Chapter 200
2011 -- S 0488 SUBSTITUTE A AS
AMENDED
Enacted 07/02/11
A N A C T
RELATING TO
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES -- LICENSES GENERALLY
Introduced By: Senators Metts, Jabour, and Doyle
Date Introduced: March 10, 2011
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Sections 3-5-19 and 3-5-21 of the General Laws in
Chapter 3-5 entitled
"Licenses Generally" are hereby amended to read as follows:
3-5-19.
Transfer or relocation of license. – (a) The board, body or official which has
issued any license under this title may permit the license
to be used at any other place within the
limits of the town or city where the license was granted,
or, in their discretion, permit the license
to be transferred to another person, but in all cases of
change of licensed place or of transfer of
license, the issuing body shall, before permitting the change
or transfer, give notice of the
application for the change or transfer in the same manner as is
provided in this chapter in the case
of original application for the license, and a new bond
shall be given upon the issuance of the
license provided, that notice by mail need not be made in the
case of a transfer of a license
without relocation. In all cases of transfer of license,
indebtedness of the licensee incurred in the
operation of the licensed premises shall be paid to or released
by an objecting creditor before the
issuing body permits the transfer. In cases of dispute as to
the amount of indebtedness, the issuing
body, may, in its discretion, permit the transfer upon
statement of the licensee, under oath, that
the claim of indebtedness is disputed and that the
statement of dispute is not interposed for the
purpose of inducing transfer of the license. No creditor is
allowed to object to the transfer of a
license by a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, assignee for
the benefit of creditors, executor,
administrator, guardian or by any public officer under judicial
process. In case of the death of any
licensee, the license becomes part of the personal estate of
the deceased. The holders of any retail
Class A license within the city or town issuing or
transferring a Class A license have standing to
be heard before the board, body, or official granting or
transferring the license.
(b) The transfer of a
license is contingent upon the full payment of outstanding police
detail bills.
(c) The transferee of
a license assumes all penalties that the license board has imposed
upon the transferor of the license.
3-5-21. Revocation
or suspension of licenses -- Fines for violating conditions of
license. -- (a)
Every license is subject to revocation or suspension
and a licensee is subject to fine
by the board, body or official issuing the license, or
by the department or by the division of
taxation, on its own motion, for breach by the holder of the
license of the conditions on which it
was issued or for violation by the holder of the license
of any rule or regulation applicable, or for
breach of any provisions of this section.
(b) Any fine imposed
pursuant to this section shall not exceed five hundred dollars
($500) for the first offense and shall not exceed one
thousand dollars ($1,000) for each
subsequent offense. For the purposes of this section, any
offense committed by a licensee three
(3) years after a previous
offense shall be considered a first offense.
(c) In the event that
a licensee is required to hire a police detail and the police refuse to
place a detail at the location because a licensee has
failed to pay outstanding police detail bills or
to reach a payment plan agreement with the police
department, the license board may prohibit the
licensee from opening its place of business until such time as
the police detail bills are paid or a
payment plan agreement is reached.
SECTION 2. Section 3-7-16.6 of the General Laws in Chapter
3-7 entitled "Retail
Licenses" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
3-7-16.6.
Class N nightclub license. -- (a) Notwithstanding any provision of this title to
the contrary, any town or city council, by ordinance, may
authorize the licensing authorities
designated as having the right, power, and jurisdiction to issue
licenses under this title pursuant to
section 3-5-15 to designate and issue a special class of
Class N nightclub licenses within its
jurisdiction.
(b) A Class N license,
when so authorized, shall be required by each establishment
within the jurisdiction which:
(1) Has as its primary
source of revenue the sale of alcoholic beverages and/or cover
charges;
(2) Holds a Class B or
Class ED license;
(3) Has a fire
department occupancy permit of no less than two hundred (200) persons
and no greater than ten thousand (10,000) persons; or any
establishment with a fire department
occupancy permit of less than two hundred (200) persons that
holds an entertainment license.
(c) Any establishment
with a Class N license which admits patrons under twenty-one
(21) years of age on the
premises of the establishment when alcoholic beverages are being sold,
served, or permitted on the premises shall, during the time
the patrons are permitted on the
premises:
(1) Require one form of
identification. The identification shall contain the bearer's
photograph, and must be one of the following: state driver's
license,
state issued identification card, or passport, from every
person claiming to be twenty-one (21)
years of age or older;
(2) Identify patrons
over twenty-one (21) years of age with both an identifiable hand
stamp and a bracelet and shall require every patron to show
both hand stamp and bracelet before
purchasing an alcoholic beverage;
(3) Sell not more than
one alcoholic beverage to an eligible patron in a single
transaction, and shall prohibit a patron from carrying more than
one alcoholic beverage from a
bar or drink dispensing location;
(4) Not permit any
patron who leaves the premises to be readmitted prior to closing
without payment of the same admission or cover charge
required of patrons entering the premises
initially.
(d) The licensing
authority of each town or city shall set the closing time for each
establishment holding a Class N nightclub license within its
jurisdiction pursuant to section 3-7-
7(a)(1) and (a)(4), and
notwithstanding other provisions of those subdivisions, an establishment
holding a Class N nightclub license which is permitted to
remain open until two o'clock (2:00)
a.m., shall not admit patrons
after one o'clock (1:00) a.m.
(e) The licensing
authority of each town or city will establish the cost and duration of all
Class N nightclub licenses issued by that authority.
(f) Notwithstanding the
provisions of section 3-5-17, no licensing authority may issue a
Class N nightclub license unless the following notice
requirements have been met:
(1) Any establishment
applying for a Class N nightclub license, or the renewal of that
license, or which is the subject of a hearing relating to its
Class N nightclub license, must provide
the general public with notice of its application by
posting a twenty-four (24) inch by thirty-six
(36) inch notice on its
premises, in a manner clearly visible to the general public, at least thirty
(30) days prior to the
hearing date before the licensing authority for the license, and at least
thirty
(30) days prior to hearings
related to the license on appeal to the director. If any hearing is
scheduled to occur in less than thirty (30) days, the applicant
or Class N nightclub license holder
must post this notice within three (3) business days after
its receipt of notification of that hearing
from the licensing authority or the director.
(2) The notice shall
contain the name of the applicant and a description by street and
number or other plain designation of the particular location
for which the Class N nightclub
license is requested. The notice shall state that remonstrants are entitled to be heard at the hearing
on the Class N nightclub license, and shall provide the
time and place of that hearing.
(g) Any establishment
that holds a Class N nightclub license must:
(1) Comply with local
ordinances governing noise levels;
(2) Cooperate
with law enforcement officials;
(3) Provide private
security for the safety of patrons both inside and outside the
establishment, which private security must be certified by TIPS or
a similar agency approved by
the licensing authority; and
(4) Collect trash
generated by the establishment every night that the establishment is
open in an area surrounding the premises that is
reasonable and prudent, given the size of the
establishment.
(h) The licensing
authority of each town or city will develop requirements for police
details for the purposes of public safety and traffic control
in and around the premise of each
establishment holding a Class N nightclub license.
(i)
(1) The licensing authority which has issued a license
under this section may ban the
admittance of persons under the age of twenty-one (21) on the
licensee’s premise:
(i)
On certain nights; or
(ii) At certain
times; or
(iii) At all times.
(2) Provided however,
any ban under this subsection herein shall be supported by a
finding that:
(i)
The licensee has failed to implement measures designed to prevent underage
drinking;
and
(ii) The licensee has
multiple violations of the provisions of one or more of the following
sections: 3-8-1, 3-8-4 and/or 3-8-10.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01555/SUB A
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