Yuba County Municipal Code Ch. 8.30 Social Host Responsibility

The County of Yuba makes the following findings:

(1) The County of Yuba, pursuant to the police powers delegated to it by the California Constitution, has the authority to enact laws that promote the public health, safety and general welfare of its residents.

(2) Underage persons consuming alcoholic beverages at gatherings held at private residences, rented residential premises, or rented commercial premises is harmful to the underage persons themselves and a threat to the peace, health, safety, quiet enjoyment of neighboring residents and the general welfare of the public. Underage persons who have been consuming alcoholic beverages are at greater risk to be in automobile accidents, to commit suicide, to be assaulted, and of sexual assaults.

(3) Persons responsible for the occurrence of these types of gatherings on private property that they control or own have failed to ensure that alcoholic beverages are not served to or consumed by underage persons at these parties.

(4) Problems associated with gatherings involving underage persons drinking alcohol are difficult to prevent and deter. Law enforcement requires additional methods to deal with underage drinking and its attendant problems. If persons are held responsible by having to pay a fine for hosting a gathering where there is underage drinking, they will be more likely to supervise or to stop such conduct at events held on property that they own or control.

(5) Law enforcement, fire, and other emergency response services personnel have responded to, and are required to respond to, calls relating to these types of gatherings. The repeated return of law enforcement officers to the location of an event constitutes a drain of emergency personnel and resources and may leave other areas of the County without law enforcement protection or with unreasonably limited protection. Responses to these gatherings also result in a disproportionate expenditure of public safety resources of the County.

(Ord. No. 1499)

The purposes of this chapter are:

(1) To enforce laws prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic beverages by underage persons and the service of alcoholic beverages to underage persons, as well as to deter the service of alcoholic beverages to and consumption of alcoholic beverage by underage persons at certain gatherings; and

(2) To protect public health, safety, general welfare, and quiet enjoyment of property and properties neighboring these gatherings; and

(3) To reduce the costs of providing police, fire, and other emergency response services to underage gatherings by imposing an administrative fee and/or responsibility for response costs against social hosts for the recovery of costs associated with providing law enforcement, fire, and other emergency response services to gatherings at which alcoholic beverages are served to or consumed by underage persons.

(Ord. No. 1499)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) "Alcoholic beverage" shall mean alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine, beer, and every liquid or solid containing alcohol, spirits, wine, or beer containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume; and is fit for beverage purposes either alone or when diluted, mixed, or combined with other substances.

(2) "Juvenile" means any person under 18 years of age.

(3) "Property" shall mean private property, rented residential premises, or rented commercial residences; including but not limited to a home, yard, garage, apartment, condominium, hotel or motel room, or other dwelling unit, or a hall or meeting room, whether occupied on a temporary or permanent basis, whether occupied as a dwelling, party or other social function, and whether owned, leased, rented, or used with or without compensation.

(4) "Response costs" means those reasonable and necessary costs directly incurred by the County for a response to an underage gathering, and include the cost of providing law enforcement, firefighting, and/or other emergency services at the scene of the underage gathering including but not limited to:

a. Salaries and benefits of law enforcement and/or emergency personnel for the amount of time spent responding to, remaining at, or otherwise dealing with underage gatherings, and the administrative costs attributable to the response(s); and

b. The cost of any medical treatment to or for any law enforcement personnel injured responding to, remaining at or leaving the scene of an underage gathering; and

c. The cost of repairing any County equipment or property damage, and the cost of the use of any such equipment, in responding to, remaining at, or leaving the scene of an underage gathering.

(5) "Responsible person" includes but is not limited to:

a. The person(s) who organizes, supervises, officiates, conducts, allows, allows access to, or controls the gathering or any other person(s) accepting responsibility for such a gathering;

b. The person(s) who provide alcoholic beverages at an underage gathering.

(6) "Residence or other private property" means a home, yard, apartment, condominium, hotel or motel room, other dwelling unit, a hall or meeting room, whether occupied on a temporary or permanent basis, whether occupied as a dwelling, party or other social function, and whether owned, leased, rented, or used with or without compensation.

(7) "Underage gathering" means a party or gathering of four or more persons at a property in the County at which alcoholic beverages are being consumed or possessed by one or more underage persons.

(8) "Underage person" shall mean any person under 21 years of age.

(Ord. No. 1499)

(a) An underage gathering of four or more persons at a property in the County at which alcoholic beverages are being consumed or possessed by one or more underage persons constitutes a public nuisance, as an immediate threat to public health and safety, and is prohibited.

(b) As a public nuisance, the underage gathering may be summarily abated by law enforcement by all reasonable means, singularly or in combination, including, but not limited to:

(1) An order requiring the underage gathering be disbanded; and issuance of a warning that a violation of this chapter has occurred;

(2) Issuance of a citation and penalty for repeated violations under this chapter as set forth in Section 8.30.050.

