ORDERS:
ORDER AND DECISION
This matter comes before me pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. § 61-1-55 (Supp. 1994) and
S.C. Code Ann. § 1-23-310, et seq. (Supp. 1994) upon request for a hearing by the Respondent
after being cited on January 19, 1995, for alleged administrative violations of S.C. Code Ann. §§
61-9-320(1) and 61-5-50(2) (Supp. 1994). The South Carolina Department of Revenue and
Taxation ("Department") seeks revocation of the Respondent's beer and wine permit and sale and
consumption license for these violations.
After timely notice to all parties, a hearing was held at the Administrative Law Judge
Division in Columbia, South Carolina on May 9, 1995. I find that the Respondent is not of good
moral character as required by the above-cited statutes and order the revocation of the
Respondent's beer and wine permit (AI 525437) and sale and consumption license (AI 525438).
FINDINGS OF FACT
By a preponderance of the evidence, I find:
1. The Respondent holds an on-premises beer and wine permit and a sale and
consumption license as Treasurer and Club Manager of the S.C. Energy Task Force of Dalzell,
Inc., d/b/a Ji-Daves, located at Route 4, Box 88-E, Lake City, South Carolina.
2. On December 5, 1994, the Respondent entered a guilty plea to the charge of
Arson, second degree, and was committed to the State Department of Corrections for a term of
ten years, suspended upon the service of five years probation. This charge involved an incident in
which the Respondent procured the burning of his mother's house in order to file a fraudulent
insurance claim.
3. On May 9, 1995, the Respondent filed an incomplete application with the
Department to change officers and transfer the permit and license to another person's name. The
application was returned to the Respondent as incomplete. The Department has taken no further
action on this application.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact, I conclude, as a matter of law, the following:
1. Pursuant to S.C. Code Ann. § 61-1-55 (Supp. 1994) and Chapter 23 of Title I of
the 1976 Code, as amended, the South Carolina Administrative Law Judge Division has
jurisdiction over this matter.
2. Beer and wine permits and sale and consumption licenses are neither contracts nor
property rights, but are mere permits issued or granted in the exercise of the State's police power,
and are to be enjoyed only so long as the restrictions and conditions governing their continuance
are complied with. Feldman v. S.C. Tax Comm'n, 203 S.C. 49, 26 S.E.2d 22 (1943). The same
tribunal authorized to grant the issuance of a license is likewise authorized, for cause, to revoke it.
Id.
3. S.C. Code Ann. §§ 61-9-320(1) and 61-5-50(2) (Supp. 1994) provide that in order
to obtain and maintain a beer and wine permit and sale and consumption license, the holder must
be of good moral character.
4. In South Carolina, there is no single criterion by which to determine whether or
not one is possessed of good moral character. S.C. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 2709, 1969 S.C. Att'y
Gen. Ann. Rep. 159. Generally, good moral character means that one should possess all elements
essential to make up that character, such as honesty and veracity . Id. See also Zemour, Inc. v.
State Division of Beverage, 347 So.2d 1102 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1977); Broers v. Montana Dept.
of Revenue, 773 P.2d 320 (Mont. 1989).
5. Arson is a crime of moral turpitude. See State v. Yates, 280 S.C. 29, 310 S.E.2d
805 (1982).
6. Moral turpitude is "an act of baseness, evilness, or depravity in the private and
social duties which man owes to his fellow man or society in general, contrary to the customary
and accepted rule of right and duty between man and man." State v. Perry, 294 S.C. 311, 364
S.E.2d 201 (1988). Acts of moral turpitude are antithetical to what is considered good moral
character. S.C. Att'y Gen. Op. No. 89-89, 1989 S.C. Att'y Gen. Ann. Rep. 237. Moreover, acts
of moral turpitude imply the absence of good moral character. Id.
7. Due to the Respondent's conviction for arson, second degree, he is not a person of
good moral character as required by S.C. Code Ann. §§ 61-9-320(1) and 61-5-50(2) (Supp.
1994).
8. While the Respondent holds the permit and license in question for a non-profit
organization, S.C. Code Ann. § 61-1-125 (Supp. 1994) makes him responsible as an individual for
any violation.
9. 23 S.C. Code Reg. 7-76 (Supp. 1994), specifically prohibits the avoidance of
penalties for violations by securing permits or licenses in a different officer's or manager's name,
and 23 S.C. Code Reg. 7-78 (Supp. 1994) allows an officer change only as long as no violations
are pending.
10. Revocation is the appropriate remedy when a person holds a license or permit but
no longer meets the statutory requirements for initial issuance of the license or permit. See
Feldman v. S.C. Tax Comm'n, 203 S.C. 49, 26 S.E.2d 22 (1943), S.C. Code Ann. §§ 61-9-380
and 61-5-60(a) (Supp. 1994).
ORDER
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the beer and wine permit and sale and
consumption license issued to Jimmy D. Floyd, Treasurer and Club Manager of the S.C. Energy
Task Force of Dalzell, Inc., d/b/a Ji-Daves, Route 4, Box 88-E, Lake City, South Carolina are
hereby revoked.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that an agent of the South Carolina Law Enforcement
Division serve a copy of this Order on the Respondent and the Respondent shall promptly
surrender the license and permit to the agent.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Jimmy D. Floyd and the agents and employees of the
S.C. Energy Task Force of Dalzell, Inc., d/b/a Ji-Daves, located at Route 4, Box 88-E, Lake City,
South Carolina, shall immediately cease and desist all sale of beer, wine, and liquor at this
location, and shall not permit the sale or consumption of beer, wine, or liquor at this location
unless and until the location is licensed with a beer and wine permit or sale and consumption
license by the South Carolina Department of Revenue and Taxation.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED.
__________________________
JOHN D. GEATHERS
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE
Edgar A. Brown Building
1205 Pendleton Street
Columbia, South Carolina
This ____ day of _____, 1995
Columbia, South Carolina |
