Chapter 9.48
SOCIAL HOST LIABILITY
Sections:
9.48.010 Legislative findings.
9.48.040 Prohibition against gatherings where minors consume alcoholic beverages.
9.48.050 Prima facie evidence.
9.48.060 Recovery of response costs.
9.48.070 Billing and collection.
9.48.080 Appeal of response costs.
9.48.090 Separate violations for each incident.
9.48.100 Enforcement remedies.
9.48.010 Legislative findings.
A. Minors often obtain, possess, or consume alcoholic beverages at gatherings held at private residences or other private property, places or premises, including rented commercial premises which are under the control of a person who knows or should know of the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors, yet persons responsible for the occurrence of such gatherings often fail to take reasonable steps to prevent the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors at these gatherings.
B. Consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors who are under the legal age to consume alcohol in the state of California is harmful to the minors themselves and poses an immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare in that it increases alcohol abuse by minors and leads to physical altercations and crimes, accidental injury, neighborhood vandalism, and excessive noise disturbance, all of which may require intervention by local law enforcement.
C. Law enforcement responses to gatherings involving consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors often require extensive resources to manage the incident. Further, when law enforcement personnel respond to gatherings involving the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors it takes away valuable resources from other service calls in the community, thereby placing the community at increased risk. Law enforcement, fire and emergency response services are not currently reimbursed for the response costs when called to a property or gathering where minors obtain, possess, or consume alcoholic beverages.
D. The prohibitions found in this chapter are reasonable and expected to deter the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors by holding responsible persons who know of, or should know of, the illegal conduct yet fail to stop or prevent it.
(Ord. 2012-08, Added, 07/17/2012)
9.48.020 Intent and purpose.
The purposes of this chapter are to protect public health, safety and general welfare; to enforce laws prohibiting the service to and consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors; and to reduce the costs of providing law enforcement, fire, and other emergency response services to premises where alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by a minor, by holding the responsible person, social host and/or landowners responsible for the costs associated with providing law enforcement and other emergency response services.
(Ord. 2012-08, Added, 07/17/2012)
9.48.030 Definitions.
The definitions contained in this section shall govern the construction of this chapter.
A. “Alcohol” means ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl, or spirits of wine, from whatever source or by whatever process produced.
B. “Alcoholic beverage(s)” includes any liquid or solid material intended to be ingested by a person which contains ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, drinking alcohol, or alcohol, including, but not limited to, alcoholic beverages as defined in Section 109 of the California Vehicle Code, intoxicating liquor, malt beverage, beer, wine, spirits, liqueur, whiskey, rum, vodka, cordials, gin, and brandy, and any mixture containing one (1) or more alcoholic beverages. “Alcoholic beverage” includes a mixture of one (1) or more alcoholic beverages whether found or ingested separately or as a mixture.
C. “Family gathering” is a gathering where each minor present is supervised by his or her parent or legal guardian.
D. “Gathering” is a party, gathering or event where a group of two (2) or more persons have assembled or are assembling for a social occasion or social activity.
E. “Legal guardian” means: (1) a person who, by court order, is the guardian of the person of a minor; or (2) a public or private agency with whom a minor has been placed by the court.
F. “Minor” is any person under the age of twenty-one (21) years.
G. “Juvenile” is any person under the age of eighteen (18) years.
H. “Parent” is a person who is a natural parent, adoptive parent, foster parent, or step-parent of another person.
I. “Property” means any residence or other private property, place or premises, including any commercial or business premises.
J. “Response costs” means the costs associated with response by law enforcement, fire, or other emergency response providers to a gathering, including but not limited to:
1. Salaries and benefits of law enforcement, fire or other emergency response personnel for the amount of time spent responding to, remaining at, or otherwise dealing with a gathering, and the administrative cost associated with or attributed to such response(s);
2. The cost of any medical treatment for any law enforcement, fire or other emergency response personnel injured responding to, remaining at, or leaving the scene of a gathering;
3. The cost of repairing any City or fire district equipment or property damaged, and the cost of the use of any such equipment in, responding to, remaining at, or leaving the scene of a gathering;
K. “Responsible person” means a person or persons in control of or with a right of possession in the premises including, but not limited to:
1. An owner of the residence or other private property, place or premises, including any commercial or business premises;
2. A tenant or lessee of the residence or other private property, place or premises, including any commercial or business premises;
3. The landlord or property manager responsible for the property;
4. The person(s) in charge of the residence or other private property, place or premises, including commercial or business premises; and
5. The person(s) who organizes, supervises, officiates, conducts or controls the gathering or any other person(s) accepting responsibility for such a gathering.
