A. No member or employee of the ABLE Commission shall:

1. Be appointed or serve who has been convicted of a felony or of any violation of any federal or state law relating to alcoholic beverages;

2. Directly or indirectly, individually or as a member of a partnership, or as a shareholder of a corporation, have any interest whatsoever in the manufacture, sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages;

3. Receive any compensation or profit therefrom, nor have any interest, directly or indirectly, in any business authorized by a license issued pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Control Act. The holding of membership or elective or appointed office in fraternal organizations which obtain licenses authorized by the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Control Act shall not be considered to be engagement in the alcoholic beverage business;

4. Solicit or accept any gift, gratuity, emolument or employment from any person subject to the provisions of the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, or from any officer, agent or employee thereof;

5. Solicit, request from or recommend, directly or indirectly, to any such person or to any officer, agent or employee thereof, the appointment of any person to any place or position, and every such person, and every officer, agent or employee thereof, is hereby forbidden to offer to any member or employee of the ABLE Commission any gift, gratuity, emolument or employment;

6. Accept employment within the alcoholic beverage industry for any holder of a license issued pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Control Act; or

7. Represent, directly or indirectly, any such licensee in any proceedings before the Director, the ABLE Commission or the Tax Commission within two (2) years following separation from the ABLE Commission.

B. Violation of any provision of subsection A of this section shall constitute a misdemeanor. In addition to the penal provisions, any person convicted shall be immediately removed from the office or position he or she holds.

C. No license of any kind shall be granted to or retained by any person or any partnership containing any partner who is related to any member of the ABLE Commission or to the Director or Assistant Director by affinity or consanguinity within the third degree or who is related to any other employee of the ABLE Commission by affinity or consanguinity in the first degree. If a license is held in violation of the provisions of this subsection, the member or employee of the ABLE Commission shall not be entitled to receive any compensation or other monies from the State of Oklahoma while a license is held in violation of the provisions of this subsection.

D. It shall be unlawful for any member or employee of the ABLE Commission to lend, expend or contribute any money, funds, property or other thing of value, or use his or her official position for the purpose of securing the nomination or election or the defeat of any candidate for public office in the State of Oklahoma.

E. Any person who shall violate the provisions of subsection D of this section shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) nor more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or be imprisoned in the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Any person found guilty of violating the provisions of this subsection shall, upon conviction, in addition to the criminal penalty imposed herein, be discharged from the office or position he or she holds and shall not be rehired to any state position.

Added by Laws 2016, c. 366, § 10, eff. Oct. 1, 2018. Amended by Laws 2019, c. 130, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2019.

NOTE: Laws 2016, c. 366, was conditionally effective upon passage of State Question No. 792, Legislative Referendum No. 370, which was adopted at election held on Nov. 8, 2016.