A disorderly house in California is a liquor licensed premises that disturb the neighborhood or is maintained for purposes that are injurious to the public morals, health, convenience or safety.
A liquor license outlet that:
- (a) disturbs the neighborhood with noise, loud music, loitering, littering, vandalism, urination or defecation by patrons, graffiti, etc.; or
- (b) has many crimes ongoing inside, such as drunks, fights, assaults, prostitution, narcotics, etc.
- The liquor license premises include the parking lot (and 20 feet of sidewalk in some cases). (Calif B&P Code 25601 and 24200).
Play episode here (43:25)
- What kind of liquor license establishments can be considered a disorderly house in California?
- How does a business operating as a disorderly house affect the neighborhood and local law enforcement?
- Is a liquor license owner in California responsible for patron conduct in the parking lot and front sidewalk?
- How does the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control learn about crime and nuisance complaints?
- How are liquor license owners notified about disciplinary actions against their licenses?
- Does a disorderly house accusation affect future liquor license suspension or revocation actions?
- What is the most common cause of a disorderly house accusation?
- What does California law say with regard to selling alcoholic beverages an intoxicated customer in a licensed establishment?
- What are some of the physical signs a person shows when they are intoxicated?
- What is the difference between obvious intoxication and legal intoxication?
- What does BAC mean? (e.g. Blood Alcohol Content)
- What methods are there to count drinks served?
- Should a bar use a BAC chart for training on how to estimate intoxication?
- Should a bar or nightclub allow patrons to reach .08 BAC?
- What if bar patron isn’t driving, can they drink past .08 BAC?
- How can a bar prevent a patron from reaching .08 BAC?
- Can an alcoholic beverage server sell to an obviously intoxicated person if on foot?
- May an intoxicated patron be permitted to enter or remain in a licensed establishment?
- Is a server responsible for knowing a patron’s BAC level?
- Use the CARE system for not over-serving bar patrons
- C = Counting number of standard-size drinks
- A = Be attentive to patron consumption, mood, changes in behavior
- R = Rating your guest sobriety level (green, yellow, red)
- E = Executing your duty to serve alcoholic beverages responsibly
BAC chart (e.g. 160 lb. man takes 3 standard drinks to hit .07 BAC)
- What is considered to be a standard drink in California?
- Are alcohol beverage servers required to know how many standard drinks are in each drink they serve?
- Do large drinks and multi-liquor drinks increase BAC at a faster rate?
- What factors affect levels of intoxication?
- Should liquor license owners be required to act as “My Brother’s Keeper”?
- Why is having an adequate number of trained staff important?
- Does the server’s job include taking care of the obviously intoxicated patron?
- Do other states have the same or similar liquor license laws?
- How do liquor control agents or local law enforcement officers investigate and enforce liquor law violations?
- What drives ABC investigations, undercover, and task force work?
- Did you use of undercover investigators to prove actual notice of a violation to bar staff?
- Recommends having a security plan ready to defend a disorderly house accusation at the hearing.
About our Guest Lauren C. Tyson
Lauren C. Tyson
- Lauren Tyson is the CEO and founder of Liquor Licensee Advisor located in Riverside, California.
- She consults with licensed establishments on how to prevent and manage alcohol-related risk, either before or after an incident.
- Lauren is a court-qualified standard-of-care expert witness in civil lawsuits where a licensed establishment is involved.
- She was a sworn investigator and District Administrator for the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control for 29 years. She worked in undercover enforcement.
- Lauren developed and managed the Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs (LEAD) alcohol server training program.
- Current projects include an online alcohol server training course, which is due out by the end of the year for on-sale establishments.
- She is also writing a book on the subject of liquor liability.
Resource Links Mentioned During this Episode
- Liquor Licensee Advisor – Lauren Tyson.
- Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs – LEAD program California.
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcohol.
- Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation.
- Alcohol Epidemiology Program (AEP) University of Minnesota.
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