5362

VETOES

We have approved both House Bill 1518 and Senate Bill
791 as to constitutionality and legal sufficiency. The
bills, both of which prohibit in Harford County persons in
control of premises open to the public licensed by the State
or County from allowing consumption of alcoholic beverages
thereon, do have certain differences, to wit:

1.  House Bill 1518 prohibits persons in control of
such premises from giving or allowing to be consumed thereon
any alcoholic beverages "other than as specifically
permitted or provided in this Article." It thus attempts to
restrict consumption generally in certain defined places,
except where other sections of Article 2B allow such
consumption.

2.   Senate Bill 791 may have been intended to have the
same effect, but arguably does not. This is because Senate
Bill 791 makes it a crime for persons in control of certain
premises to "knowingly permit the consumption, possession,
or transfer of alcoholic beverages in a manner prohibited by
this Article..." Thus, Senate Bill 791 only makes criminal
knowingly permitting activities that are already prohibited
by Article 2B. Thus, under Senate Bill 791, it would be a
crime to knowingly permit a minor to drink on the defined
premises, but not an adult, because an adult is not normally
restricted from drinking by any provisions of Article 2B,
except between 2 and 6 a.m., or if the individual is drunk,
or, if the public place is a government building. House
Bill 1518, on the other hand, would restrict such adults or
more specifically the persons in control of the public
places in which they happen to be.

3.  House Bill 1518 also defines a class of
organizations and entities to which the law's provisions
would not apply, and authorizes exemptions to be granted by
the Harford County Liquor Control Board for similar
associations.

4.   Senate Bill 791 arguably applies all of its
exemptions, (even those enumerated in the law) on a case by
case basis. See Senate Bill 791, proposed §86(j)(2).

5.   Enclosed is a prior letter of advice on the
constitutionality of House Bill 1518.

6.  As these bills amend the law in somewhat different
ways, we would advise against signing both into law.

Very truly yours,
Stephen H. Sachs
Attorney General