(3) Issuance of a citation for recovery of response costs for repeated violations, as set forth in Section 8.30.060.

(c) In addition to, in combination with, or as an alternative to, any other remedy provided by law, the County may abate the underage gathering as a public nuisance.

(Ord. No. 1499)

This Chapter shall not apply to activities protected by Article 1, Section 4 of the California Constitution.

(Ord. No. 1499)

It is a civil violation of this chapter, and a public nuisance constituting an immediate threat to public health and safety warranting summary abatement, for any responsible person to conduct or allow an underage gathering at a residence or other private property at which service to, or consumption of alcohol or alcoholic beverages by, underage persons occurs. Such a violation subjects any and all responsible persons to a civil money penalty of $1,000.00 in addition to any recovery of response costs that might be imposed under Section 8.30.060 of this chapter.

Violations of this section shall be noticed by citation, issued by the Sheriff, to any and all responsible persons identified by the Sheriff within 30 days of the gathering at a residence or other private property at which service to, or consumption of alcohol or alcoholic beverages by, underage persons occurs. The citation shall also give notice of the right to request an administrative hearing to challenge the validity of the citation, the time for requesting that hearing and the warning relating to the recovery of response costs for subsequent citations under this chapter as described under Section 8.30.060 of this chapter.

In the event that an underage gathering at a residence or other private property at which service to or consumption of alcohol or alcoholic beverages by underage persons occurs is hosted by a juvenile, then the parents or guardians of that juvenile may be jointly and severally liable for any penalties and response costs incurred pursuant to the ordinance codified in this chapter and will also be held responsible as a social host if they are present at the site of the gathering and/or know or reasonably should have known that the underage gathering was taking place.

The Citee may elect to serve 40 hours of community services at Friday Night Live or another community service program as designated by the Board of Supervisors and pay any associated program fees as an alternative to paying the civil money penalty of $1,000.00.

The Director of the designated Community Services program shall retain the discretion to admit, or deny admission to, the program as the standards and program policies applicable to the designated program allow. Failure to gain admission to the designated program, and failure to complete that program after admission, shall restore the original civil money penalty of $1,000.00 immediately and without further right to appeal.

Failure by the social host citee to complete the alternative penalty within one calendar year of the issuance of the citation shall result in the penalty being converted to a civil money penalty of $1,000.00. No reduction in the penalty is authorized for completion of less than 40 hours of community service. Distribution of the civil penalties collected pursuant to this chapter shall be as follows: 50 percent to the Yuba County Youth Commission, 25 percent to the Office of the County Administrator and 25 percent to the Sheriff's Department.

(Ord. No. 1499)

When a law enforcement, fire, or other emergency response provider makes an initial response to an underage gathering as defined in Section 8.30.030(g) of this chapter, at a residence or other private property within the County of Yuba, the official shall, in writing, inform any responsible person(s) for the gathering at the scene that:

(1) The official has determined that an underage gathering exists; and

(2) Responsible person(s) will be charged for any response costs required for subsequent responses to the scene for an underage gathering within a 12-month period that they are determined to have hosted.

This warning will be given to all identified responsible persons at the time of the first response to a gathering at a residence or other private property at which service to, or consumption of alcohol or alcoholic beverages by, underage persons occurs within the County before assessing response services costs pursuant to this section for subsequent responses within a 12-month period.

When, within 12 months of a warning or citation previously given to a person responsible for hosting a gathering where underage drinking has occurred, a law enforcement, fire or other emergency response provider responds to a subsequent gathering hosted by that same person, at which service to, or consumption of alcohol or alcoholic beverages by, underage persons occurs, that responsible person shall be liable for the County's costs of responding to that gathering and all subsequent gatherings where he/she is the social host and at which service to, or consumption of alcohol or alcoholic beverages by, underage persons occurs during the warning period. Such costs are deemed to be costs incurred in the physical abatement of the public nuisance.

This section applies to the costs of abatement of the summary nuisance described in Section 8.30.050 of this Chapter and costs are recovered pursuant to California Government Code Section 25845, subdivision (b).

(Ord. No. 1499)

The amount of response costs shall be deemed a debt owed to the County by the responsible person held liable in Section 8.30.060 of this chapter. Any person owing such costs shall be liable in an administrative civil action brought in the name of the County for recovery for such costs, including reasonable attorney's fees.

