Mendocino County Municipal Code Ch. 8.85 Service of Alcohol to Minors at Events on Private Property

The Board of Supervisors finds that this Chapter is necessary for the following reasons:

(A) Unsupervised parties on private property where alcohol is consumed by minors are not only unlawful but often a cause for disturbance.

(B) Problems associated with such gatherings are difficult to resolve unless the Sheriff's Office has the legal authority to enter the private premises and direct the host to disperse the group.

(C) Law enforcement's ability to abate loud and disturbing gatherings or gatherings where alcohol is served to minors on private property will decrease the abuse of intoxicants by minors, physical altercations and injuries, neighborhood vandalism and excessive noise, thereby improving public safety.

(D) Abatement of large parties, gatherings or events on private property is necessary when such activity is determined to be a threat to the peace, health, safety, or general welfare of the public.

(E) Sheriff's deputies frequently have been required to make return calls to the location of a party, gathering, or event in order to disperse uncooperative participants, causing a drain of manpower and resources and, in some cases, leaving other areas of the County with inadequate police protection.

(F) Accordingly, the purposes of this Chapter are:

To protect public health, safety and general welfare;

To enforce laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol by minors;

To recover costs of providing law enforcement services to abate parties, gatherings or events.

(Ord. No. 3968 (part), adopted 1997.)

The following words and phrases, wherever used in this Chapter, shall be construed as defined in this Section, unless it is apparent from the context that they have a different meaning.

(A) "Cost of Providing Law Enforcement Services" means the charge as computed in Section 8.80.025 of Chapter 8.80. (B) "Juvenile" means any minor child under the age of eighteen (18) years.

(C) "Minor" means any person under the age of twenty-one (21) years.

(D) "Party, Gathering or Event" means a group of persons who have assembled or are assembling for a social occasion or a social activity.

(E) "Person Responsible for the Event" means and includes, but is not limited to:

(1) The person who owns, rents, leases or otherwise has control of the premises where the party, gathering or event takes place if the person is present or has actual knowledge that the party, gathering or event is taking place or has taken place;

(2) The person in charge of the premises; or

(3) The person who organized the event.

(F) If the person responsible for the event is a juvenile, then the parents or guardians of that juvenile and the juvenile will be jointly and severally liable for the costs incurred for law enforcement services pursuant to this Chapter.

(Ord. No. 3968 (part), adopted 1997.)

Except as permitted by Article I, Section 4 of the California Constitution, no person shall suffer, permit, allow or host a party, gathering or event at his or her place of residence or other private property, place or premises under his or her control where five (5) or more persons under the age of twenty-one (21) are present and alcoholic beverages are in the possession of, or are being consumed by, any person under the age of twenty-one (21) years. A violation of this Section shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or by imprisonment for up to six (6) months in the county jail, or by both fine and imprisonment.

(Ord. No. 3968 (part), adopted 1997.)

When a party, gathering or event occurs on private property in violation of Section 8.85.030 and a peace officer at the scene determines that there is a threat to the public peace, health, safety or general welfare, the peace officer is empowered to arrest or cite the person responsible for the event; and that person shall be liable for the cost of providing law enforcement services.

(Ord. No. 3968 (part), adopted 1997.)

(A) The charge for salaries and overhead for law enforcement services as calculated in Section 8.80.025 shall be a debt of the person responsible for the event, and, as provided in Section 8.85.020, Subsection (F), a debt of the parents or guardians of a juvenile responsible for an event. The County shall be entitled to collect that debt in the same manner as an obligation under a contract, express or implied. If suit is instituted to collect such obligation, the County shall be entitled, in addition to any other costs, to attorney's fees as provided in Section 1.04.115 of this Code.

(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing subdivision, the Sheriff shall waive the amount of the obligation over Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) if payment is made within thirty (30) days after presentation of an invoice.

(C) The amount of such fees collected, up to Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per incident, shall be placed in a special Youth Services Fund to be administered by the County Sheriff's Office.

(Ord. No. 3968 (part), adopted 1997.)

(A) Appeal Committee/Appeal Rights. Any person upon whom law enforcement costs and expenses have been imposed pursuant to this Chapter may appeal these costs and expenses to an Appeals Committee composed of one (1) representative from the office of the Auditor-Controller, one (1) representative of the Department of Public Health and one (1) representative of the Sheriff's Department.

(B) Appeal Procedure. A person to whom notice of imposition of costs and expenses was mailed may appeal said imposition to the Appeals Committee within ten (10) days of the mailing of the notice.

The appeal shall be filed in writing with the Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department shall convene the Appeals Committee which shall schedule a hearing within thirty (30) days of receiving an appeal.

Any appeal which fails to satisfy any requirement under this Section or any person who fails to appear at the scheduled committee meeting without an adequate excuse acceptable to the Committee shall forfeit the right to appeal.

(C) Appeal Standards. In acting on the appeal, the Committee may in its discretion reduce or excuse the imposed service costs and expenses based on any of the following factors:

(1) The accuracy of the calculation of the costs and expenses;

(2) The nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation;

(3) The extent to which the violation was willful and/or intentional;

(4) Whether and to what extent the violation has recurred; and

(5) Whether, and to what extent the person promptly reimbursed the County for its costs and expenses incurred in connection with this violation or prior violations of this Chapter.

(Ord. No. 3968 (part), adopted 1997.)

If any provision of this Chapter is for any reason held by a court to be unconstitutional or invalid, the Board declares that it would have passed the ordinance codified in this Chapter irrespective of the invalidity of the provision held to be unconstitutional or invalid. Such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall therefore not affect the remaining provisions of this Chapter, and to that end the provisions of this Chapter are severable.

(Ord. No. 3968 (part), adopted 1997.)