6. If a responsible person or social host for the party or gathering is a juvenile, then the parents or guardians of that juvenile and the juvenile will be jointly and severally liable for the response costs incurred pursuant to this chapter. To incur liability for response costs imposed by this chapter, the responsible person or social host for the gathering must be aware of the gathering, but need not be present at such gathering which results in the imposition of response costs pursuant to this chapter.
L. “Social host” is a person who hosts, permits, or allows a gathering to take place where one or more minors consume alcoholic beverages, on property owned or controlled by the person and the person knows or reasonably should have known that the minor is consuming or has consumed an alcoholic beverage.
(Ord. 2012-08, Added, 07/17/2012)
9.48.040 Prohibition against gatherings where minors consume alcoholic beverages.
A. It is unlawful for any persons having control of any premises to host, permit or allow a gathering to take place at said premises where one (1) or more minors consume alcoholic beverages, if the person having control of the premises knows, or should have known, that a minor is consuming or has consumed an alcoholic beverage.
B. Any person having control of any premises, who hosts, permits or allows a gathering at said premises shall take all reasonable steps to prevent the consumption of alcoholic beverages by any minor at the gathering. Reasonable steps include, but are not limited to: (1) controlling access to alcoholic beverages at the gathering, (2) controlling the quantity of alcoholic beverages at the gathering, (3) verifying the age of persons attending the gathering by inspecting drivers’ licenses or other government-issued identification cards to ensure minors do not consume alcoholic beverages while at the gathering, and (4) supervising the activities of minors at the gathering.
C. This section shall not apply to conduct involving the use of alcoholic beverages that occurs exclusively between a minor and his or her parent or legal guardian, as permitted by Article I, Section 4 of the California Constitution, or if the event is a family gathering.
(Ord. 2012-08, Added, 07/17/2012)
9.48.050 Prima facie evidence.
Whenever a responsible person and/or social host having control of the premises is present at the premises at the time that a minor obtains, possesses, or consumes any alcoholic beverage, it shall be prima facie evidence that such responsible person or social host, regardless of age, knew or reasonably should have known, that the minor obtained, possessed, or consumed an alcoholic beverage at the gathering.
(Ord. 2012-08, Added, 07/17/2012)
9.48.060 Recovery of response costs.
When law enforcement, fire or other emergency response provider responds to a gathering at a property within the City of Galt where one (1) or more minors are consuming or have consumed alcoholic beverages, all responsible persons and social hosts shall be jointly and severally liable for the response costs.
(Ord. 2012-08, Added, 07/17/2012)
9.48.070 Billing and collection.
A. The amount of response costs shall be deemed a debt owed to the City of Galt or the fire district, as applicable, by the responsible persons and/or social hosts. Any person owing such costs shall be liable in a civil action brought in the name of the City or the fire district for recovery for such costs, including reasonable attorney fees.
B. Notice of the costs for which the responsible persons and/or social hosts are liable shall be mailed via first-class mail. The responsible persons and/or social hosts must remit payment of the noticed response costs to the City of Galt or fire district within thirty (30) days of the date of the notice. The payment of any such costs shall be stayed upon the filing of a timely appeal pursuant to Section 9.48.080. The notice shall contain the following information:
1. The name of the person(s) being held liable for the payment of such costs;
2. The address of the property where the gathering occurred;
3. The date and time of the response;
4. The law enforcement, fire, or emergency service provider(s) who responded;
5. An itemized list of the response costs for which the person(s) is being held liable.
C. The failure of any person to pay the response costs within the time specified on the response cost bill may result in the City Finance Director or his or her authorized designee referring the matter for collection. The City Finance Director may also pursue the imposition of a lien pursuant to Section 21.01.100 or the imposition of a special assessment pursuant to Section 21.01.110. The City Attorney may pursue any other legal remedy to collect the response costs, including the initiation of civil litigation.
(Ord. 2012-08, Added, 07/17/2012)
9.48.080 Appeal of response costs.
Any person who receives notice of imposition of response costs as set forth in Section 9.48.070 may appeal the imposition of these costs pursuant to the process set forth in Chapter 21.03. Failure to appeal the response costs within fifteen (15) calendar days of the date of the notice of imposition of response costs shall constitute a waiver of any claims regarding the imposition or collection of these costs and shall also constitute a failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
(Ord. 2012-08, Added, 07/17/2012)
9.48.090 Separate violations for each incident.
Each incident in violation of this chapter shall constitute a separate offense.
(Ord. 2012-08, Added, 07/17/2012)
9.48.100 Enforcement remedies.
This chapter shall be enforced as set forth in Title 21.
(Ord. 2012-08, Added, 07/17/2012)