S 0659  General Bill, By Cork, Elliott, McConnell, Rankin and G.Smith
 A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Article 5
 to Chapter 5, Title 61 so as to provide for Hospitality Cabinets.
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   03/23/95  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-3
   03/23/95  Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-3
   04/03/96  Senate Committee report: Favorable Judiciary SJ-8
   04/04/96  Senate Read second time SJ-54
   04/09/96  Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-11
   04/10/96  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-15
   04/10/96  House  Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-15
   05/15/96  House  Committee report: Favorable with amendment
                     Judiciary HJ-14
   05/21/96  House  Amended HJ-106
   05/21/96  House  Read second time HJ-110
   05/22/96  House  Amended HJ-21
   05/22/96  House  Debate adjourned HJ-21
   05/22/96  House  Debate adjourned HJ-34
   05/22/96  House  Debate adjourned until  Thursday, May 23, 1996 HJ-68
   05/23/96  House  Debate adjourned HJ-14
   05/23/96  House  Amended HJ-69
   05/23/96  House  Read third time and returned to Senate with
                     amendments HJ-71
   05/28/96  Senate House amendment amended SJ-22
   05/28/96  Senate Returned to House with amendments SJ-22
   05/30/96  House  Non-concurrence in Senate amendment HJ-81
   05/30/96  Senate Senate insists upon amendment and conference
                     committee appointed  Sens. McGill, Cork, Rankin SJ-32
   05/30/96  House  Conference committee appointed  Kelley, Keegan &
                     Richardson HJ-174
   06/13/96  House  Free conference powers rejected HJ-74
   06/13/96  Senate Free conference powers granted SJ-113
   06/13/96  Senate Free conference committee appointed  Sens.
                     McGill, Rankin, Cork SJ-113
   06/13/96  Senate Free conference report received and adopted SJ-113

HOUSE AMENDMENTS AMENDED

May 28, 1996

S. 659

Introduced by SENATORS Cork, Greg Smith, Elliott, McConnell and Rankin

S. Printed 5/29/96--S.

Read the first time March 23, 1995.

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 5 TO CHAPTER 5, TITLE 61 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR HOSPITALITY CABINETS.

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Chapter 5, Title 61 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Article 5

Section 61-5-510. As used in this article:

(1) `Alcoholic beverages' means alcoholic liquors, as defined in Section 61-3-20, and beer and wine, as defined in Section 61-9-10.

(2) `Legal drinking age' means the age when a person legally may purchase or consume an alcoholic beverage.

(3) `Hospitality cabinet' means a closed container, refrigerated in whole or in part or nonrefrigerated, where access to the interior portion where alcoholic beverages are contained is restricted by means of a locking device which requires the use of a key, magnetic card, or similar device.

(4) `Qualified facility' means a hotel, inn, or motel licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption and which contains guest room accommodations. It includes condominiums owned or managed by an otherwise qualified facility.

(5) `Qualified registered guest' means each person of legal drinking age who signs the guest register of a qualified facility or takes equivalent action for the purpose of registering as a guest of the qualified facility.

Section 61-5-520. After approval by ordinance by the governing body of the county or municipality in which a qualified facility licensed to sell alcoholic beverages on its premises is located, the qualified facility also may sell the beverages in sealed containers in individual portions to its qualified registered guests by means of a hospitality cabinet located in the rooms of these guests, if the conditions of this chapter are met. Within ten days of approval by the governing body, qualified facilities within its jurisdiction and the South Carolina Department of Revenue and Taxation must be notified of the approval.

Section 61-5-530. (A) The type of alcoholic beverages contained in a hospitality cabinet of a qualified facility is limited to those beverages for which the facility is licensed to sell on premises.

(B) The hospitality cabinet may contain no more than thirty individual portions of alcoholic beverages at one time.

(C) The hours during which guests may have access to a hospitality cabinet are not limited to the hours that the qualified facility is licensed to sell alcoholic beverages unless this provision is specified by the governing body in the ordinance.

Section 61-5-540. A hospitality cabinet may be part of another furniture unit or device, refrigerated in whole or in part or nonrefrigerated, from which nonalcoholic beverages or food may be purchased by the guests in qualified facility guest rooms. However, if nonalcoholic beverages or food may be purchased, the portion of the hospitality cabinet or similar device in which alcoholic beverages are stored must be a hospitality cabinet as defined in Section 61-5-510.

Section 61-5-550. (A) Those portions of a hospitality cabinet containing alcoholic beverages must remain locked at all times when a guest room is unrented, except for taking inventory or restocking and replenishing the hospitality cabinet.