The Sheriff shall mail notice of the costs for which the responsible person is liable, on behalf of all response providers, via certified mail within 30 calendar days of the response giving rise to such costs. The Sheriff shall calculate and compile an itemized list of the applicable response costs. The notice shall contain the following information:

(1) The name(s) of the person(s) being held liable for the payment of such costs;

(2) The address of the residence or other private property where the underage gathering occurred;

(3) The date and time of the response;

(4) The law enforcement, fire or emergency service provider who responded;

(5) The date and time of any previous warning given pursuant to Section 8.30.070 of this chapter and/or previous responses to underage gatherings at the residence or other private property in question within the previous 12 months;

(6) An itemized list of the response costs for which the person(s) is being held liable;

(7) Information regarding the date payment is due;

(8) The right to request an administrative hearing to challenge the imposition of response costs; and

(9) The election by the County under Government Code Section 25845, subdivision (c), to allow for recovery of the prevailing party's attorney's fees in the event of an administrative hearing or subsequent appeal.

The responsible person must remit payment of the noticed response costs to the County of Yuba within 45 days of the notice thereof. The payment of any such costs shall be stayed upon a timely request for an administrative hearing made pursuant to Section 8.30.100 of this article.

(Ord. No. 1499)

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as a waiver by the County of Yuba of any right to seek reimbursement for actual costs of response services through other legal remedies or procedure.

(Ord. No. 1499)

• Administrative hearing on challenged citations and/or response cost recovery assessments.

Any person subject to a civil money penalty pursuant to Section 8.30.050 of this chapter and/or response costs recovery fees pursuant to Sections 8.30.060 of this chapter shall have the right to request an administrative hearing before an impartial Hearing Officer within 45 days of the issuance of a citation and/or notice of the imposition of response costs under this chapter, pursuant to the authority granted to the Board of Supervisors by Government Code Section 25845, subdivision (i). To request such a hearing, the person requesting the hearing shall notify the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in writing.

The Yuba County Administrator's Office shall assign a neutral Hearing Officer within 90 days of the enactment of this chapter for the purpose of conducting such administrative hearings as may be required. The Yuba County Administrator's Office may contract for the services of neutral Hearing Officers as appropriate and the Hearing Officers may be compensated for their services.

The costs of the administrative hearing shall be assessed to the responsible person in addition to any other fines and penalties in the event that the citation is upheld. Pursuant to Government Code Section 25845, subdivision (c), the County of Yuba may elect, at the initiation of proceedings under this section regarding abatement of the nuisance described in this chapter, to seek recovery of its attorney's fees. That election shall be noticed to the responsible party at the time notice of the applicable costs is provided to the responsible party under Section 8.30.070 of this chapter. In that event, attorney's fees may be recovered by the prevailing party. In no action, administrative proceeding, or special proceeding shall an award of attorney's fees to a prevailing party exceed the amount of reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the County of Yuba in the action or proceeding. The decision of the Hearing Officer shall be final unless appealed pursuant to the requirements of Section 8.30.100.

(Ord. No. 1499)

The Hearing Officer's written decision may be appealed to the Board of Supervisors by filing, not later than 15 days after the Hearing Officer issues its written decision, a written Notice of Appeal with the Clerk of the Board and paying a fee as provided in this Ordinance Code. The Notice of appeal must state with specificity all the grounds on which the appeal is based. The Board of Supervisors shall decide the appeal based on the administrative record. The Board shall issue a written decision on the appeal no later than 30 days after hearing. The Board's written decision shall be a final administrative decision.

(Ord. No. 1499)

An underage gathering at a residence or other private property at which service to or consumption of alcohol or alcoholic beverages by underage persons occurs constitutes a public nuisance and an immediate threat to public health and safety and shall be summarily abated by the Sheriff by all reasonable means including, but not limited to, an order requiring the gathering to be disbanded and citation under this chapter as well as citation and/or arrest of any law violators under any other applicable ordinances and State statutes such as: Yuba County Ordinance Code ("YCOC") Title VIII, Chapter 8.35 (Intoxicated Persons); YCOC Title VI, Chapter 6.23 (Exclusions of Minors from Places Where Drug Paraphernalia is Displayed or Offered For Sale); YCOC Title VIII, Chapter 8.20 (Noise Regulations); YCOC Title VIII, Chapter 8.43 (Loitering by Juveniles); YCOC Title VII, Chapter 7.35 et seq. (Abandoned, Wrecked, Dismantled or Inoperative Vehicles); Penal Code Section 272 et seq. (Contributing to Delinquency of Minor; Luring Minor Under 14 Away from Home); Penal Code Section 374 et seq. (Litter); Penal Code Section 647 (Public Intoxication/Obstruction of Public Way); Business and Professions Code Section 25658 (Selling Alcohol to Minors); Vehicle Code Section 23224 (Possession of alcoholic beverage in vehicle, persons under 21); and Penal Code Section 12020 et seq. (Unlawful Carrying and Possession of Concealed Weapons).

The Sheriff is authorized to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter. The Sheriff may exercise any enforcement powers provided by law in executing this chapter.

(Ord. No. 1499)