(A) Penalty for noncompliance. In addition to any criminal penalties which may be imposed by a court of law, the City Council may suspend a license for up to 60 days, may revoke a license and/or may impose a civil fine on a licensee not to exceed $2,000 for each violation on a finding that the license holder or its employee has failed to comply with a statute, rule or ordinance relating to alcoholic beverages, malt beverages, or wine.
(B) Minimum penalty. The purpose of this section is to establish a standard by which the City Council determines the civil fine, the length of license suspensions and the propriety of revocations, and shall apply to all premises licensed under this chapter. These penalties are presumed to be appropriate for every case, however, the Council may deviate in an individual case where the Council finds that there exist certain extenuating or aggravating circumstances, making it more appropriate to deviate, such as, but not limited to, a licensee’s efforts in combination with the state or city to prevent the sale of alcohol to minors or, in the converse, when a licensee has a history of repeated violations of state or local liquor laws. When deviating from these standards, the Council will provide written findings that support the penalty selected. When a violation occurs, the staff shall provide information to the City Council to either assess the presumptive penalty or depart upward or downward based on extenuating or aggravating circumstances. The staff shall notify the licensee of the information being considered and acted upon by the City Council.
(C) Penalties.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the sale of alcoholic beverages to a person under the age of 21, the sale of alcoholic beverages to an obviously intoxicated person, or the failure of an on-sale licensee to take reasonable steps to prevent a person from leaving the licensed premises with an alcoholic beverage will subject the licensee to the following administrative penalties (best practices applies only to license holders who are enrolled in the program at the time of the violations):
FOR BEST PRACTICES LICENSE HOLDERS:
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Type of License | 1st Violation | 2nd Violation | 3rd Violation | 4th Violation |
On Sale Intoxicating Liquor | $250 | $500 and 3 day suspension | $1,000 and 5 day suspension | Revocation |
On/Off Sale Beer | $250 | $500 and 3 day suspension | $1,000 and 5 day suspension | Revocation |
On/Off Sale Malt Liquor | $250 | $500 and 3 day suspension | $1,000 and 5 day suspension | Revocation |
Wine/beer | $250 | $500 and 3 day suspension | $1,000 and 5 day suspension | Revocation |
Club Liquor | $250 | $500 and 3 day suspension | $1,000 and 5 day suspension | Revocation |
FOR OTHER LICENSE HOLDERS:
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Type of License | 1st Violation | 2nd Violation | 3rd Violation | 4th Violation |
On Sale Intoxicating Liquor | $500 | $750 and 5 day suspension | $1,000 and 10 day suspension | Revocation |
On/Off Sale Beer | $500 | $750 and 5 day suspension | $1,000 and 10 day suspension | Revocation |
On/Off Sale Malt Liquor | $500 | $750 and 5 day suspension | $1,000 and 10 day suspension | Revocation |
Wine/beer | $500 | $750 and 5 day suspension | $1,000 and 10 day suspension | Revocation |
Club Liquor | $500 | $750 and 5 day suspension | $1,000 and 10 day suspension | Revocation |
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, the following violations will subject the licensee to the following administrative penalties:
Type of Violation | 1st Violation | 2nd Violation | 3rd Violation | 4th Violation |
Refusal to allow city inspectors or police admission to premises | $1,000 and 7 days suspension | $2,000 and 14 days suspension | Revocation | N/A |
After hours sale, display or consumption of alcoholic beverages | $1,000 and 7 days suspension | $2,000 and 14 days suspension | Revocation | N/A |
Illegal gambling on premises | $1,000 and 7 days suspension | $2,000 and 14 days suspension | Revocation | N/A |
Commission of a felony related to licensed activity | Revocation | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Sale of alcoholic beverages while license is under suspension | Revocation | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Sale of intoxicating liquor with only 3.2 percent malt liquor license | Revocation | N/A | N/A | N/A |
(3) Any prior violation that occurred more than 24 calendar months immediately preceding the most current violation will not be considered in determining successive violations.
(4) The nature of the most current violation will determine the appropriate penalty as established by divisions (1) or (2) above, provided, however, that any and all violations occurring within 24 months immediately preceding the most current violation will be considered in determining successive violations.
(5) Any licensee who fails to pay an administrative fine or adhere to a suspension, whether imposed by this section or the City Council, within the allotted time period will be subject to an additional suspension of the license for a period of time as determined by the City Council, but not to exceed 60 consecutive days. Any licensee who fails to comply with a City Council imposed license suspension resulting from a prior non-compliance with the administrative penalties imposed by this chapter is subject to license revocation.
(6) Nothing in this section will prohibit the city from seeking criminal prosecution of any alleged violation of this chapter in addition to any administrative penalties provided for herein.
(Ord. 1610, passed 11-26-12; Am. Ord. 1638, passed 2-27-17; Am. Ord. 1669, passed 9-13-21)