SENATE BILL No. 441

 

 

June 7, 2017, Introduced by Senator HANSEN and referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1998 PA 58, entitled

 

"Michigan liquor control code of 1998,"

 

by amending section 701 (MCL 436.1701), as amended by 2010 PA 266.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 701. (1) Alcoholic A person shall not sell or furnish

 

alcoholic liquor shall not be sold or furnished to a minor. Except

 

as otherwise provided in subsection (2) and subject to subsections

 

(4), (5), and (6), a person who knowingly sells or furnishes

 

alcoholic liquor to a minor, or who fails to make diligent inquiry

 

as to whether the person individual is a minor, is guilty of a

 

misdemeanor. A retail licensee or a retail licensee's clerk, agent,

 

or employee who violates this subsection shall be punished in the

 

manner provided for licensees in section 909. except that if the

 


violation is the result of an undercover operation in which the

 

minor received alcoholic liquor under the direction of the state

 

police, the commission, or a local police agency as part of an

 

enforcement action, the retail licensee's clerk, agent, or employee

 

is responsible for a state civil infraction and may be ordered to

 

pay a civil fine of not more than $100.00. Except as otherwise

 

provided in subsection (2), a person who is not a retail licensee

 

or a retail licensee's clerk, agent, or employee and who violates

 

this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of

 

not more than $1,000.00 and imprisonment for not more than 60 days

 

for a first offense, a fine of not more than $2,500.00 and

 

imprisonment for not more than 90 days for a second or subsequent

 

offense, and may be ordered to perform community service. For a

 

second or subsequent offense, the secretary of state shall suspend

 

the operator's or chauffeur's license of an individual who is not a

 

retail licensee or retail licensee's clerk, agent, or employee and

 

who is convicted of violating this subsection as provided in

 

section 319 of the Michigan vehicle code, 1949 PA 300, MCL 257.319.

 

A suitable sign describing the content of this section and the

 

penalties for its violation shall must be posted in a conspicuous

 

place in each room where alcoholic liquor is sold. The signs shall

 

be approved and furnished by the commission.commission shall

 

approve and furnish a sign under this section.

 

     (2) A person who is not a retail licensee or the retail

 

licensee's clerk, agent, or employee and who violates subsection

 

(1) is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment for not more

 

than 10 years or a fine of not more than $5,000.00, or both, if the


subsequent consumption of the alcoholic liquor by the minor is a

 

direct and substantial cause of that person's the minor's death or

 

an accidental injury that causes that person's the minor's death.

 

     (3) If a violation occurs in an establishment that is licensed

 

by the commission for consumption of alcoholic liquor on the

 

licensed premises, a person who is a licensee or the clerk, agent,

 

or employee of a licensee shall not be charged with a violation of

 

subsection (1) or section 801(2) unless the licensee or the clerk,

 

agent, or employee of the licensee knew or should have reasonably

 

known with the exercise of due diligence that a person less than 21

 

years of age possessed or consumed alcoholic liquor on the licensed

 

premises and the licensee or clerk, agent, or employee of the

 

licensee failed to take immediate corrective action.

 

     (4) If the enforcing agency involved in the violation is the

 

state police or a local police agency, a licensee shall not be

 

charged with a violation of subsection (1) or section 801(2) unless

 

all of the following occur, if applicable:

 

     (a) Enforcement action is taken against the minor who

 

purchased or attempted to purchase, consumed or attempted to

 

consume, or possessed or attempted to possess alcoholic liquor.

 

     (b) Enforcement action is taken under this section against the

 

person individual 21 years of age or older who is not the retail

 

licensee or the retail licensee's clerk, agent, or employee who

 

sold or furnished the alcoholic liquor to the minor.

 

     (c) Enforcement action under this section is taken against the

 

clerk, agent, or employee who directly sold or furnished alcoholic

 

liquor to the minor.


     (5) If the enforcing agency is the commission and an

 

appearance ticket or civil infraction citation has not been issued,

 

then the commission shall recommend to a local law enforcement

 

agency that enforcement action be taken against a violator of this

 

section or section 703 who is not a licensee. However, subsection

 

(4) does not apply if the minor against whom enforcement action is

 

taken under section 703, the clerk, agent, or employee of the

 

licensee who directly sold or furnished alcoholic liquor to the

 

minor, or the person 21 years of age or older who sold or furnished

 

alcoholic liquor to the minor is not alive or is not present in

 

this state at the time the licensee is charged. Subsection (4)(a)

 

does not apply under either of the following circumstances:

 

     (a) The violation of subsection (1) is the result of an

 

undercover operation in which the minor purchased or received

 

alcoholic liquor under the direction of the person's employer and

 

with the prior approval of the local prosecutor's office as part of

 

an employer-sponsored internal enforcement action.

 

     (b) The violation of subsection (1) is the result of an

 

undercover operation in which the minor purchased or received

 

alcoholic liquor under the direction of the state police, the

 

commission, or a local police agency as part of an enforcement

 

action.

 

     (6) Any initial or contemporaneous purchase or receipt of

 

alcoholic liquor by the minor under subsection (5)(a) or (b) must

 

have been under the direction of the state police, the commission,

 

or the local police agency and must have been part of the

 

undercover operation.


     (7) If a minor participates in an undercover operation in

 

which the minor is to purchase or receive alcoholic liquor under

 

the supervision of a law enforcement agency, his or her parents or

 

legal guardian shall consent to the participation if that person

 

the minor is less than 18 years of age.

 

     (8) In an action for the violation of this section, proof that

 

the defendant or the defendant's agent or employee demanded and was

 

shown, before furnishing alcoholic liquor to a minor, a motor

 

vehicle operator's or chauffeur's license, a military

 

identification card, or other bona fide documentary evidence of the

 

age and identity of that person, shall be is a defense to an action

 

brought under this section.

 

     (9) The commission shall provide, on an annual basis, a

 

written report to the department of state police as to the number

 

of actions heard by the commission involving violations of this

 

section and section 801(2). The report shall must include the

 

disposition of each action and contain figures representing the

 

following categories:

 

     (a) Decoy operations.

 

     (b) Off-premises violations.

 

     (c) On-premises violations.

 

     (d) Repeat offenses within the 3 years preceding the date of

 

that report.

 

     (10) As used in this section:

 

     (a) "Corrective action" means action taken by a licensee or a

 

clerk, agent, or employee of a licensee designed to prevent a minor

 

from further possessing or consuming alcoholic liquor on the


licensed premises. Corrective action includes, but is not limited

 

to, contacting a law enforcement agency and ejecting the minor and

 

any other person suspected of aiding and abetting the minor.

 

     (b) "Diligent inquiry" means a diligent good faith good-faith

 

effort to determine the age of a person, an individual, which

 

includes at least an examination of an official Michigan operator's

 

or chauffeur's license, an official Michigan personal

 

identification card, a military identification card, or any other

 

bona fide picture identification which that establishes the

 

identity and age of the person.individual.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.