1. Responsibilities and powers

2. History
     Overview   Rainbow Lounge incident   Travel Spending Controversy & New Leadership  

3. Human trafficking

4. Fallen officers

5. References

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, or TABC (formerly the Texas Liquor Control Board), is a Texas public agency responsible for regulating, inspecting, and taxing the production, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages within the state. The agency was established in 1935 and is headquartered in Austin.

Responsibilities and powers

The TABC's organic law, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, authorizes the agency to:^[2]

• Grant, refuse, suspend, or cancel permits and licenses in all phases of the alcoholic beverage industry
• Supervise, inspect, and regulate the manufacturing, importation, exportation, transportation, sale, storage, distribution, and possession of alcoholic beverages
• Assess and collect fees and taxes
• Investigate for violations of the Alcoholic Beverage Code and assist in the prosecution of violators
• Seize illicit beverages
• Adopt standards of quality and approve labels and size of containers for all alcoholic beverages sold in Texas
• Pass rules to assist the agency in all of the above, etc.

TABC agents are fully empowered state police officers with statewide criminal jurisdiction and may make arrests for any offense.^[3]

History

Overview

In 1933 the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ended Prohibition and devolved responsibility for the regulation of alcoholic beverages to the states. Shortly thereafter, the Texas Legislature passed the Texas Liquor Control Act to govern alcohol in Texas, and on Nov. 16, 1935 the Texas Liquor Control Board was established to administer the Act. The agency's name was changed to the Alcoholic Beverage Commission on 1 January 1970, and the Liquor Control Act was superseded by the [https://www.tabc.state.tx.us/laws/code/85th/AllTitles.pdf Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code] on Sept. 1, 1977.^[4]

The scope of the agency's mission increased further in 1971 with the passage of "liquor by the drink" legislation in the Texas Legislature.^[5] The new law came in response to a public referendum and created a new type of state-issued permit allowing the sales of distilled spirits and mixed drinks in areas specifically authorized by local elections. The law also provided for the creation of a Mixed Beverage Gross Receipts tax, which quickly became a major revenue generator for the state. During fiscal year 1993, the tax and associated fees generated more than $244.7 million, accounting for more than half the total revenue collected by the agency.^[6]

Today, TABC regulates more than 54,000 licensed businesses in Texas as well as more than 100,000 out-of-state producers and distributors of alcoholic beverages. The agency collects more than $220 million per year in state excise and import taxes, as well as a further $76 million in licensing fees, surcharges, and administrative fines.^[7]

Rainbow Lounge incident

On June 28, 2009, officers from the Fort Worth Police Department and TABC conducted a raid on the Rainbow Lounge, a gay bar in Fort Worth.^[8] The incident occurred on the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a 1969 New York riot seen as the start of the LGBT rights movement. Many Rainbow Lounge patrons were present to mark the anniversary. Several customers were arrested for intoxication inside of the bar. One patron was hospitalized due to alcohol poisoning as well as injuries he sustained while in TABC custody.^[9] Following the incident, an internal investigation found that three TABC agents who took part in the raid had violated multiple agency policies, leading to their termination.^[10] A later Use of Force report found that allegations of improper use of force against two of the agents were unfounded, though the agents' terminations were upheld. According to then-TABC Administrator Alan Steen, "...this is not how we treat people, and we have been looking at this from every angle to find ways to make sure it does not happen again."^[11]

Travel Spending Controversy & New Leadership

On April 17, 2017, TABC Executive Director Sherry Cook announced she was retiring from her position.^[12] The decision came a month after the Texas Tribune reported that Cook and other agency employees spent thousands of dollars in state money for trips to resorts in Florida and Hawaii, among other places, for meetings hosted by the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators, a group representing state liquor regulators and alcoholic beverage industry members from across the United States.^[13]

Cook had been questioned during a Texas House General Investigating and Ethics Committee hearing about a flyer produced using state equipment which depicted Cook and other top agency officials holding or drinking alcohol as they rode on a plane on their way to a liquor administrators conference. Cook told lawmakers that the flyer was an "inappropriate use of our time" and agreed it was a misuse of state resources to exchange emails about creating it.^[14] The hearing also covered allegations by a former TABC employee claiming the agency held several "missing" vehicles in its inventory; these claims were later debunked during a review by the Texas State Auditor's Office.^[15] Cook's activities and travel payments as chair of the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators were also investigated by the Texas Ethics Commission, which found no wrongdoing.^[16]

Committee Chair Sarah Davis, R-West University Place, said she welcomed a shakeup at the top of TABC extending beyond Cook. "I agree with the governor's office that it is a good first step in restoring confidence in the agency," Davis said. "I think it was more than just the executive director that was traveling on taxpayer dollars to Hawaii. Based on the testimony from last Thursday, how can Texans have confidence in the TABC with the continued employment of any of the witnesses that were called?"^[17]

Immediately following Cook's retirement announcement, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his selection of Houston businessman Kevin J. Lilly as the Commission's new presiding officer.^[18] Lilly's first priorities included hiring a new Executive Director to succeed Cook, naming retired Army Brig. Gen. Bentley Nettles on July 12, 2017.^[19]

Under the new leadership, the agency worked to rehabilitate its image, reaching out to law enforcement agencies and industry members to collaborate on new programs designed to enhance public safety while enabling business owners to more easily comply with the state's complex alcohol laws. These efforts drew praise from the alcoholic beverage industry, noting that "the transformation that has taken place already under General Nettles' leadership is hard to overstate."^[20] The new climate at TABC also resulted in a reduction in major litigation against the agency; one suit filed by the McLane Company, which claimed that Texas' laws prohibiting vertical integration of the liquor industry was unconstitutional, was dropped.^[21]

Human trafficking

A primary goal of the agency is "complete eradication of human trafficking at TABC-licensed businesses."^[22] TABC conducts regular inspections of all Texas businesses which hold a state-issued license to manufacture, distribute, or sell alcohol, and agency inspectors are trained to recognize the warning signs of human trafficking at these locations.^[23] A Houston-area operation in 2004 resulted in the rescue of more than 100 human trafficking victims,^[24] and recent efforts include partnerships with local, state, and federal task forces as well as Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott.^[25] The agency has also partnered with members of the alcoholic beverage industry to provide training on the most common human trafficking warning signs to industry employees, and a free agency-published mobile application allows users to report suspected trafficking directly to TABC using their smartphone.^[26] The agency has also launched a public awareness campaign to inform members of the public on ways to report suspected trafficking, as well as ways to recognize warning signs.^[27]

Fallen officers

Since the establishment of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, two officers have died while on duty.^[28]

References

• Megalithic rod
• Megalithic tomb
• Megalithic Yard
• Megalithic yard
• Megalitre
• Megaloblastic anemia
• Megalocephaly
• Megaloceros
• Megalochori
• Megalochori, Methana
• Megalochorio
• Megalochorio (Methana), Greece
• Megalochorion
• Megalochorion (Methana), Greece
• Megalodon
• Megalodon shark
• Megalogothete
• Megalohori
• Megalohori (Methana), Greece
• Megalohorio
• Megalohorio (Methana), Greece
• Megalokhori
• Megalokhori (Methana), Greece
• Megalokhorio
• Megalokhorio (Methana), Greece