N.J. Admin. Code § 18:5-6.2

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 17, September 3, 2024

Section 18:5-6.2 - Issuance of license; Director's powers

(a) All licenses are to be issued by the Director.

(b) The following individuals related to distributors, wholesale dealers, retail dealers operating more than nine cigarette vending machines, and retail dealers who sell cigarettes at retail at more than nine premises, except retail grocery stores and supermarkets primarily engaged in the self-service sale of food and household supplies for off-premises consumption or to restaurants, hotels, and motels operated by national corporations with such premises in six or more states and primarily engaged in the sale of food for retail consumption or in the rental of rooms for lodging shall submit with applications for a license fingerprints, which shall be processed through the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Jersey State Police, and such other information as the Director may require:

1. Individuals having any interest whatsoever in a proprietorship or company;

2. Partners of a partnership, regardless of percentage;

3. Joint venturers in a joint venture;

4. Officers, directors, and all stockholders holding directly or indirectly a beneficial interest in more than five percent of the outstanding shares of a corporation;

5. Employees receiving in excess of $30,000 per annum compensation, whether as salary, commission, bonus, or otherwise, and persons who, in the judgment of the Director, are employed in a supervisory capacity or have the power to make or substantially affect discretionary business judgments of the applicant entity with regard to the cigarette business; and

6. Other persons who the Director establishes have the ability to control the applicant entity through any means including, but not limited to, contracts, loans, mortgages, or pledges of securities, where such control is inimical to the policies of this Act because such person is a "career offender" or a member of a "career offender cartel" as defined in (e) below. Individuals licensed pursuant to the Casino Control Act shall only be required to produce evidence of said licensure in satisfaction of the foregoing.

(c) No license shall be issued where the Director has reasonable cause to believe that anyone required to submit information requested of him or her for the purpose of determining the eligibility of the applicant to receive a license, or where the Director has reasonable cause to believe that information submitted in the application is false and misleading and is not made in good faith.

(d) The Director shall not issue any license under the Cigarette Tax Act, or this chapter, where he or she has reasonable cause to believe that anyone required to be licensed or anyone required to submit information under said Act, or this chapter, has been convicted of any offense in any jurisdiction in this State or pursuant to the laws of another state or of the United States or any of the United States' territories or possessions, which would be at the time of conviction a crime of moral turpitude. Any applicant or person required to submit information who has a charge pending, pursuant to any of the foregoing, shall disclose that fact to the Director. The Director may then withhold action on new applications or, in the application for the renewal of a license, issue a temporary license until there has been a disposition of the charge. The Director shall have the discretion to waive the prohibition against licensure under this subsection, provided upon presentation of proof that a period of not less than five years has elapsed since the last conviction or the expiration of any period of incarceration imposed with respect thereto.

(e) The Director shall not issue any license where the applicant, or anyone required to submit information has been identified as a "career offender" or a member of a "career offender cartel" in such a manner as to create a reasonable belief that the association is of such a nature as to be inimical to the policies of the Cigarette Tax Act, or this chapter, or to the taxation, distribution, and sale of cigarettes within New Jersey. The Director may submit a request to the Attorney General for advice respecting whether a person is a "career offender" within the meaning of this subsection or is a "contumacious defiant" within the meaning of (f) below.

1. As used in this subsection "career offender" means any person whose behavior is pursued in an occupational manner or context for the purpose of economic gain utilizing such methods as are deemed criminal violations of the public policy of the State of New Jersey; and

2. "Career offender cartel" means any group of persons who operate together as career offenders.

(f) The Director shall not issue any license where the applicant or anyone required to submit information has been found to be contumaciously defiant before any legislative investigative body or other official investigative body of the State of New Jersey or of the United States, when such body is engaged in the investigation of organized crime, official corruption, or the cigarette industry itself.

(g) Each such license shall lapse on March 31 of the period for which it is issued, and each such license shall be continued annually upon the conditions that the licensee shall have paid the required fee and complied with all the provisions of the Cigarette Tax Act and this chapter.

(h) No person shall be issued a license or a license renewal to act as a distributor or stamping agent, unless that person certifies in writing, under penalty of perjury that the person will comply fully with 52:4D-4 et seq.

N.J. Admin. Code § 18:5-6.2

Amended by 49 N.J.R. 1912(b), effective 7/3/2017