PRINTER'S NO. 2216
No. 1842 Session of 1991
INTRODUCED BY JAMES, CARN, ROEBUCK, BISHOP, WILLIAMS, BUTKOVITZ,
JOSEPHS, OLIVER, RICHARDSON, RIEGER, ACOSTA, HUGHES,
McGEEHAN, LINTON AND KOSINSKI, JULY 1, 1991
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LIQUOR CONTROL, JULY 1, 1991
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), entitled, as
2 reenacted, "An act relating to alcoholic liquors, alcohol and
3 malt and brewed beverages; amending, revising, consolidating
4 and changing the laws relating thereto; regulating and
5 restricting the manufacture, purchase, sale, possession,
6 consumption, importation, transportation, furnishing, holding
7 in bond, holding in storage, traffic in and use of alcoholic
8 liquors, alcohol and malt and brewed beverages and the
9 persons engaged or employed therein; defining the powers and
10 duties of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board; providing
11 for the establishment and operation of State liquor stores,
12 for the payment of certain license fees to the respective
13 municipalities and townships, for the abatement of certain
14 nuisances and, in certain cases, for search and seizure
15 without warrant; prescribing penalties and forfeitures;
16 providing for local option, and repealing existing laws,"
17 prohibiting appeals from acting as supersedeas involving
18 license hearings in cities of the first class.
19 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
20 hereby enacts as follows:
21 Section 1. Section 471(b) of the act of April 12, 1951
22 (P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, reenacted and amended
23 June 29, 1987 (P.L.32, No.14), is amended to read:
24 Section 471. Revocation and Suspension of Licenses; Fines.--
25 * * *
1 (b) Hearing on such citations shall be held in the same
2 manner as provided herein for hearings on applications for
3 license. Upon such hearing, if satisfied that any such violation
4 has occurred or for other sufficient cause, the administrative
5 law judge shall immediately suspend or revoke the license, or
6 impose a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than
7 one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both, notifying the licensee
8 by registered letter addressed to his licensed premises. If the
9 licensee has been cited and found to have violated section
10 493(1) insofar as it relates to sales to minors, section 493(10)
11 insofar as it relates to lewd, immoral or improper entertainment
12 or section 493(14), (16) or (21), or has been found to be a
13 public nuisance pursuant to section 611, or if the owner or
14 operator of the licensed premises or any authorized agent of the
15 owner or operator has been convicted of any violation of the act
16 of April 14, 1972 (P.L.233, No.64), known as "The Controlled
17 Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act," or of 18 Pa.C.S. §
18 5902 (relating to prostitution and related offenses) or 6301
19 (relating to corruption of minors), at or relating to the
20 licensed premises, the administrative law judge shall
21 immediately suspend or revoke the license, or impose a fine of
22 not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than five
23 thousand dollars ($5,000), or both. The administrative law judge
24 shall notify the licensee by registered mail, addressed to the
25 licensed premises, of such suspension, revocation or fine. The
26 increased civil penalty imposed by this subsection shall not be
27 used to require any licensee to increase the amount of the bond
28 required by this act. In the event the fine is not paid within
29 twenty days of the adjudication, the administrative law judge
30 shall suspend or revoke the license, notifying the licensee by
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1 registered mail addressed to the licensed premises. Suspensions
2 and revocations shall not go into effect until thirty days have
3 elapsed from the date of the adjudication during which time the
4 licensee may take an appeal as provided for in this act. When a
5 license is revoked, the licensee's bond may be forfeited. Any
6 licensee whose license is revoked shall be ineligible to have a
7 license under this act until the expiration of three years from
8 the date such license was revoked. In the event a license is
9 revoked, no license shall be granted for the premises or
10 transferred to the premises in which the said license was
11 conducted for a period of at least one year after the date of
12 the revocation of the license conducted in the said premises,
13 except in cases where the licensee or a member of his immediate
14 family is not the owner of the premises, in which case the board
15 may, in its discretion, issue or transfer a license within the
16 said year. In the event the bureau or the person who was fined
17 or whose license was suspended or revoked shall feel aggrieved
18 by the adjudication of the administrative law judge, there shall
19 be a right to appeal to the board. The appeal shall be based
20 solely on the record before the administrative law judge. The
21 board shall affirm the decision of the administrative law judge
22 if it is based on substantial evidence; otherwise, the board
23 shall reverse the decision of the administrative law judge. In
24 the event the bureau or the person who was fined or whose
25 license was suspended or revoked shall feel aggrieved by the
26 decision of the board, there shall be a right to appeal to the
27 court of common pleas in the same manner as herein provided for
28 appeals from refusals to grant licenses. [Each] Except for
29 licenses in cities of the first class, each of the appeals shall
30 act as a supersedeas unless, upon sufficient cause shown, the
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1 reviewing authority shall determine otherwise; however, if the
2 licensee has been cited and found to have violated section
3 493(1) insofar as it relates to sales to minors, section 493(10)
4 insofar as it relates to lewd, immoral or improper entertainment
5 or section 493(14), (16) or (21), or has been found to be a
6 public nuisance pursuant to section 611, or if the owner or
7 operator of the licensed premises or any authorized agent of the
8 owner or operator has been convicted of any violation of "The
9 Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act," or of 18
10 Pa.C.S. § 5902 or 6301, at or relating to the licensed premises,
11 its appeal shall not act as a supersedeas unless the reviewing
12 authority determines otherwise upon sufficient cause shown. An
13 appeal involving a license in a city of the first class shall
14 not act as a supersedeas. In any hearing on an application for a
15 supersedeas under this section, the reviewing authority may
16 consider, in addition to other relevant evidence, documentary
17 evidence, including records of the bureau, showing the prior
18 history of citations, fines, suspensions or revocations against
19 the licensee; and the reviewing authority may also consider, in
20 addition to other relevant evidence, evidence of any recurrence
21 of the unlawful activity occurring between the date of the
22 citation which is the subject of the appeal and the date of the
23 hearing. No penalty provided by this section shall be imposed
24 for any violations provided for in this act unless the bureau
25 notifies the licensee of its nature within thirty days of the
26 completion of the investigation.
27 * * *
28 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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