Legislature(2009 - 2010)BELTZ 105 (TSBldg)
02/15/2010 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB194 | |
| SB222 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 194 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 252 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 222 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 194-CIVIL DAMAGES FOR ALCOHOL VIOLATIONS
1:32:25 PM
CHAIR FRENCH announced the consideration of SB 194 and asked for
a motion to adopt the new committee substitute (CS).
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI moved to adopt CS for SB 194, labeled 26-
LS0895\S, as the working document. There being no objection,
version S was before the committee.
O.C. MADDEN, Director of Operations, Brown Jug, Inc., introduced
himself.
CHAIR FRENCH asked Mr. Madden how his business applies the
statutes pertaining to civil penalties for alcohol violations
and the affect they've had.
MR. MADDEN reported that the Brown Jug has been using the civil
penalty laws since 1998 to prevent underage drinking; they've
proven to be very effective. In 1998 the Municipality of
Anchorage enacted the laws and in 2001 they were enacted on the
state level. He explained that when an underage person is caught
trying to purchase alcohol he sends the minor a letter demanding
payment. When he hears back, he offers some alternatives. The
first option is to simply pay the $1,000 civil fine. The second
option is to reduce the penalty to $300 if the minor agrees to
complete a two-day alcohol education class and presentations by
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MAAD) and Standing Together
Against Rape (STAR). Mr. Madden said that he uses the $300 as a
bonus payment to the employee who caught the minor. This process
rewards employees and gets the minors and their families in
education and treatment programs, he said.
1:35:26 PM
CHAIR FRENCH asked if Brown Jug's vigilant approach might be
driving some underage buying to other stores.
MR. MADDEN replied he doesn't speak for other retailers, but it
does seem to be common knowledge among kids that if you're
underage, Brown Jug is the last place you want to try to buy
alcohol.
SILVIA VILLAMIDES, Director, Anchorage CHAAR, stated that the
civil penalty process has been important to CHAAR members. She
said that when kids under age 18 are caught trying to buy
alcohol their parents get involved, but it's more difficult to
engage the kids over age 18. They ignore the demand letters and
they move around leaving no forwarding address. She claimed that
the law unfairly punishes licensees when minors enter the
premises. She believes it should be the minor who is penalized.
We do our best to go through training and licensing. "We don't
want to serve young kids," she emphasized.
1:38:27 PM
SENATOR COGHILL asked what reasonable costs might be assessed in
addition to the civil penalty.
MS. VILLAMIDES deferred to Mr. Madden.
MR. MADDEN said he doesn't know if all attorney costs are
reimbursed, but he does know that it's very time consuming to
deal with the minors, their families, and the agencies that
coordinate treatment. Since 1998 Brown Jug has dealt with about
2,100 kids. Most of the time that's spent on these cases is up
front, before there's a suit or a judgment so there's no
reimbursement for those costs. That's part of the reason that
increasing the penalty to $1,500 is a good idea.
SENATOR COGHILL thanked him for clarifying that increasing the
civil penalty to $1,500 helps cover the cost of getting to a
settlement.
ED O'NEILL, President, Anchorage Responsible Beverage Retailers
Association (ARBRA), said he's also with Brown Jug and he
reiterates Mr. Madden's testimony. He asked the committee to
keep in mind that kids today have a lot of money in their
pockets so it's easy for them to skirt the $1,000 penalty
without telling their parents. ARBRA is trying to inform
licensees statewide so that they can take advantage of this
provision, he said.
1:42:52 PM
SENATOR COGHILL asked how many cases go to court and how many
are settled out of court.
MR. O'NEILL replied Anchorage CHAAR has negotiated 42 cases and
has 15 court cases pending. He noted that Mr. Madden has been
the most successful; he could teach other retailers to be
similarly effective.
CHAIR FRENCH asked how many enforcement actions are settled and
how many go through a court proceeding to finality.
MR. MADDEN said Brown Jug has been very successful at
negotiating with minors and their parents. Reducing the penalty
to $300 if the minor agrees to the educational component has
proven effective and it doesn't bog down the courts. He noted
that he has given classes on how to do this to licensees in
Fairbanks, Nome, and Juneau. He would be happy to continue doing
that in the future.
SENATOR COGHILL said since most of these cases are negotiated
rather than going to court, his concern is that increasing the
limit could impose a barrier for people to defend themselves in
court should they feel that need.
MR. MADDEN clarified that the only minors they deal with are
those that have been caught and identified on the licensed
premises. Under the law this is both a criminal and a civil
violation. The process after they identify the minor is to send
a letter demanding payment under Alaska civil law. That step is
necessary in order to move ahead with a civil action in court.
They have discussions with the minor and make a determination
about whether or not to drop the case or to move forward. When a
case ends up in a small claims action, the first thing the court
does is to assign a mediator to come up with a solution. That's
why Brown Jug starts working on options once the minor responds
to the demand letter.
1:47:30 PM
SENATOR COGHILL asked if they call the troopers or police when
they identify someone who is using a fraudulent ID.
MR. MADDEN said yes; it's very well established. Some cases
don't warrant moving forward, but sometimes they've caught
minors more than once. "That's where having a $1,500 civil
penalty would be an effective tool," he said.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what he thinks about the idea to
expand this provision to include a penalty for people who are
prohibited from purchasing alcohol.
MR. MADDEN replied that's already on the books. He added that
Representative Crawford has a bill to increase the civil penalty
from $1,000 to $2,000 for persons with alcohol restricted IDs.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he would support that in this
bill.
MR. MADDEN replied he supports the idea.
1:50:00 PM
JERRY MCCUTCHEON, representing himself, described SB 194 as
toothless legislation and a ruse for legislators to say that
they acted to protect the public. He claimed that this is
special legislation for Brown Jug because smaller retailers have
neither the time nor the resources to take advantage of the law.
CHAIR FRENCH closed public testimony and asked the sponsor to
describe what the new Sections 5 and 6 do.
SENATOR KEVIN MEYER, sponsor of SB 194, said his staff would
explain the changes. Responding to the previous testimony, he
explained that CHAAR undertakes the process for small businesses
that don't have the time or resources to do so. He wouldn't
object if the committee wants to include in this bill the
increased penalty for persons trying to buy alcohol when they
have an alcohol-restricted ID.
1:53:41 PM
CHRISTINE MARASIGAN, Staff to Senator Kevin Meyer, told the
committee that the changes in the CS were recommended by
Legislative Legal Services to correct cross references in
statute.
CHAIR FRENCH asked the committee what it wanted to do about
adding the provisions of Representative Crawford's bill to this
one.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI offered to bring the appropriate language.
1:55:25 PM
CHAIR FRENCH held SB 194 in committee awaiting an amendment.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB222 letter.pdf |
SJUD 2/15/2010 1:30:00 PM |
SB 222 |
| SB222 Sectional Analysis.pdf |
SJUD 2/15/2010 1:30:00 PM |
SB 222 |