H. B. 2913
(By Delegates Rowe and Spencer)
[Introduced February 25, 1999; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-two, article three,
chapter sixty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing
a defense to selling legal beverages to certain individuals
who are addicted to the use of alcohol, wine or
nonintoxicating beer, intoxicated, drug addicts or severely
mentally impaired when the seller, upon reasonable and
average observation of the purchaser's personal appearance
and demeanor at the time of the sale could not have
reasonably been expected to conclude that the purchaser was
addicted to the use of alcohol, wine or nonintoxicating
beer, intoxicated, a drug addict or severely mentally
inpaired.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-two, article three, chapter sixty of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. SALES BY COMMISSIONER.
§60-3-22. Sales to certain persons prohibited.
(a) Alcoholic liquors and nonintoxicating beer as defined in
section three, article sixteen, chapter eleven of this code and
wine as defined by section five, article one, chapter sixty shall
not be sold to a person who is:
(1) Less than twenty-one years of age;
(2) An habitual drunkard Addicted to the use of alcohol,
wine or nonintoxicating beer;
(3) Intoxicated;
(4) Addicted to the use of any controlled substance as
defined by any of the provisions of chapter sixty-a of this code;
or
(5) Severely mentally incompetent impaired.
(b) It shall be a defense to a violation of subdivision (1),
subsection (a) of this section if the seller shows that the
purchaser:
(1) Produced written evidence which showed his or her age to
be at least the required age for purchase and which bore a
physical description of the person named on the writing which
reasonably described the purchaser; or
(2) Produced evidence of other facts that reasonably
indicated at the time of sale that the purchaser was at least the
required age.
(c) It shall be a defense to a violation of subdivision (2)
or (3), subsection (a) of this section if the seller shows that
the purchaser's personal appearance and demeanor did not disclose
to a reasonable and average observer that the purchaser was in a
state of intoxication at the time and place of the purchase in
question.
(d) It shall be a defense to a violation of subdivisions (4)
or (5), subsection (a) of this section if the seller shows that
the purchaser's personal appearance and demeanor did not disclose
to a reasonable and average observer that the purchaser was
either addicted to the use of a controlled substance or was
severely mentally impaired.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a defense to
selling legal beverages to certain individuals who are addicted
to the use of alchol, wine or nonintoxicating beer, intoxicated,
drug addicts or severely mentally impaired when the seller, upon
reasonable and average observation of the purchaser's personal
appearance and demeanor at the time of the sale could not have
reasonably been expected to conclude that the purchaser was
addicted to the use of alcohol, wine or nonintoxicating beer,
intoxicated, a drug addict or severely mentally incompetent.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.