Opinion ID: 3200036
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Iguana’s license expired by operation of law.

Text: Iguana’s contends that ABC cancelled its liquor license without following the appropriate procedures defined under the governing provisions of the Idaho Code. Specifically, Iguana’s contends that under Idaho Code section 23-933(1) ABC was required to provide notice and a hearing before cancelling Iguana’s license. ABC maintains that notice and a hearing were not required because Iguana’s failed to submit sufficient funds with its renewal application and therefore the license expired by operation of law. Idaho Code section 23-908(1) states in pertinent part: All licenses shall expire at 1:00 o’clock a.m. on the first day of the renewal month . . . . Renewal applications for liquor by the drink licenses accompanied by the required fee must be filed with the director on or before the first day of the designated renewal month. Any licensee holding a valid license who fails to file an application for renewal of his current license on or before the first day of the designated renewal month shall have a grace period of an additional thirty-one (31) days in which to file an application for renewal of the license. The licensee shall not be permitted to sell and dispense liquor by the drink at retail during the thirty-one (31) day extended time period unless and until the license is renewed. 3 Accordingly, under the statute, all licenses “expire at 1:00 o’clock a.m. on the first day of the renewal month.” The expiration happens by operation of law. It requires no action by ABC or by the licensee. BV Beverage v. State, 155 Idaho 624, 628, 315 P.3d 812, 816 (2013) (“Liquor licenses therefore expire by operation of law . . . .”). If a licensee fails to file an application for renewal they are automatically granted “a grace period of an additional thirty-one (31) days.” I.C. § 23-908(1). The grace period, however, does not extend the life of the previous year’s license, as a licensee is not permitted to sell and dispense liquor during the thirty-one day period. Id. Rather, the grace period simply provides an extension of time in which the license, although having expired, may still be renewed. Id. If, however, the license is not renewed by submitting an application for renewal of the license “accompanied by the required fee” within the thirty-one day period, the licensee looses his privilege to renew his license under section 23-908(1) and must re-apply for a new license under the applicable code sections. Here, the first day of Iguana’s renewal month was November 1, 2014. The thirty-one day grace period ended on December 2, 2014. Iguana’s did not submit the required fee until December 10, 2014. Although a renewal was submitted earlier on October 22, 2014, the fee was not paid. “[P]ayment by check is conditional and is defeated as between the parties by dishonor of the check on due presentment.” I.C. § 28-2-511(3). Iguana’s had the obligation to make timely payment of the required fee. Although ABC attempted to notify Iguana’s that its check was returned NSF, ABC was under no obligation to do so. Having chosen to submit a check in payment of the fee, it was Iguana’s obligation to make sure that there were funds in the account to pay the check upon presentment. Iguana’s failed to do so. Accordingly, because Iguana’s failed to timely submit the required fee, its license expired by operation of law on November 1, 2014. Similarly, having failed to submit the require fee before the end of the thirty-one day grace period, Iguana’s, also by operation of law, lost its privilege to renew its license under section 23908(1). Iguana’s attempts to make much of the fact that ABC issued a 2015 license after Iguana’s submitted its renewal application and the NSF check. Having issued such a license, Iguana’s argues that ABC was bound by Idaho Code section 23-933(1) to provide notice and a hearing before cancelling the 2015 license. Section 23-933(1) provides that ABC cannot revoke a license without following the procedures set forth in the Idaho Administrative Procedure Act. Section 67-5254(1) of that Act provides: 4 An agency shall not revoke, suspend, modify, annul, withdraw or amend a license, or refuse to renew a license of a continuing nature when the licensee has made timely and sufficient application for renewal, unless the agency first gives notice and an opportunity for an appropriate contested case in accordance with the provisions of this chapter or other statute. As discussed above, Iguana’s did not make a “timely and sufficient application for renewal.” Consequently, section 67-5254(1) does not apply. Therefore, ABC was not statutorily required to provide notice and an opportunity to be heard before cancelling the erroneously issued 2015 license. Having not timely paid the required fee, Iguana’s was never in compliance with the requirements of Idaho Code section 23-908(1), and therefore the 2015 license was subject to cancellation. See Henson v. Dep’t of Law Enforcement, 107 Idaho 19, 24, 684 P.2d 996, 1001 (1984). We do not decide whether Iguana’s had a property interest in its liquor license because it is undisputed that Iguana’s failed to timely submit the required renewal fee. Having failed to meet the statutorily mandated requirements for renewal, the license, and any property interest Iguana’s may or may not have had, expired by operation of law.