SECTIONS 23095-23098 - California Statutes

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE

SECTION 23095-23098

23095. (a) Whenever a decision of the department suspending a
license becomes final, whether by failure of the licensee to appeal
the decision or by exhaustion of all appeals and judicial review, the
licensee may, before the operative date of the suspension, petition
the department for permission to make an offer in compromise, to be
paid into the Alcohol Beverage Control Fund, consisting of a sum of
money in lieu of serving the suspension.
(b) No licensee may petition the department for an offer in
compromise in any case in which the proposed suspension is for a
period in excess of 15 days.
(c) Upon the receipt of the petition, the department may stay the
proposed suspension and cause any investigation to be made which it
deems desirable and may grant the petition if it is satisfied that
the following conditions are met:
(1) The public welfare and morals would not be impaired by
permitting the licensee to operate during the period set for
suspension and the payment of the sum of money will achieve the
desired disciplinary purposes.
(2) The books and records of the licensee are kept in such a
manner that the loss of sales of alcoholic beverages that the
licensee would have suffered had the suspension gone into effect can
be determined with reasonable accuracy therefrom.
(d) The offer in compromise for retail licensees shall be the
equivalent of 50 percent of the estimated gross sales of alcoholic
beverages for each day of a proposed suspension, subject to the
following limits:
(1) The offer in compromise may not be less than seven hundred
fifty dollars ($750) nor more than three thousand dollars ($3,000).
(2) If the petitioning retailer has had any other accusation filed
against him or her by the department during the three years prior to
the date of the petition that has resulted in a final decision to
suspend or revoke the retail license concerned, the offer in
compromise may be not less than one thousand five hundred dollars
($1,500) nor more than six thousand dollars ($6,000).
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), a licensee may petition the
department for an offer in compromise for a second violation of
Section 25658 that occurs within 36 months of the initial violation
without regard to the period of suspension. In these cases, the offer
in compromise shall be the equivalent of 50 percent of the estimated
gross sales of alcoholic beverages for each day of the proposed
suspension, and the offer in compromise may be not less than two
thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) nor more than twenty thousand
dollars ($20,000).
(f) (1) The offer in compromise for nonretail licensees shall be
the equivalent of 50 percent of the estimated gross sales of
alcoholic beverages for each day of the proposed suspension, and the
offer in compromise may not be less than seven hundred fifty dollars
($750) and may not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) unless the
nonretail licensee has violated Section 25500, 25502, 25503, or 25600
by giving to any licensee illegal inducements, secret rebates, or
free goods amounting to more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in
value, in which case the offer in compromise shall be equal to the
value of the illegal inducements, secret rebates, or free goods
given.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any nonretail licensee who pays
an offer in compromise based upon a violation in the exercise of any
retail privileges of that license shall have the offer in compromise
computed on estimated retail gross sales only pursuant to
subdivision (d).
(3) All moneys collected as a result of penalties imposed under
this subdivision shall be deposited directly in the General Fund in
the State Treasury, rather than the Alcohol Beverage Control Fund as
provided for in Section 25761.

23096. The moneys derived from a payment in compromise under
Section 23095 shall be paid to the State Treasury for deposit in the
Alcohol Beverage Control Fund. Upon such payment, the department
shall enter its further order permanently staying the imposition of
the suspension.

23097. In connection with any such petition, the authority of the
department is limited to the granting of such stays as are necessary
for it to complete its investigation and make its findings and, if it
makes such findings, to the granting of an order permanently staying
the imposition of the entire suspension or of that portion of the
suspension not otherwise conditionally stayed by the decision of the
department. If the suspension was imposed as a result of an
accusation filed by another public officer acting in his official
capacity, the department shall not order such permanent stay of
suspension without the written concurrence of such other public
officer.

23098. If the department does not make the findings required in
Section 23095, and does not order the suspension permanently stayed,
the suspension shall go into effect on the operative date finally set
by the department.