Florida Statute 561.19 | Lawyer Caselaw & Research

The 2024 Florida Statutes (including 2025 Special Session C)

Title XXXIV
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND TOBACCO

Chapter 561
BEVERAGE LAW: ADMINISTRATION

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F.S. 561.19

561.19 License issuance upon approval of division.—

(1) Upon the completion of the investigation of an application, the division shall approve or disapprove the application. If approved, the license shall be issued upon payment to the division of the license tax hereinafter provided.

(2)(a) When beverage licenses become available by reason of an increase in the population of a county, by reason of a county permitting the sale of intoxicating beverages when such sale had been prohibited, or by reason of the cancellation or revocation of a quota beverage license, the division, if there are more applicants than the number of available licenses, shall provide a method of double random selection by public drawing to determine which applicants shall be considered for issuance of licenses. The double random selection drawing method shall allow each applicant whose application is complete and does not disclose on its face any matter rendering the applicant ineligible an equal opportunity of obtaining an available license. After all applications are filed with the director, the director shall then determine by random selection drawing the order in which each applicant’s name shall be matched with a number selected by random drawing, and that number shall determine the order in which the applicant will be considered for a license. This paragraph does not prohibit a person holding a perfected lien or security interest in a quota alcoholic beverage license, in accordance with s. 561.65, from enforcing the lien or security interest against the license within 180 days after a final order of revocation or suspension. A revoked quota alcoholic beverage license encumbered by a lien or security interest, perfected pursuant to s. 561.65, may not be issued under this subsection until the 180-day period has elapsed or until such enforcement proceeding is final.

(b) Any portion of the drawing results of a particular county which reveals the rank order of persons not receiving notice of selection is confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1), until such time as all of the licenses from that county’s drawing have been issued.

(c) Subject to this selection process, an applicant shall, after a drawing is held, have 45 days from the date the division mails the notice of selection to file an application on forms provided by the division and if such applicant is found by the division to be qualified, a license shall be issued. The application shall be filed pursuant to s. 561.17, and the license shall be issued upon the payment of the applicable license fees. If the applicant is not prepared to use the license at a business location, the license shall be held in an inactive status by the division, and the licensee shall be required to activate the license at a location in accordance with s. 561.29. Nothing contained herein, however, shall prohibit the division from revoking a license issued to a person, firm, or corporation that would not qualify for the issuance of a new license or the transfer of an existing license.

(d) The director shall not include more than one application from any one person, firm, or corporation in the random selection process, nor may she or he consider more than one application for any one person, firm, or corporation when there are fewer applications than available licenses.

(e) Each applicant for inclusion in the drawing shall pay to the division a filing fee of $100.

(3) In the event that the number of applications does not exceed the number of licenses available, the drawing provided in subsection (2) shall not be held, but the licenses shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2).

(4) The issuance of licenses pursuant to subsection (2) or subsection (3) shall not be governed by the provisions of s. 120.60. The issuance of any such license shall occur no later than 180 days after a drawing is held pursuant to notice published in the Florida Administrative Register or, in the event no drawing is held, within 180 days of the final date for filing applications. Any applicant who is not included in the pool for drawing to determine priority shall file, within 30 days of the date of mailing of notice to such applicant, a challenge to such action pursuant to ss. 120.569 and 120.57, or the right to file any action as to such matter shall be forever lost. Any applicant whose name is included in the pool for drawing to determine priority but who is not issued a license shall be entitled to request a hearing on the denial pursuant to ss. 120.569 and 120.57 only on the grounds that the selection process was not conducted in accordance with law or that the licensee selected does not possess the qualifications required by law.

(5) A fee of $10,750 shall be collected from each person, firm, or corporation that is issued a new liquor license subject to the limitation imposed in s. 561.20(1) as provided in this section. This initial license fee shall not be imposed on any license renewal and shall be in addition to the license fees imposed by s. 565.02. The revenues collected from the initial license fee imposed by this subsection shall be deposited in the Department of Children and Families’ Operations and Maintenance Trust Fund to be used only for alcohol and drug abuse education, treatment, and prevention programs.

(6) The state license tax shall be collected by the division, and the division shall return the county and municipal share pursuant to s. 561.342 to the appropriate county and municipality monthly on or before the 10th day of the month succeeding the beginning of the taxable year and quarterly thereafter.

