CHAPTER 275 – ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS, WINES AND BEER
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 176 OF THE REVISED CODE OF DELAWARE, 1935, RELATING TO "ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR, WINES AND BEER", IN REFERENCE TO APPLICATIONS FOR LICENSES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. That Chapter 176 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, be and the same is hereby amended, by adding immediately after sub-paragraph (2) of 6147. Sec. 18, a new and additional sub-paragraph to be styled (2A), as follows:
(2A) The application must be accompanied by certificates of the publishers of two newspapers (if so many there be) published in the county in which the license is to operate, from which certificates it shall appear that the applicant has caused to be published in said newspaper at least three times within the period of two weeks immediately preceding the filing of said application with the Commission, a notice setting forth the intention of the applicant to make such application, the nature of the license to be applied for, and the premises to which said license is to apply. The provisions of this sub-paragraph 2A shall not apply to applications for licenses to sell "alcoholic liquor" at "gatherings of persons".
Section 2. That Chapter 176 of the revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 188, Volume 42, Laws of Delaware, be and the same is hereby further amended, by striking out and repealing all of 6150. Sec. 21. thereof, and inserting in lieu thereof a new section to be styled 6150. Sec. 21., as follows:
6150. Sec. 21. GENERAL PROVISIONS IN REGARD TO LICENSES:—The Commission shall examine all applications for license as promptly as possible, and if it shall appear that any application should not be granted, the Commission shall so notify the applicant, stating the cause for refusal, and returning the amount paid by the applicant.
If the Commission has determined to grant an application, but before the issuance of the license applied for and within ten days of the filing of said application, a protest against the issuance of said license, signed by at least ten residents of the neighborhood where the license is to operate, has been filed with the Commission, then a hearing shall be held to consider said application and protest, of which hearing ten days' notice, together with a recital of the protest, shall be sent by registered mail to the address of the applicant, and a notice of the time of the hearing shall be sent to each of the persons who signed the protest; such hearings shall be conducted by the Commission and a record of such hearing shall be made and kept by the Commission. The said record shall include the evidence, the Commission's findings of fact and the Commission's decision, together with a brief statement of the reasons therefor. It shall show the manner in which the Commission construed the law and applied it to the facts. The Commission's decision shall be final and conclusive unless within ten days after notice thereof the parties to such hearing shall appeal to the Court of General Sessions of the county in which the license would operate. In every such appeal the cause shall be decided by the Court from the record, without the aid of a jury; and the Court may affirm, reverse or modify the Commission's decision. The Commission's findings of fact shall not be set aside unless the Court shall determine that the record contains no substantial evidence that would reasonably support the said findings. If the Court finds that additional evidence should be taken, the Court may, in its discretion, take the additional evidence or remand the cause to the Commission for completion of the record. If the Court finds that the Commission has made an error of law, the Court shall reverse or modify the Commission's decision and render an appropriate judgment.
Approved April 1, 1941.