Opinion ID: 3030208
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: To investigate whenever

Text: there are reasonable grounds to believe liquor, alcohol or malt or brewed beverages are being sold on premises not licensed under the provisions of this act . . . . .... 16 (3) Upon reasonable and probable cause, to search for and to seize, without warrant or process, except in private homes, any liquor, alcohol or malt or brewed beverages unlawfully possessed, manufactured, sold, imported or transported and any stills, equipment, materials, utensils, vehicles, boats, vessels, animals, aircraft, or any of them, which are or have been used in the unlawful manufacture, sale, importation or transportation of the same. Such liquor, alcohol, malt or brewed beverages, stills, equipment, materials, utensils, vehicles, boats, vessels, animals or aircraft so seized shall be disposed of as hereinafter provided. (4) To investigate and issue citations for any violations of this act or any laws of this Commonwealth relating to liquor, alcohol or malt or brewed beverages, or any regulations of the board adopted pursuant to such laws or any violation of any laws of this Commonwealth or of the Federal Government, relating to the payment of taxes on liquor, alcohol 17 or malt or brewed beverages by any licensee, his officers, servants, agents or employes. 47 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 2-211. In addition, Section 5-513 of the Code directs that: Every place operated under license secured under the provisions of this article where any alcohol, liquor or malt or brewed beverage covered by the license is manufactured, produced, distilled, developed or used in the process of manufacture, denatured, redistilled, rectified, blended, recovered, reused, held in bond, stored for hire or in connection with a licensee’s business, shall be subject to inspection by members of the board or by persons duly authorized and designated by the board at any and all times of the day or night, as they may deem necessary, (a) for the detection of violations of this act or of the rules and regulations of the board promulgated under the authority of this act, or (b) for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of the records required by this act to be kept by licensees and the books and records of licensees, and the books and records of their customers, in so far as they relate to purchases from said licensees, shall at all times be open to inspection by the members of the board or by persons duly authorized and designated by the board for the purpose of making inspections as authorized by this section. Members of the board and the persons duly 18 authorized and designated by the board shall have the right, without fee or hindrance, to enter any place which is subject to inspection hereunder, or any place where records subject to inspection hereunder are kept, for the purpose of making such inspections. 47 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 5-513 (emphasis added). Finally, Section 4-493(21) of the Liquor Code makes it unlawful: For any licensee, or his servants, agents or employes, to refuse the board or the enforcement bureau6 or any of their authorized employes the right to inspect completely the entire licensed premises at any time during which the premises are open for the transaction of business, or when patrons, guests or members are in that portion of the licensed premises wherein either liquor or malt or brewed beverages are sold. 47 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 4-493(21). Thus, we must consider whether these provisions authorized the warrantless searches of the Scoreboard by Abington Township police officers. Faced with a similar question, the Pennsylvania Superior Court determined in Commonwealth v. Black, 530 A.2d 423 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1987), that these regulations did not authorize the warrantless entry and search of a licensed premises by a police officer, even if that officer was accompanied by an agent from 6 The “enforcement bureau” refers to the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement of the Pennsylvania State Police. 47 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 1-102. 19 the PLCB. Id. at 430. In Black, the PLCB was investigating the Second Story Lounge, a private club in Reading, Pennsylvania. The Lounge was a licensee of the PLCB, and was therefore subject to the above statutory provisions of the Liquor Code. An agent of the PLCB contacted local police and requested that an officer accompany him on a search of the club. Id. at 425-26. Pursuant to this request, an officer from the police department accompanied several PLCB investigators on a warrantless search of the Lounge. Id. During the search, the officer discovered the drugs which served as the basis for the criminal charges brought against Black. Id. After considering the provisions noted above, the Superior Court determined that they did not authorize the officer’s warrantless search of the premises. The court first noted that “[t]he statute specifies those categories of individuals who have been entrusted to enforce the liquor laws by conducting special searches and inspections, i.e., enforcement officers, investigators, members of the board, and persons duly authorized by the board.” Id. at 429-30. A municipal policeman, the court explained, is certainly not an enforcement officer, an investigator, or a member of the board. Id. at 430. In addition, the officer “did not become a ‘[person] duly authorized and designated by the board’ simply by raiding [the Lounge] at the request of [a PLCB agent].” Id. Thus, “[i]n the absence of any evidence of record as to whether [the agent’s] request was documented or approved by his superiors, we surely cannot regard the invitation extended to [the officer] as a form of due authorization to inspect within the meaning of the statute.” Id. The court then noted that, viewing Sections 5-513 and 4-493(21) in conjunction, “persons duly authorized and designated by the board” under Section 5-513 were intended to 20 be “authorized employes” of the board who are under the direct supervision of board members, as per Section 4-493(21). Id. The court therefore held that the Pennsylvania Liquor Code does not authorize warrantless searches of licensees by municipal police officers. Id. As noted above, “the regulated industries exception is a narrow one, and . . . a warrantless search can be placed within that exception only if it is in fact made pursuant to and in enforcement of the regulatory scheme.” Shaefer, Michael & Clairton Slag, Inc., 637 F.2d at 204. The regulatory scheme at issue here only permits warrantless inspection by specified categories of individuals, and the officers of the Abington Township Police Department are not among those individuals – especially absent evidence that they were authorized by the PLCB. 47 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 5-513; Black, 530 A.2d at 430. Thus, viewing the allegations in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs, the sweeps were not in accordance with the regulatory scheme, and the District Court erred in finding that the closely regulated industry exception to the warrant requirement applied based on the record before it. By alleging that Abington Township police officers entered the premises without a warrant, the Plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts to survive a 12(b)(6) motion. We therefore vacate the District Court’s dismissal of their Fourth Amendment claim.