Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Legal Services
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TO: |
Toni Ramirez Wheeler, Director of Legal Services David L. Corliss, City Manager
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FROM: |
Scott J. Miller, Staff Attorney
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Date: |
February 12, 2009
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RE: |
Club Axis Liquor License Renewal |
The liquor license for Club Axis is up for its annual renewal in March, 2009. The City of Lawrence has the opportunity to object to the granting of the renewal with the Kansas Department of Revenue’s Alcoholic Beverage Control, which would trigger a hearing. At the hearing, we would bear the burden to prove that the license should not be granted.
Based upon a reading of the statutes and administrative regulations that apply to such a hearing as well as our previous experience in the Last Call hearing, I have some opinion about what evidence the ABC will find to be relevant and persuasive and what evidence will be unlikely to influence the process at all. Generally, the ABC appears exclusively interested in violations that occur inside the premises of the drinking establishment. Further, the offenses most likely to trigger revocation are alcohol and drug-related offenses and offenses involving the management or employees of an establishment.[1]
An analysis of the justifications for revocation that the ABC would find relevant and persuasive in a licensing action reveals that the violations at Club Axis are similar to those of many other drinking establishments within the City.
The table below uses data from the Police Department to compare the amount of criminal incidents of different types that occurred in several Lawrence drinking establishments during their last licensing periods. The violations chosen for this analysis, with the exception of noise violations, are those that the ABC might consider significant. Certainly, the number of alcohol violations that have occurred on premises would be of primary importance. It should be noted that Club Axis stands out in a couple of areas that are not considered in the table. There were three incidents when drugs were found in the parking lot and four incidents when guns were found to be illegally possessed in the parking lot. Based upon the experience in the Last Call hearing, I believe the gun violations outside the building would carry no weight with the ABC. Also unlike the situation at Last Call, where an undercover police officer testified that drugs were being used inside the club in view of the staff, the drugs in this case were only outside the establishment. Therefore, I believe that the situations are significantly different in terms of their value in a licensing hearing. As a final caveat, I should note that the comparison between drinking establishments is not comprehensive. The purpose is to show that some other establishments have similar numbers and types of activities, not to highlight all similar establishments within the City.
With those comments in mind, here is the statistical data:
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Club Axis |
Quinton’s |
Cadillac Ranch |
Jayhawk Cafe |
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Alcohol Violations |
13 |
29 |
15 |
37 |
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Battery / Disorderly Conduct |
31 |
20 |
50 |
45 |
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Aggravated Battery |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
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Noise Complaints |
4 |
0 |
3 |
11 |
To demonstrate the amount of police attention each of these establishments received, below is the number of bar checks the police conducted for each establishment during the period that was analyzed.
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Club Axis |
Quinton’s |
Cadillac Ranch |
Jayhawk Cafe |
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Bar Checks |
68 |
47 |
55 |
41 |
Please note that the statistics are for one licensing period (one year), but they do not allow for exact comparisons for two reasons. First, the licensing periods for each establishment start and end at different times. Second, each does not cover the exact same number of days because the checks are run when notice of the renewal is received from the ABC and transmitted to the Police Department. This does not always occur the same number of days into a licensing period. Nonetheless, the information should be useful as a general overview of the situation.
If the Commission believes that a licensing challenge is necessary for Club Axis, we might also consider pursuing licensing actions for all similarly situated businesses.
Please let me know if you have further questions. I would be glad to answer them.
[1] This analysis is based upon currently effective law. Senate Bill 247 has been introduced for the consideration of the legislature that would expand the list of reasons that a city could cite to challenge issuance of a renewal license. These reasons include many more public safety related factors.