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AB-1128 Alcoholic beverages: underage drinking.(2013-2014)

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Enrolled  September 12, 2013
Passed  IN  Senate  September 03, 2013
Passed  IN  Assembly  September 06, 2013
Amended  IN  Senate  August 28, 2013
Amended  IN  Senate  July 09, 2013
Amended  IN  Senate  June 26, 2013
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 18, 2013

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2013–2014 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1128

Introduced by Assembly Member Salas

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Section 25658 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to alcoholic beverages.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1128, Salas. Alcoholic beverages: underage drinking.
Existing law provides that every person who sells, furnishes, gives, or causes to be sold, furnished, or given away an alcoholic beverage to a person under 21 years of age, or who purchases any alcoholic beverage for, or furnishes, gives, or gives away any alcoholic beverage to, a person under 21 years of age who thereafter consumes the alcohol and then causes great bodily injury or death to himself, herself, or any other person, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would include in the provision regarding great bodily injury or death, described above, a person who sells any alcoholic beverage to a person under 21 years of age and would provide that a violation of the prohibition is also punishable as a felony subject to specified penalties where a person knew that a person to whom an alcoholic beverage was provided was under 21 years of age. The bill would provide for an exception from felony prosecution for a licensee or employee, agent, or representative of a licensee, unless the person had actual prior knowledge that the person to whom the alcoholic beverage was provided was under 21 years of age. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 25658 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

25658.
 (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c), every person who sells, furnishes, gives, or causes to be sold, furnished, or given away any alcoholic beverage to any person under 21 years of age is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) Except as provided in Section 25667, any person under 21 years of age who purchases any alcoholic beverage, or any person under 21 years of age who consumes any alcoholic beverage in any on-sale premises, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(c) (1) Any person who violates subdivision (a) by selling to, purchasing any alcoholic beverage for, or furnishing, giving, or giving away any alcoholic beverage to, a person under 21 years of age, and the person under 21 years of age thereafter consumes the alcohol and thereby proximately causes great bodily injury or death to himself, herself, or any other person, is guilty of either a misdemeanor or, if the person knew that the person was under 21 years of age, a felony.
(2) A licensee or employee, agent, or representative of a licensee shall not be subject to felony prosecution under this subdivision for the sale, furnishing, giving, or giving away of any alcoholic beverage to a person under 21 years of age unless the licensee or employee, agent, or representative of the licensee had actual prior knowledge that the person to whom the alcoholic beverage was sold, furnished, given, or given away was under 21 years of age.
(d) Any on-sale licensee who knowingly permits a person under 21 years of age to consume any alcoholic beverage in the on-sale premises, whether or not the licensee has knowledge that the person is under 21 years of age, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(e) (1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2), (3), or (4), or Section 25667, any person who violates this section shall be punished by a fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250), no part of which shall be suspended, or the person shall be required to perform not less than 24 hours or more than 32 hours of community service during hours when the person is not employed and is not attending school, or a combination of a fine and community service as determined by the court. A second or subsequent violation of subdivision (b), where prosecution of the previous violation was not barred pursuant to Section 25667, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or the person shall be required to perform not less than 36 hours or more than 48 hours of community service during hours when the person is not employed and is not attending school, or a combination of a fine and community service as determined by the court. It is the intent of the Legislature that the community service requirements prescribed in this section require service at an alcohol or drug treatment program or facility or at a county coroner’s office, if available, in the area where the violation occurred or where the person resides.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3) or (4), any person who violates subdivision (a) by furnishing an alcoholic beverage, or causing an alcoholic beverage to be furnished, to a minor shall be punished by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000), no part of which shall be suspended, and the person shall be required to perform not less than 24 hours of community service during hours when the person is not employed and is not attending school.
(3) Any person who violates subdivision (c) as a misdemeanor shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail for a minimum term of six months not to exceed one year, by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both imprisonment and fine.
(4) Any person who violates subdivision (c) as a felony shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 of the Penal Code for 16 months, or two or three years, by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both imprisonment and fine.
(f) Persons under 21 years of age may be used by peace officers in the enforcement of this section to apprehend licensees, or employees or agents of licensees, or other persons who sell or furnish alcoholic beverages to minors. Notwithstanding subdivision (b), any person under 21 years of age who purchases or attempts to purchase any alcoholic beverage while under the direction of a peace officer is immune from prosecution for that purchase or attempt to purchase an alcoholic beverage. Guidelines with respect to the use of persons under 21 years of age as decoys shall be adopted and published by the department in accordance with the rulemaking portion of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). Law enforcement-initiated minor decoy programs in operation prior to the effective date of regulatory guidelines adopted by the department shall be authorized as long as the minor decoy displays to the seller of alcoholic beverages the appearance of a person under 21 years of age. This subdivision shall not be construed to prevent the department from taking disciplinary action against a licensee who sells alcoholic beverages to a minor decoy prior to the department’s final adoption of regulatory guidelines. After the completion of every minor decoy program performed under this subdivision, the law enforcement agency using the decoy shall notify licensees within 72 hours of the results of the program. When the use of a minor decoy results in the issuance of a citation, the notification required shall be given to licensees and the department within 72 hours of the issuance of the citation. A law enforcement agency may comply with this requirement by leaving a written notice at the licensed premises addressed to the licensee, or by mailing a notice addressed to the licensee.
(g) The penalties imposed by this section do not preclude prosecution or the imposition of penalties under any other provision of law, including, but not limited to, Section 272 of the Penal Code and Section 13202.5 of the Vehicle Code.

SEC. 2.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.