Senate Bill S1952A

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1952A

SPONSOR: KLEIN
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the alcoholic beverage control law, in
relation to authorizing licensees to confiscate any written evidence of
age, which is false, fraudulent or not the presenter's own, offered for
the purpose of purchasing an alcoholic beverage

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill institutes in the law a formalized system to clearly authorize
the taking of a false identification card or identification fraudulently
offered as it relates to the purchase of alcoholic beverages by those
under the age of 21. Currently, false identification cards are often
taken and held by responsible businesses as a response to the epidemic
of false identification use to illegally purchase alcoholic beverages by
those under the age of 21 or entering a place that sells alcoholic
beverages for on-premises consumption. However, such practices are not
clearly stated in the law and the issue of the treating the confiscated
fake ID card maybe open to question.

 
              

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Amends Alcoholic Beverage Control Law section 65-b to clearly
set out that a licensee that sells alcoholic beverages for off or
on-premises consumption may confiscate a false identification card if
presented for the purchase of alcohol by a person who is under the age
of 21. Such ID card shall be held by the licensee for no more than 2
hours. If the underage person does not redeem his or her ID card after
the 2 hour cooling off period, such alcohol selling licensee shall in 48
hours of such confiscation, hand over the ID to local law enforcement.
At which point, such law enforcement agency may destroy such fake ID if
it is determined to be fraudulent or if valid returned to its rightful
owner. A person may petition, in writing, for a return of such identifi-
cation.

This bill was amended in 2018 to further add additional procedural safe
guards to ensure that only illegal ID cards are confiscated and that
bona fide ID cards are quickly returned to their rightful owners.
Further that the confiscating business can only hold the fake ID for a 2
hour period of time, so that no alcohol can be purchased by such minor,
but such ID is returned so if by some chance it is a bona fide license,
that such individual will have a license to operate a motor vehicle. In
addition, the standard by which a fake ID can be confiscated is that
there is a moral certainty that such ID is not legitimate.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Some responsible businesses have, for some time now, been screening
identification cards to ensure they do not sell or admit minors to their
establishments. Part of the process has been to hold IDs if they are
determined to be fake. This is an effective method of deterring youth
from entering their businesses as it can be difficult (and expensive) to
obtain a fake ID and minors will probably avoid places known to practice
this confiscation practice. However, this practice may not clearly be
deemed to be lawful as licensees are taking the property of another,
even though it is illegal property or property that can help to perpe-
trate an illegal transaction (the sale of alcoholic beverages to a
person under the age of 21).
The identification must be returned to the minor child within 2 hours of
confiscation. If the minor does not redeem the card within 48 hours, the
licensee must deliver such card to the local police to either destroy
the fake ID cards or verify the authenticity of real IDs. As a safe-
guard, no ID card can be destroyed for one year after being delivered to
the police. Authentic ID cards shall be returned to the rightful owner
as soon as practicable. And fake IDs can be destroyed by the local
police, but only after one year period of time to ensure that bona fide
licenses are retained by the police and can be returned to their right-
ful owner.

There are several procedural safeguards to ensure that only fake IDs are
confiscated and bona fide IDs are quickly returned to their rightful
owners.

Placing the IDs into the hands of law enforcement accomplishes several
goals. First, it allows law enforcement to look for trends in document-
ing and the use of false identification documents. Further, it prevents
a secondary black market from developing for these ID cards in which
some licensee staff may be selling confiscated IDs back to other minors
who should not be purchasing alcoholic beverages. Lastly, it allows for
the return of possibly stolen property to its rightful owner.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

Similar to S. 7127 of 2012. Same As S. 5668 - Passed Senate. It also
passed the Senate in 2013 and 2014.
2015/2016 -S. 1544-A on Senate Floor

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date on which it shall have become a law.