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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 8, 2015 01:54 PM |
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| From: | Representative Matthew E. Baker |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Funishing Alcohol to Minors |
| In the near future, I plan to reintroduce former HB 526 which will amend sections 6310.1 selling or furnishing liquor or malt or brewed beverages to minors and 6310.4(a) restriction of operating privileges of the Crimes Code (Title 18) and Section 1532(d) suspension of operating privilege of the Vehicle Code (Title 75). I was contacted Bradford County District Attorney Daniel J. Barrett requesting a change to the penalties associated with the offense of furnishing alcohol to minors. Under the statute as it is presently written, a person commits a misdemeanor of the third degree if he intentionally and knowingly sells, furnishes, or purchases with the intent to sell or furnish, any liquor or malt or brewed beverages to a person who is less than 21 years of age. The penalty for a violation of this statute is up to 1 year imprisonment and a mandatory minimum fine of $1,000 for a first violation and a mandatory minimum fine of $2,500 for each subsequent violation. An individual who is charged with a violation of this section presently has the right to a jury trial. In addition, under the current statutory provision, there is no increased penalty for binge drinking situations nor does an individual who violates this section receive any sort of license suspension. My legislation would change the grading of the offense to an ungraded misdemeanor punishable by up to six months imprisonment if the individual intentionally and knowingly sells, furnishes, or purchases with the intent to sell or furnish, any liquor or malt or brewed beverages to a person who is less than 21 years of age unless (1) the amount of alcohol purchased or furnished was sufficient for a high level of intoxication, (2) the alcohol was furnished to a group of more than three persons who are under the age of 21, (3) the furnishing of alcohol to a person under the age of 21 resulted in bodily injury, serious bodily injury, or death or (4) the individual has been previously convicted of furnishing alcohol to minors. If any one of these four conditions are met then the grading of the offense is increased to a misdemeanor of the second degree. Additionally, the mandatory minimum fine would increase from a $1,000 minimum fine for a first offense to a $2,500 minimum fine for a violation of the general offense and from a $2,500 fine for all subsequent offenses to a $5,000 minimum fine for a violation of this section which meets any one of the four enumerated conditions. My legislation would also add a period of license suspension for individuals convicted of furnishing alcohol to minors. A 90 day license suspension would be imposed for a first offense, a 1 year suspension would be imposed for a second offense, and a 2 year license suspension would be imposed for third and subsequent offenses. I have attached a copy of the legislation to this memo. PREVIOUS COSPONSORS: , STERN , MICOZZIE , GINGRICH , SWANGER , D. COSTA, PICKETT , STEPHENS, HESS , MILLARD , HICKERNELL , V. BROWN, TALLMAN, MOUL , HARHART , MURT , MILNE and DeLUCA |
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| View Attachment | ||
Introduced as HB255