Group to push for legislation

DES MOINES (AP) — Nine of Iowa's biggest cities, including Council Bluffs, will push again next year for a law to hold bar owners more responsible for crimes that occur in bar parking lots or other nearby premises.

The move follows attempts by cities to better address violent incidents — shootings, stabbings and assaults — reported in the past few years outside taverns across the state.

As drafted, the proposal also could be a tool for cities to go after the licenses of those who knowingly over-serve customers who wind up in fights.

“This is for when patrons take it outside, so to speak,” said Lynn Walding, administrator of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, which shares the responsibility of regulating alcohol license-holders with local police and sheriffs.

The proposal would apply only when there is some culpability by the owner, such as over-serving patrons who then go outside and fight or commit other crimes, Walding said.

A similar proposal failed to pass the Legislature last session.

The coalition of cities pushing for the law consists of Ames, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, Sioux City and West Des Moines.

Some workers and owners in the bar business said they will oppose any effort to hold them responsible for violence and crime outside.

Some contend they should not be expected to know everything that happens in and around their establishments. Many are still frustrated with the state ban on smoking in their businesses that was enacted in 2008.

Melody Morris, a manager at Flanagan's Restaurant & Lounge on Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines, said bartenders and servers do their best to stop serving those who drink too much, but sometimes they don't know when that is or whether patrons were drinking elsewhere.

“It's the luck of the Irish around here, and we handle things pretty good,” she said.

Officials in Des Moines and elsewhere want more tools to deal with problems that spill out of nuisance taverns, often at or near closing time.

Walding said the state has seen more liquor-license sanctions of bars in recent years, but it's hard to tell whether there has been an increase in violence.

Cities can act individually against nuisance bars, or they can take cases to the state, making incidents and numbers difficult to track.

Appeals of licensing decisions through Iowa's Department of Inspections and Appeals grew last year to 133, up from 85 the year before. Authorities attribute much of that increase to indoor violations of Iowa's smoking ban.

Even so, citizens statewide have questioned why problem bars so seldom have their licenses revoked.

Walding said officials in numerous cities voiced their desire for greater restrictions on nuisance bars when the Alcoholic Beverages Division held public hearings on the issue last year.

Walding said the division supported the concept of having owners “take a little more responsibility while still wanting to recognize their rights as private business owners.”

Proprietors, he said, should not be held accountable if a lovers' quarrel erupts outside through no fault of the owner. But owners also bear a certain responsibility to maintain control over their premises, he said.

Under the evolving measure, still to be vetted by lawmakers, bar owners could not get licenses renewed if they are found in violation of the statute. However, some bar owners want lawmakers to clearly define the radius of the outside area that would be subject to enforcement.

Doni DeNucci of the Iowa Restaurant Association, which represents mostly restaurants, said her group does not object to the proposal because it would apply only to operators who knowingly permit forbidden activity.

“Good operators contact law enforcement for help getting rid of that kind of activity,” she said. “I just don't want it to come back and haunt someone who is trying to operate their business in a legitimate manner.”

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