California Business and Professions Code

§ 22974.3

BPC § 22974.3 Effective Jan 1, 2004Div. 8.6 · Ch. 2

Statute text

(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, upon discovery by the board or a law enforcement agency that a retailer or any other person possesses, stores, owns, or has made a retail sale of an unstamped package of cigarettes, the board or the law enforcement agency shall be authorized to seize unstamped packages of cigarettes at the retail, or any other person’s location. Any cigarettes seized by a law enforcement agency shall be delivered to the board, or its designee, within seven days, unless the cigarettes will be destroyed by that law enforcement agency, or unless the cigarettes are otherwise required to be used as evidence in an administrative, criminal, or civil proceeding, or as part of an ongoing law enforcement operation. Any cigarettes seized by the board or delivered to the board by a law enforcement agency shall be deemed forfeited and the board shall comply with procedures set forth in Part 13 (commencing with Section 30436) of Division 2 of Chapter 7.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. In addition to the inventory of unstamped packages of cigarettes of a retailer or of any other person that is subject to forfeiture and seizure, the possession, storage, ownership, or retail sales of unstamped packages of cigarettes by a retailer or other person, as applicable, shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable by the following actions:

(1)A first violation involving seizure of a total quantity of less than 20 packages of unstamped cigarettes shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisonment not to exceed one year in a county jail, or both the fine and imprisonment.

(2)A second violation within five years involving a seizure of a total quantity of less than 20 packages of unstamped cigarettes shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than two thousand dollars ($2,000) but not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisonment not to exceed one year in a county jail, or both the fine and imprisonment, and shall also result in the revocation of the license.

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Legislative history

Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 890, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2004.