Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, which is
administrated by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control,
regulates the application, issuance, and suspension of alcoholic
beverage licenses. The act authorizes the department to investigate
potential violations of the act, authorizes the Director of the
Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control to bring an action to enjoin
a violation or the threatened violation of the act, and provides for
a hearing process held on a protest, accusation, or petition for a
license.
This bill would authorize the director
director, by emergency order, to temporarily suspend, limit,
condition, or take other action upon, or
condition any license by emergency order
prior to any hearing when, in the opinion of the department, the
action is urgent and necessary to protect against an immediate threat
to health or safety. safety that is
reasonably related to the operation of the licensed business.
The bill would, among other things related to the issuance and
application of an emergency order, authorize or licensee or
person or entity a licensee against whom the
order has been issued to petition for relief by written argument.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 23059 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
23059. (a) (1) The director may
may, by emergency order, temporarily suspend,
limit, condition, or take other action upon,
or condition any license issued pursuant to this division by
emergency order prior to any hearing when, in the opinion of the
department, the action is urgent and necessary to protect against an
immediate threat to health or safety. safety
that is reasonably related to the operation of the licensed business.
(2) If an immediate threat to health or safety is alleged, direct
evidence of the threat must be presented to the director prior to the
issuance of an emergency order pursuant to this section. The
standard in any subsequent evidentiary hearing shall be whether the
licensee knew, or should have known, about the threat.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Direct evidence" includes, but is not limited to, police
reports, citations from the relevant local civil authority,
photographs, and video footage provided by law enforcement or another
public official acting in his or her official capacity.
(2) "Immediate threat to health or safety" means the trafficking
or dealing of controlled substances, prostitution, human trafficking,
gambling, or violence involving great bodily injury or death that
occurs on or immediately adjacent to the licensee's premises.
(b) (1) The emergency order may suspend, limit, condition, or take
other action in relation to the license of one or more persons in an
operation without affecting other individual licensees.
(2)
(c) (1) The emergency order shall
set forth the grounds upon which it is based, including a statement
of facts constituting the alleged emergency necessitating the action.
(3)
(2) The emergency order shall be effective immediately
upon issuance and service upon the licensee or any agent of the
licensee. The department shall serve the licensee with the emergency
order, a copy of available discovery, and other relevant evidence in
possession of the department, including, but not limited to,
affidavits, declarations, and any other direct evidence
upon which the department relied in issuing the emergency order. The
department shall notify the licensee of the licensee's right to
petition for relief.
(c)
(d) (1) Once the emergency order has been served, a
licensee or person or entity against whom the emergency
order has been issued may petition for relief from the
order by written argument.
(2) If a petition for relief is filed, using a preponderance of
the evidence standard, the director shall modify or vacate the
emergency order if either:
(A) There is a reasonable probability that the licensee will
prevail in the accusation.
(B) The likelihood of immediate threat to the health or safety in
not sustaining the emergency order does not outweigh the likelihood
of injury to the licensee in sustaining the emergency order.
(d)
(e) The department shall respond, in writing, to a
petition for relief, either by sustaining, modifying, or vacating the
emergency order, within three business days of receipt of the
petition. If the department does not sustain or modify the emergency
order within three business days of receipt of the petition, the
emergency order shall be dissolved.
(e)
(f) The emergency order shall remain effective until
further order of the department or disposition at an accusation
proceeding.
(f) (1)
(g) The department shall file an accusation against the
licensee with any additional, available pertinent discovery that was
not provided to the licensee at the time the emergency order was
issued within five business days after the issuance of an emergency
order. The emergency order shall be dissolved if the department
does not file an accusation within five business days after the
issuance of the order.
(g)
(h) The licensee or person or entity against
whom the emergency order has been issued and served is
entitled to a hearing. If a hearing is requested, it shall commence
within 10 business days of the received date of
after the department's receipt of the Notice of Defense.
(h)
(i) Nothing in this section precludes a licensee from
proceeding directly to a full evidentiary hearing on an accusation
without first petitioning the department for relief.
(i)
(j) At the accusation hearing, the administrative law
judge shall issue a verbal decision which sustains or vacates the
emergency order. A proposed decision by an administrative
judge on the accusation shall be prepared for the director's review
within 10 business days after the submission of the hearing.
order or shall issue a written order sustaining or
vacating the emergency order within 24 hours of the close of the
hearing. The administrative law judge shall submit a written proposed
decision within 10 days after the close of the hearing.