Idaho State Police sued over liquor license rule
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 10:37 AM PDT
TWIN FALLS (AP) — A Twin Falls man has sued the Idaho State Police, claiming he was illegally removed from waiting lists for liquor licenses in several cities.
Daniel Fuchs, the manager of Dick’s Pharmacy in Twin Falls, contends he was denied due process when the Idaho State Police’s Bureau of Alcohol Beverage Control enforced a 2-year-old rule barring people from holding more than one spot on the waiting lists for liquor licenses.
The bureau lobbied for the rule in July 2006 as more would-be investors turned to the selling and leasing of liquor licenses as a long-term way to make money.
State beverage control officers wanted the rule, which state lawmakers approved in 2007, to deter repeat applicants and prevent the unlawful transfer of liquor licenses, according to court records state police filed.
Idaho police who regulate liquor licenses removed 13 names, including Fuchs, earlier this year from the list and reimbursed $20,700 in fees applicants paid to hold their spots, court records show.
In July, the state reimbursed Fuchs for his fees with a $5,175 check after deleting his name 16 times from city waiting lists in Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Idaho Falls and Bellevue.
Fuchs says he should have been given a hearing first. State police also acted outside their administrative authority, Fuchs says in court documents, by enforcing a rule that came after he had already populated the lists. Before his name was removed, it appeared 22 times on alcohol license waiting lists in Bonneville, Blaine and Twin Falls counties, The Times-News reported.
