West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 176 - Alcohol Beverage Control Commission-Beer › Title 176 - LEGISLATIVE RULE ALCOHOL BEVERAGE CONTROL ADMINISTRATION COMMISSIONER - BEER › Series 176-01 - Nonintoxicating Beer Licensing and Operations Procedures › Section 176-1-15 - Hearing On Sanctioning of License

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
15.1. The Commissioner shall not revoke nor
				suspend any license issued pursuant to W. Va. Code §
									11-16-1
et seq
.
				or impose any civil penalties authorized by the code unless and until a hearing
				is held after at least 10 calendar days' notice to the licensee of the time and
				place of the hearing, unless the suspension is for failure to meet or maintain
				licensing requirements or the suspension is based on the Commissioner's belief
				that public safety will be adversely affected by the licensee's continued
				operation, and then the suspension shall be immediate and the licensee must
				cease all operations. The notice shall contain a statement or specification of
				the charges, grounds, or reasons for the proposed action, and shall be served
				upon the licensee as notices under the West Virginia rules of civil procedure
				or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address for which the
				license was issued. At the time and place designated in the notice, the
				licensee has the right to appear and produce evidence on his or her behalf, and
				to be represented by counsel.
15.2.
				The Commissioner has the authority to summon witnesses in the hearings, and
				fees of witnesses summoned on behalf of the state in proceedings to sanction
				licenses shall be treated as a part of the expenses of administration and
				enforcement of W. Va. Code §
									11-16-1
et seq
.
				The fees shall be the same as those in similar hearings in the circuit courts
				of this state. The Commissioner may, upon a finding of violation, assess a
				licensee a sum, not to exceed $150.00 per violation, to reimburse the
				Commissioner for expenditures for witness fees, court reporter fees and travel
				costs incurred in holding the hearing.
15.3. If, at the request of the licensee or
				on his or her motion, the hearing is continued and does not take place on the
				day fixed by the Commissioner in the notice, the Commissioner shall suspend the
				licensee's license until the hearing and decision of the Commissioner. In the
				event the license is revoked or suspended, upon hearing before the
				Commissioner, the licensee may not sell nonintoxicating beer pending an appeal
				of the Commissioner's decision. Any person continuing to sell nonintoxicating
				beer after his or her license has been suspended or revoked, is guilty of a
				misdemeanor and is subject to the penalties provided in W. Va. Code §
									11-16-19.
15.4. The action of the Commissioner in
				revoking or suspending a license is subject to review by the Circuit Court of
				Kanawha County, West Virginia, or in the manner provided in W. Va. Code §
									11-16-24. The licensee shall file
				a petition for review with the circuit court within a period of 30 calendar
				days from the date of revocation or suspension by the Commissioner. Any
				licensee obtaining an order for review shall pay the costs and fees incident to
				transcribing, certifying and transmitting the records to the circuit court. A
				licensee shall apply to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia for a
				writ of error from any final order of the circuit court in any such matter
				within 30 calendar days from the entry of the final order.
15.5. All hearings regarding the proposed
				revocation or suspension of a license shall be held in the offices of the
				Commissioner unless otherwise provided in notice, or agreed upon between the
				licensee and the Commissioner. When a hearing is held elsewhere than in the
				Commissioner's office, the licensee may be required to make deposits of the
				estimated costs of the hearing.
15.6. Whenever any licensee has been
				convicted of any offense constituting a violation of the laws of this state or
				of the United States relating to nonintoxicating beer, or alcoholic liquor, and
				such conviction has become final, the clerk of the court in which the licensee
				has been convicted shall forward to the Commissioner a certified copy of the
				order or judgment of conviction if the clerk has knowledge that the person
				convicted is a licensee, together with certification of the clerk that the
				conviction is final.
15.7. In the
				case of a Class B licensee with multiple licensed locations, the Commissioner
				may, in his or her discretion, revoke, suspend, or otherwise sanction, as
				provided in W. Va. Code §
									11-16-23, only the license for the
				location or locations involved in the unlawful conduct as opposed to all
				separately licensed locations of the licensee.