(B) Access to a hospitality cabinet in a particular guest room must be provided, by furnishing a key, magnetic card, or similar device, only to a qualified registered guest of legal drinking age, registered to stay in the guest room.

(C) Before providing a key, magnetic card, or similar device required to obtain access to the hospitality cabinet in a particular guest room to the qualified registered guest, the licensee shall verify that the qualified registered guest is of legal drinking age.

(D) A key, magnetic card, or similar device required to obtain access to the hospitality cabinet in a particular guest room may be given only to the qualified registered guest if requested by that guest and only if the guest is not visibly or obviously intoxicated.

Section 61-5-560. (A) Alcoholic beverages used to restock and replenish a facility's hospitality cabinets must be kept locked in a separate, secure room or cabinet, except when the hospitality cabinets are restocked and replenished.

(B) The hospitality cabinets may be restocked and replenished with alcoholic beverages only during those hours when the beverages may be sold on the premises.

Section 61-5-570. The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall promulgate regulations to implement this article."

SECTION 2. Section 61-3-440 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 1583 of Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:

"Section 61-3-440. The department shall not grant or issue any license provided for in this chapter, Chapter 7, and Article 3 of Chapter 13, if the place of business is within three hundred feet of any church, school, or playground situated within a municipality or within five hundred feet of any church, school, or playground situated outside of a municipality. Such distance shall be computed by following the shortest route of ordinary pedestrian or vehicular travel along the public thoroughfare from the nearest point of the grounds in use as part of such church, school, or playground, which, as used herein, shall be defined as follows:

(1) `Church', an establishment, other than a private dwelling, where religious services are usually conducted;

(2) `School', an establishment, other than a private dwelling where the usual processes of education are usually conducted; and

(3) `Playground', a place, other than grounds at a private dwelling, which is provided by the public or members of a community for recreation.

The above restrictions shall do not apply to the renewal of licenses existing on July 10, 1960 or to locations then existing , and they do not apply to new applications for locations which are licensed at the time the new application is filed with the department."

SECTION 3. Section 61-9-312 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Section 75, Part II, Act 145 of 1995, is further amended to read:

"Section 61-9-312. (A) In counties or municipalities where temporary permits are authorized to be issued pursuant to Section 61-5-180, in lieu of the retail permit fee required pursuant to Section 61-9-310, a retail dealer otherwise eligible for the retail permit under that section may elect to apply for a special version of that permit which allows sales for off-premises consumption without regard to the restrictions on the days or hours of sales provided in Sections 61-9-90, 61-9-100, 61-9-110, and 61-9-130. The annual fee for this special retail permit is one thousand dollars.

(B) Revenue generated by the fees must be credited to the general fund of the State except that revenue generated by the fees within a county where a federal military base or installation has been closed, or is designated to be closed and where the federal facility has reduced its permanent civilian employment by three thousand seven hundred fifty or more jobs after December 31, 1990, for a period of ten years after the effective date of Chapter 12 of Title 31, must be credited to a special separate and distinct account with the Budget and Control Board for support of a redevelopment authority created therein pursuant to Chapter 12 of Title 31. All other requirements for retail permits provided in Section 61-9-310 apply to the special permits authorized by this section.

(C) (1) Immediately following the dissolution of a redevelopment authority pursuant to Section 31-12-100 (A), the fees distributed to the dissolved redevelopment authority pursuant to subsection (B) must be distributed to the municipality or county in which the retailer who paid the fee is located. The revenue may only be used by the municipality or county for the following purposes:

(a) capital improvements to tourism-related buildings including, but not limited to, civic centers, convention centers, coliseums, aquariums, stadiums, marinas, parks, and recreational facilities;

(b) purchase or renovation of buildings which are historic properties as defined in Section 60-12-10(4) and (5);

(c) festivals which have a demonstrable and significant impact on tourism;

(d) acquiring fee and less than fee interest in land while it is still available to be held in perpetuity as wildlife preserves or believed to be needed by the public in the future for active and passive recreation uses and scenic easements, to include the following types of land: ocean, harbor, and pond frontage in the form of beaches, dunes, and adjoining backlands; barrier beaches; fresh and saltwater marshes and adjoining uplands; land for bicycle baths; land protecting existing and future; public water supply, well fields, highway buffering and aquifer recharge areas; and land for wildlife preserves; and land for future public recreational facilities;

(e) nourishment, renourishment (resanding) and maintenance of beaches;

(f) dune restoration, including the planting of grass, sea oats, or other vegetation useful in preserving the dune system;

(g) maintenance of public beach access;

(h) capital improvements to the beaches and beach related facilities, such as public parking areas for beach access; dune walkovers and rest room facilities, with or without changing rooms, at public beach parks; and

(i) construction and maintenance of drainage systems.

