2005 California Business and Professions Code Sections 22980-22983 CHAPTER 5. INSPECTIONS, PROHIBITIONS, AND PENALTIES

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 22980-22983

22980.  (a) (1) Any peace officer, or board employee granted limited
peace officer status pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of
Section 830.11 of the Penal Code, upon presenting appropriate
credentials, is authorized to enter any place as described in
paragraph (3) and to conduct inspections in accordance with the
following paragraphs, inclusive.
   (2) Inspections shall be performed in a reasonable manner and at
times that are reasonable under the circumstances, taking into
consideration the normal business hours of the place to be entered.
   (3) Inspections may be at any place at which cigarettes or tobacco
products are sold, produced, or stored or at any site where evidence
of activities involving evasion of cigarette or tobacco products tax
may be discovered.
   (4) Inspections shall be requested or conducted no more than once
in a 24-hour period.
   (b) Any person that refuses to allow an inspection shall be
subject to the penalties imposed pursuant to Section 22981.
22980.1.  (a) No manufacturer shall sell cigarettes to a
distributor, wholesaler, importer, retailer, or any other person who
is not licensed pursuant to this division or whose license has been
suspended or revoked.
   (b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no distributor,
wholesaler, or importer shall sell cigarettes or tobacco products to
a retailer, wholesaler, distributor, or any other person who is not
licensed pursuant to this division or whose license has been
suspended or revoked.
   (2) This subdivision does not apply to any sale of cigarettes or
tobacco products by a distributor, wholesaler, importer, or any other
person to a retailer, wholesaler, distributor, or any other person
that the state, pursuant to the United States Constitution, the laws
of the United States, or the California Constitution, is prohibited
from regulating.
   (c) No retailer, distributor, wholesaler, or importer shall
purchase packages of cigarettes from a manufacturer who is not
licensed pursuant to this division or whose license has been
suspended or revoked.
   (d) No retailer, distributor, wholesaler, or importer shall
purchase cigarettes or tobacco products from any person who is
required to be licensed pursuant to this division but who is not
licensed or whose license has been suspended or revoked.
   (e) Each separate sale to, or by, a retailer, wholesaler,
distributor, importer, manufacturer, or any other person who is not
licensed pursuant to this division shall constitute a separate
violation.
   (f) No manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler, or importer may sell
cigarette or tobacco products to any retailer or wholesaler whose
license has been suspended or revoked unless all outstanding debts of
that retailer or wholesaler that are owed to a wholesaler or
distributor for cigarette or tobacco products are paid and the
license of that retailer or wholesaler has been reinstated by the
board.  Any payment received from a retailer or wholesaler shall be
credited first to the outstanding debt for cigarettes or tobacco
products and must be immediately reported to the board.  The board
shall determine the debt status of a suspended retailer or wholesaler
licensee 25 days prior to the reinstatement of the license.
   (g) No importer, distributor, or wholesaler, or distributor
functioning as a wholesaler, or retailer, shall purchase, obtain, or
otherwise acquire any package of cigarettes to which a stamp or meter
impression may not be affixed in accordance with subdivision (b) of
Section 30163 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, or any cigarettes
obtained from a manufacturer or importer that cannot demonstrate full
compliance with all requirements of the federal Cigarette Labeling
and Advertising Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 13335a et seq.) for the reporting
of ingredients added to cigarettes.
   (h) Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall be
a misdemeanor subject to penalties pursuant to Section 22981.
22980.2.  (a) A person or entity that engages in the business of
selling cigarettes or tobacco products in this state without a
license or after a license has been suspended or revoked, and each
officer of any corporation that so engages in business, is guilty of
a misdemeanor punishable as provided in Section 22981.
   (b) Each day after notification by the board or by a law
enforcement agency that a manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor,
importer, retailer, or any other person required to be licensed under
this act offers cigarette and tobacco products for sale or exchange
without a valid license for the location from which they are offered
for sale shall constitute a separate violation.
   (c) Continued sales without a license or after a notification of
suspension or revocation shall constitute a violation of Section
22981, and shall result in the seizure of all cigarettes and tobacco
products in the possession of the person by the board or a law
enforcement agency. Any cigarettes and tobacco products seized by the
board or by a law enforcement agency shall be deemed forfeited.
22980.3.  (a) Licenses issued pursuant to this division shall be
subject to suspension or revocation for violations of the provisions
of this division or the Revenue and Taxation Code as provided in this
section.
   (1) In addition to any applicable fines or penalties for a
violation, upon first conviction of a violation, a licensee shall
receive a written notice from the board detailing the suspension and
revocation provisions of this act.  At its discretion, the board may
also suspend a license for up to 30 days.
   (2) In addition to any applicable fines or penalties for a
violation, upon a second conviction of a violation within four years
of a previous violation the license shall be revoked.
   (b) The date of the occurrence of a violation shall be used to
calculate the duration between subsequent violations.  A violation
shall be noted in the license record at the board only after judicial
conviction or final adjudication of a violation.  Upon updating a
record for a violation triggering a suspension, the board shall serve
the licensee with a notice of suspension and shall order the
licenseholder to immediately cease the sale of cigarettes or tobacco
products.
   (c) Upon notice of suspension, the board shall serve the licensee
with a notice of suspension and shall order the licensee to
immediately cease the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products.
Continued sales after the notification of suspension shall constitute
a violation of the licensing provisions of this division and shall
result in the revocation of a license.
   (d) Upon completion of a suspension period, a license shall be
reinstated by the board upon certification that all outstanding debts
of that retailer or wholesaler that are owed to a wholesaler or
distributor for the purchase of cigarette and tobacco products are
paid.
   (e) After a revocation, a previously licensed applicant may apply
for a new license after six months.  The board may, at its
discretion, issue a new license.
   (f) Upon updating a license record for a violation, suspension, or
revocation to a license of a person or entity that owns or controls
more than one location, the board shall send notice in writing of the
violations, suspensions, or revocations within 15 days of the board'
s action to the address included in the application and listed on the
license for receipt of correspondence or notices from the board.
   (g) Upon suspension or revocation of a license pursuant to this
section, the board shall notify all licensed distributors and
wholesalers by electronic mail within 48 hours of the suspension or
revocation of that license.  All licensed distributors and
wholesalers shall provide the board and shall update, as necessary,
an electronic mail address that the board can use for purposes of
making the notifications required by this subdivision.
   (h) Violations by a licensee at one location may not be
accumulated against other locations of that same licensee.
Violations accumulated against a prior owner at a licensed location
may not be accumulated against a new owner at the same licensed
location.
   (i) For purposes of this section, a violation includes violations
of the Revenue and Taxation Code relating to cigarettes and tobacco
products, and violations of this division.  Only one violation per
discrete action shall be counted towards a suspension or revocation
of a license.
22981.  Any violation of this division by any person, except as
otherwise provided, is a misdemeanor.  Each offense shall be punished
by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000), or
imprisonment not exceeding one year in a county jail, or both the
fine and imprisonment.  The court shall order any fines assessed be
deposited in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Compliance Fund.
22982.  Any prosecution for a violation of any of the penal
provisions of this division shall be instituted within four years
after the commission of the offense.
22983.  The provisions of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 55121)
of Part 30 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code apply with
respect to the collection of the fees, civil fines, and penalties
imposed pursuant to this division.


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