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91_SB0773
LRB9104257LDmb
1 AN ACT to amend the Liquor Control Act of 1934 by
2 changing Section 6-16.1.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Liquor Control Act of 1934 is amended by
6 changing Section 6-16.1 as follows:
7 (235 ILCS 5/6-16.1)
8 Sec. 6-16.1. Enforcement actions.
9 (a) A member of the State Commission or any person
10 designated by the State Commission or a local liquor control
11 commission or any person designated by a local liquor control
12 commissioner or any law enforcement agency may employ or
13 direct a person as an agent to attempt to purchase alcohol
14 from a licensee in order to conduct an alcohol compliance
15 operation in cooperation with local law enforcement
16 authorities to investigate whether a licensee is furnishing
17 alcohol to persons under 21 years of age in violation of the
18 provisions of this Act. An agent employed or directed to
19 attempt to purchase alcohol from the licensee:
20 (i) shall be no younger than 18 years of age and
21 shall be less than 20 years of age;
22 (ii) shall be required to demonstrate that he or
23 she is of good character, including, but not limited to,
24 proof that he or she has no record of prior liquor
25 violations, including prior attempts to unlawfully
26 purchase alcohol;
27 (iii) shall not disguise his or her appearance and
28 demeanor so as to misrepresent his or her actual age.
29 (b) When actively participating in any phase of an
30 alcohol compliance operation, an agent employed or directed
31 to attempt to purchase alcohol from the licensee:
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1 (i) if male, shall not have facial hair and, if
2 male or female, shall not wear cosmetics, jewelry, or
3 clothing that is not generally commensurate with his or
4 her actual age;
5 (ii) shall not initiate conversation with the
6 licensee or the officer, associate, member,
7 representative, agent, or employee of the licensee and
8 shall speak only when necessary to attempt to complete
9 the purchase of alcohol;
10 (iii) shall, excepting only those questions as to
11 the agent's employment, respond truthfully to all
12 questions posed by the licensee or the officer,
13 associate, member, representative, agent, or employee of
14 the licensee, including, but not limited to, inquiries
15 concerning his or her age; and
16 (iv) if identification is demanded by the licensee
17 or the officer, associate, member, representative, agent,
18 or employee of the licensee, shall indicate either that
19 he or she is not carrying any identification or shall
20 produce only a valid state-issued identification,
21 previously approved by the supervising officer, that
22 indicates his or her actual date of birth.
23 (c) (i) If the State Commission or a local liquor
24 control commissioner adopts an alcohol compliance
25 program, it shall be required to establish a schedule of
26 operations, during which time all licensed premises
27 within its jurisdiction shall be investigated for
28 compliance with the provisions of this Act concerning the
29 sale of alcoholic liquor to persons under 21 years of
30 age.
31 (ii) Alcohol compliance operations shall be
32 conducted no more than 3 times during any consecutive
33 12-month period.
34 (iii) A licensee that is subjected to an alcohol
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1 compliance operation and found not to have violated the
2 provisions of this Act concerning the sale of alcoholic
3 liquor to persons under 21 years of age shall, within 30
4 days of the operation, be notified in writing by the
5 local liquor control commissioner or law enforcement
6 agency of the date and approximate time of the operation
7 as well as of the licensee's compliance. The written
8 notification shall be made part of the licensee's file
9 maintained by the local liquor control commission and
10 shall be used solely for the purposes of mitigation of
11 the assessment by the local liquor control commission of
12 a penalty in subsequent proceedings for the revocation or
13 suspension of the licensee's liquor license.
14 (iv) Compliance operations, in addition to those
15 conducted pursuant to items (i) and (ii) of this
16 subsection, may be conducted on the premises of any
17 licensee in response to documented complaints of
18 purchases of alcoholic liquor by persons under 21 years
19 of age. The reasons for any unscheduled operation shall
20 be explained in writing to the State Commission or local
21 liquor control commissioner by the law enforcement
22 authority conducting the operation.
23 (d) Prior to the commencement of any alcohol compliance
24 operation, the law enforcement agency conducting the
25 operation shall designate a police officer as the supervising
26 officer of the operation. The supervising officer shall:
27 (i) photograph or create a video record of the
28 agent in the clothing to be worn during the operation or
29 both;
30 (ii) ensure that during the operation the agent
31 shall carry no identification or only a valid
32 state-issued identification that indicates his or her
33 actual date of birth;
34 (iii) ensure that the agent enters the licensed
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1 premises alone and attempts to purchase an alcoholic
2 beverage without the presence or assistance of any person
3 over age 21, including the supervising officer. However,
4 nothing in this Section shall prevent the supervising
5 officer from entering the premises before or after the
6 agent for the purposes of surveillance or observation of
7 the attempted purchase; and
8 (iv) be on or about the premises and directly
9 supervise the attempted purchase.
10 (e) A person shall not act as a supervising officer for
11 the purposes of this Section unless he or she has
12 successfully completed a training course in the use of minors
13 as police special agents in liquor age compliance testing as
14 set forth by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards
15 Board. The training shall be at least 4 hours in duration
16 and successful completion shall be evidenced by the issuance
17 of a certificate by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training
18 Standards Board.
19 A supervising officer shall conduct an informal training
20 session with any person employed or directed as an agent to
21 attempt to purchase alcohol from a licensee immediately
22 before beginning an alcohol compliance operation. The
23 training shall consist of training the police special agent
24 as to the established rules of this Act as they apply to
25 liquor age restriction compliance testing.
26 (f) Failure to conduct alcohol compliance operations in
27 compliance with subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) of
28 this Section shall constitute an affirmative defense in any
29 criminal prosecution therefor and to any proceedings for the
30 suspension or revocation of any license based thereon.
31 (g) A home rule unit may not regulate enforcement
32 actions in a manner inconsistent with the regulation by the
33 State of enforcement actions under this Section. This
34 subsection (g) is a limitation under subsection (i) of
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1 Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution on the
2 concurrent exercise by home rule units of powers and
3 functions exercised by the State. A licensee or an officer,
4 associate, member, representative, agent, or employee of a
5 licensee may sell, give, or deliver alcoholic liquor to a
6 person under the age of 21 years or authorize the sale, gift,
7 or delivery of alcoholic liquor to a person under the age of
8 21 years pursuant to a plan or action to investigate, patrol,
9 or otherwise conduct a "sting operation" or enforcement
10 action against a person employed by the licensee or on any
11 licensed premises if the licensee or officer, associate,
12 member, representative, agent, or employee of the licensee
13 provides written notice, at least 14 days before the "sting
14 operation" or enforcement action, unless governing body of
15 the municipality or county having jurisdiction sets a shorter
16 period by ordinance, to the law enforcement agency having
17 jurisdiction, the local liquor control commissioner, or both.
18 Notice provided under this Section shall be valid for a
19 "sting operation" or enforcement action conducted within 60
20 days of the provision of that notice, unless the governing
21 body of the municipality or county having jurisdiction sets a
22 shorter period by ordinance.
23 (Source: P.A. 90-355, eff. 8-10-97.)