History.—s. 2, ch. 16774, 1935; CGL 1936 Supp. 4151(228); s. 6, ch. 25359, 1949; s. 16, ch. 57-420; ss. 16, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 72-230; s. 9, ch. 78-95; s. 28, ch. 79-4; s. 3, ch. 81-158; s. 3, ch. 84-262; s. 3, ch. 88-308; s. 4, ch. 89-293; s. 1, ch. 92-91; s. 2, ch. 92-176; s. 2, ch. 93-134; s. 6, ch. 95-346; s. 346, ch. 96-406; s. 256, ch. 96-410; s. 1179, ch. 97-103; s. 252, ch. 99-8; s. 1, ch. 2003-20; s. 50, ch. 2013-14; s. 277, ch. 2014-19; s. 15, ch. 2021-135.

F.S. 561.19 on Google Scholar

F.S. 561.19 on Casetext

Amendments to 561.19

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 561.19

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

Current data shows no reason an arrest or criminal charge should have occurred directly under Florida Statute 561.19.

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 561.19

Total Results: 16

Showntail the Legend, LLC v. State of Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2020-09-14

Snippet: use as part of their profit-making venture. Cf. § 561.19(5), Fla. Stat. (2019) (describing issuance of license

Arcanum Investigations, Inc. v. ChoicePoint Public Records, Inc.

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 2005-08-24

Citation: 909 So. 2d 456, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 13295, 2005 WL 2016817

Snippet: liable for compensatory damages in the amount of $67,561.19 and $500 in attorney’s fees. Additionally, the

DEPT. OF CHILDREN & FAMILY v. Brunner

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1998-04-09

Citation: 707 So. 2d 1197, 1998 WL 161269

Snippet: refunds of statutory fees paid, pursuant to section 561.19(5), Florida Statutes, for new alcoholic beverage

Dewitt Excavating, Inc. v. Walters

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1994-09-23

Citation: 642 So. 2d 833, 1994 WL 515722

Snippet: it owes the plaintiffs. $8,750 plus $811.19 = $9,561.19 = total owed by Dewitt This cause is remanded for

Dept. of Bus. Reg., Div. of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco v. Martin Cty. Liquors, Inc.

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1991-01-15

Citation: 574 So. 2d 170, 1991 WL 5006

Snippet: arbitrary, capricious or not in compliance with Section 561.19, Florida Statutes (1987). Meridian, Inc. v. Department

Eastern Air Lines, Inc. v. Hillsborough County Aviation Authority

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1984-09-05

Citation: 454 So. 2d 1076, 9 Fla. L. Weekly 1920, 1984 Fla. App. LEXIS 14946

Snippet: its investigation, DABT is obligated by section 561.19 to approve or disapprove of the application. See

Peterson v. Department of Business Regulation

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1984-06-13

Citation: 451 So. 2d 983, 1984 Fla. App. LEXIS 13550

Snippet: and Tobacco pursuant to the provisions of Section 561.19, Florida Statutes (1981). Appellants’ application

Adult World, Inc. v. STATE, ETC.

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1981-12-09

Citation: 408 So. 2d 605

Snippet: procedure provided for in ss. 561.17, 561.18, and 561.19, in the case of issuance of new licenses. However

Wright v. Cade

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1977-09-16

Citation: 349 So. 2d 833

Snippet: procedure provided for in ss. 561.17, 561.18 and 561.19, in the case of issuance of new licenses. However

Ago

Court: Florida Attorney General Reports | Date Filed: 1976-04-30

Snippet: should not issue a liquor vendor's license, s. 561.19, F. S., or approve the transfer of a liquor vendor's

Huber Distributing Co. v. National Distributing Co.

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1974-12-04

Citation: 307 So. 2d 176, 1974 Fla. LEXIS 4002

Snippet: to the qualifications of the applicant. Section 561.19, F.S. provides that after investigation the license

Jenkins v. Beary

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1970-12-15

Citation: 241 So. 2d 866, 1970 Fla. App. LEXIS 5507

Snippet: character. A hearing was held pursuant to Section 561.19(2), Florida Statutes, F.S.A., upon petitioner’s

Carbo, Inc. v. Meiklejohn

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida | Date Filed: 1968-07-09

Citation: 212 So. 2d 328, 1968 Fla. App. LEXIS 5301

Snippet: petition is predicated upon the provisions of Section 561.19(2), Florida Statutes, F.S.A., dealing with the

Hunter v. Solomon

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1954-11-16

Citation: 75 So. 2d 803

Snippet: application and the issuance of a license, F.S. Section 561.19, F.S.A. appears to be controlling. Said section

Dade County v. Overstreet

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1952-07-11

Citation: 59 So. 2d 862, 1952 Fla. LEXIS 1730

Snippet: aforesaid application or applications. Section 561.19 makes it the duty of the Beverage Director to either

House v. Cotton

Court: Supreme Court of Florida | Date Filed: 1951-04-24

Citation: 52 So. 2d 340, 1951 Fla. LEXIS 1321

Snippet: Department. The Beverage Director, under Section 561.19, has the power to approve or disapprove the application