(2) The revenue may not be used for operating expenses of tourism-related buildings."

SECTION 4. Section 61-5-180 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 61-5-180. (A) In addition to the provisions of Section 61-5-85, the department may issue a temporary permit to allow the possession, sale, and consumption of alcoholic liquors in sealed containers of two ounces or less. This permit is valid for a period not to exceed twenty-four hours and may be issued only to bona fide nonprofit organizations and business establishments otherwise authorized to be licensed for sales. The department shall charge a nonrefundable filing fee of one hundred dollars for processing each application and a daily permit fee of fifty dollars for each day for which a permit is approved. An application must be filed for each permit requested. The department in its sole discretion shall specify the terms and conditions of the permit.

(B) (1) The permit fees must be credited to the general fund of the State distributed to the municipality or county in which the retailer who paid the fee is located. The revenue may only be used by the municipality or county for the following purposes:

(a) capital improvements to tourism-related buildings including, but not limited to, civic centers, convention centers, coliseums, aquariums, stadiums, marinas, parks, and recreational facilities;

(b) purchase or renovation of buildings which are historic properties as defined in Section 60-12-10(4) and (5);

(c) festivals which have a demonstrable and significant impact on tourism;

(d) local youth mentor programs to serve juvenile offenders under the jurisdiction of the family court;

(e) contributions to matching funds necessary for a local government or entity to receive funding from the Legacy Trust Fund pursuant to Chapter 22 of Title 51;

(f) contributions to a redevelopment authority pursuant to Section 31-12-10, et seq.;

(g) acquiring fee and less than fee interest in land while it is still available to be held in perpetuity as wildlife preserves or believed to be needed by the public in the future for active and passive recreation uses and scenic easements, to include the following types of land: ocean, harbor, and pond frontage in the form of beaches, dunes, and adjoining backlands; barrier beaches; fresh and saltwater marshes and adjoining uplands; land for bicycle baths; land protecting existing and future; public water supply, well fields, highway buffering and aquifer recharge areas; and land for wildlife preserves; and land for future public recreational facilities;

(h) nourishment, renourishment (resanding) and maintenance of beaches;

(i) dune restoration, including the planting of grass, sea oats, or other vegetation useful in preserving the dune system;

(j) maintenance of public beach access;

(k) capital improvements to the beaches and beach related facilities, such as public parking areas for beach access; dune walkovers and rest room facilities, with or without changing rooms, at public beach parks; and

(l) construction and maintenance of drainage systems.

(2) The revenue may not be used for operating expenses of tourism-related buildings.

The department in its sole discretion shall specify the terms and conditions of the permit.

(C) Permits authorized by this section may be issued only in those counties or municipalities where a majority of the qualified electors voting in a referendum vote in favor of the issuance of the permits. The county or municipal election commission, as the case may be, shall conduct a referendum upon petition of at least ten percent but not more than twenty-five hundred qualified electors of the county or municipality, as the case may be, in not less than thirty nor more than forty days after receiving the petition. The election commission shall cause a notice to be published in a newspaper circulated in the county or municipality, as the case may be, at least seven days before the referendum. The state election laws shall apply to the referendum mutatis mutandis. The election commission shall publish the results of the referendum and certify them to the South Carolina Department of Revenue and Taxation. The question on the ballot shall read substantially as follows:

`Shall the South Carolina Department of Revenue and Taxation be authorized to issue temporary permits in this (county)(municipality) for a period not to exceed twenty-four hours to allow the possession, sale, and consumption of alcoholic liquors in sealed containers of two ounces or less to bona fide nonprofit organizations and business establishments otherwise authorized to be licensed for sales?'

A referendum for this purpose may not be held more often than once in forty-eight months.

The expenses of any such referendum must be paid by the county or municipality conducting the referendum."

SECTION 5. In a county in which temporary permits may be issued pursuant to Section 61-5-180, revenue generated by the fees imposed under that section within a county where a federal military base or installation has been closed, or is designated to be closed and where the federal facility has reduced its permanent civilian employment by seven hundred fifty or more jobs, but not more than two thousand nine hundred ninety-nine jobs, after December 31, 1990, for a period of five years beginning July 1, 1997, must be credited to a special separate and distinct account with the Budget and Control Board for support of a redevelopment authority created therein pursuant to Chapter 12 of Title 31.

SECTION 6. Section 3 of this act takes effect July 1, 1996, and Sections 4 and 5 of this act take effect July 1, 1997. The remaining sections take effect upon approval of the Governor.