83R6899 MCK-F
By: Smith H.B. No. 2884
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to alcoholic beverage license applications and fees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 61.31(a) and (b), Alcoholic Beverage
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A person may file an application for a license to
manufacture, distribute, store, or sell beer with the commission on
forms prescribed by the commission [in termtime or vacation with
the county judge of the county in which he desires to conduct
business. He shall file the application in duplicate].
(b) The county judge shall set a protested [the] application
for a hearing to be held not less than 15 [5] nor more than 20 [10]
days after the date the commission submits the application to the
county judge for a hearing [is filed].
SECTION 2. Section 61.32(b), Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) If the county judge enters an order favorable to the
applicant, the applicant shall present a copy of the order to the
commission [assessor and collector of taxes of the county and pay
that officer the appropriate license fee. The assessor and
collector of taxes then shall report to the commission on a form
prescribed by the commission, certifying that the application was
approved and that all required fees have been paid and furnishing
any other information the commission requires. The assessor and
collector of taxes shall attach a copy of the original application
to the report].
SECTION 3. Section 61.33, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 61.33. ACTION BY COMMISSION OR ADMINISTRATOR. (a) On
receiving an order [a report] from the county judge [assessor and
collector of taxes] under Section 61.32(b) [of this code], the
commission or administrator shall issue the appropriate license if
the commission or administrator finds that the applicant is
entitled to a license. The license shall show the class of business
the applicant is authorized to conduct, the amount of fees paid, the
address of the place of business, the date the license is issued and
the date it expires, and any other information the commission
considers proper.
(b) The commission or administrator may refuse to issue a
license after receiving the order from [report of] the county judge
[assessor and collector of taxes] if the commission or
administrator possesses information from which it is determined
that any statement in the license application is false or
misleading or that there is other legal reason why a license should
not be issued. If the commission or administrator refuses to issue
a license, the commission [it] or administrator [he] shall enter an
order accordingly and the applicant is entitled to a refund of any
license fee the applicant [he] paid [the assessor and collector of
taxes] in connection with the application.
SECTION 4. Section 61.34(b), Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) If the judgment of the district court is in favor of the
applicant, regardless of whether an appeal is taken, the applicant
shall present a copy of the judgment [shall be presented] to the
commission [assessor and collector of taxes of the county where the
application was made. The assessor and collector of taxes shall
accept the fees required by this code and proceed as provided under
Section 61.32 of this code as if the county judge had approved the
application].
SECTION 5. Section 61.35, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection
(e) to read as follows:
(b) All license fees, except those for temporary licenses,
shall be deposited as provided in Section 205.02 [of this code].
Each license application must be accompanied by a cashier's check,
a teller's check, a check drawn on the account of a corporation
applying for a permit, a money order, or payment by credit card,
charge card, or other electronic form of payment approved by
commission rule for the amount of the state fee, payable to the
order of the comptroller. [The assessor and collector of taxes
shall make statements of the amounts collected by him under this
code to the commission at the times and in the manner required by
the commission or administrator.]
(d) The commissioner may not refund a license fee except
when the [If a] licensee [engaged in selling beer] is prevented from
continuing in business by a local option election or when an
application for a license is rejected by the commission or
administrator [, he is entitled to a refund of a proportionate
amount of the license fees he has paid covering the unexpired term
of his license]. As much of the proceeds from license fees [derived
under the provisions of this subtitle] as is necessary may be
appropriated for that purpose.
(e) The commission by rule may establish a method for
transmitting five percent of the license fee to the assessor and
collector of taxes of the county in which the applicant's business
is located.
SECTION 6. Section 61.38, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 61.38. NOTICE OF APPLICATION. (a) Every original
applicant [When an application] for a license to manufacture, [or]
distribute, or [beer is filed, the county clerk shall post at the
courthouse door a written notice containing the substance of the
application and the date set for hearing.
[(b) When an original application to sell beer at retail at
a location previously licensed is filed, the county clerk shall
post at the courthouse door a written notice containing the
substance of the application and the date set for hearing.
[(c) When an original application to] sell beer at retail
shall give notice of the application by electronic or nonelectronic
publication at the applicant's own expense in [at a location not
previously licensed is filed, the county clerk shall publish notice
for] two consecutive issues of [in] a newspaper of general
circulation published in the city or town in which the applicant's
place of business is [to be] located. If no newspaper [of general
circulation] is published in that city or town, the notice must
[shall] be published in a newspaper of general circulation
published in the county where the applicant's business is [to be]
located. If no newspaper [of general circulation] is published in
that county, the notice must [shall] be published in a qualified
newspaper [which is] published in the closest neighboring county
and [is] circulated in the county where the applicant's business is
located [license is sought].
(b) The notice must [shall] be printed in 10-point boldface
type and must include:
(1) [shall set forth] the type of license applied for;
(2) the exact location of the business for which the
license is sought;
(3) the name of each [the] owner of the business and,
if the business is operated under an assumed name, [or owners;] the
trade name together with the name of each owner[, if operating under
an assumed name]; and
(4) if [in] the [case of a corporate] applicant is a
corporation, the names and titles of all officers [of the
corporation].
(c) An applicant for a renewal license is not required to
publish notice. [At the time the application is filed, the
applicant shall deposit with the clerk the cost of publishing
notice, which the clerk shall use to pay for the publication.]
SECTION 7. Section 61.41(c), Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) If the holder of the existing license has made a
declaration required by the commission that the license holder will
no longer use the license, the license holder may not manufacture or
sell beer or possess it for the purpose of sale until the license
has been reinstated. The holder may apply to the commission [county
judge] for the reinstatement of the license in the same manner and
according to the same procedure as in the case of an original
license application. The county judge or the commission or
administrator may deny reinstatement of the license for any cause
for which an original license application may be denied.
SECTION 8. Section 61.48, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 61.48. RENEWAL APPLICATION. An application to renew a
license shall be filed with the commission [in writing with the
assessor and collector of taxes of the county in which the licensed
premises are located] no earlier than 30 days before the license
expires but not after it expires. The application shall be signed
by the applicant and shall contain complete information required by
the commission showing that the applicant is not disqualified from
holding a license. The application shall be accompanied by the
appropriate license fee [plus a filing fee of $2. The assessor and
collector of taxes shall deposit the $2 filing fee in the county
treasury and shall account for it as a fee of office]. No applicant
for a renewal may be required to pay any fee other than license fees
and the filing fee unless the applicant [he] is required by the
commission or administrator to submit to a renewal hearing before
the county judge.
SECTION 9. Section 61.49, Alcoholic Beverage Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 61.49. ACTION ON RENEWAL APPLICATION BY [TRANSMITTED
TO] COMMISSION; REFUND OF FEE. When the renewal application has
been filed in accordance with Section 61.48 [of this code, the
assessor and collector of taxes shall transmit to the commission
the original copy of the application plus a certification that all
required fees have been paid for the ensuing license period. On
receiving the application and certification], the commission or
administrator may in its discretion issue a renewal license or
reject the application and require the applicant to file an
application with the county judge and submit to a hearing as is
required in the case of an original application. [When an
application for renewal is rejected, the applicant is entitled to a
refund of any license fee that was paid to the assessor and
collector of taxes at the time the renewal application was filed.]
SECTION 10. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a license application filed on or after the effective date of
this Act. A license application filed before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.