2016 -- S 2751

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LC004275

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- ITINERANT VENDORS

     

     Introduced By: Senators Lombardi, Raptakis, Walaska, DiPalma, and Ciccone

     Date Introduced: March 10, 2016

     Referred To: Senate Finance

     (General Treasurer)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Chapter 5-15 of the General Laws entitled "Itinerant Vendors" is hereby

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repealed in its entirety.

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CHAPTER 5-15

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Itinerant Vendors

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     5-15-1. Persons subject to chapter. -- For the purposes of this chapter, "itinerant

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vendors", is construed to mean and include all persons, both principals and agents, who engage in

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a temporary or transient business in this state, either in one locality or in traveling from place to

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place selling goods, wares, and merchandise, and who, for the purposes of carrying on that

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business, hire, lease, or occupy any building or structure for the exhibition and sale of goods,

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wares, and merchandise.

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     5-15-1.1. Conducting of business. -- Every itinerant vendor licensed under the

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provisions of this chapter shall conduct that business from the confines of a building or a portion

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of a building specifically hired, leased, and occupied for the purpose of selling the goods, wares,

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and merchandise covered by the license.

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     5-15-2. Duty to take out license. -- It is the duty of every itinerant vendor, whether

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principal or agent, before commencing business, to take out a state license and local licenses in

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the manner subsequently prescribed.

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     5-15-3. Deposit with treasurer -- Issuance of license -- Acts permitted. -- (a) Every

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itinerant vendor desiring to do business in this state shall deposit with the general treasurer:

 

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      (1) The sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) as a special deposit, and, after that deposit,

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upon application in proper form, which includes proof that the itinerant vendor has been issued a

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permit to make sales at retail by the division of taxation, and the payment of a further sum of five

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hundred dollars ($500) as a state license fee, the general treasurer shall issue to him or her an

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itinerant vendor's license, authorizing him or her to do business in this state, in conformity with

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the provisions of this chapter, for the term of three (3) months from the date of the issuance; or

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      (2) The sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) as a special deposit, and, after that deposit,

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upon application in proper form, which includes proof that the itinerant vendor has been issued a

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permit to make sales at retail by the division of taxation, and the payment of a further sum of fifty

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dollars ($50.00) per day for each day the itinerant vendor proposes to do business in this state as a

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state license fee, the general treasurer shall issue to him or her an itinerant vendor's license

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authorizing him or her to do business in the state, in conformity with the provisions of this

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chapter, for the number of days from the date of issuance for which the state license fee has been

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paid.

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      (b) Every license shall contain a copy of the application upon which it is granted. That

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license is not transferable and does not give authority to more than one person to sell goods as an

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itinerant vendor either by agent or clerk, or in any other way than in his or her own proper person.

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Any licensee may have the assistance of one or more persons in conducting his or her business,

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who have authority to aid their principal but not to act for or without him or her.

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     5-15-4. Contents of application -- Records of licenses. -- All applications for license

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shall be sworn to, shall disclose the names and residences of the owners or parties in whose

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interest the business is conducted, and shall be kept on file by the general treasurer; and a record

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shall be kept by him or her of all licenses issued upon those applications. All files and records,

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both of the general treasurer and of the town or city clerks, shall be in convenient form and open

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for public inspection.

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     5-15-5. Local licenses -- Recording and endorsement of state license. -- (a) At least

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fourteen (14) days prior to selling under a state license, every itinerant vendor shall exhibit the

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state license to the clerk of each town or city where the itinerant vendor proposes to make sales,

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and upon: (1) payment to the clerk of each town or city having a population of less than fifteen

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thousand (15,000), of a further local license fee of one hundred dollars ($100) and to the clerk of

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any city or town having more than fifteen thousand (15,000) inhabitants, a further license fee of

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three hundred fifty dollars ($350); (2) the proof of payment of all other license fees, if any, that

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are legally chargeable upon local sale; and (3) making an application, in writing, and under oath

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showing all the facts as to the sale which the itinerant vendor proposes to conduct and the place

 

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and manner of conducting the sale including an inventory of the goods, wares, and merchandise

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to be sold at the sale together with the established retail price of the goods, wares, and

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merchandise, and a statement, as far as possible, of the names of the persons from whom the

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goods, wares, and merchandise to be sold were obtained, the date of the delivery of the goods,

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wares, and merchandise to the person applying for the license and the place from which the

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goods, wares, and merchandise were last taken and all details to fully identify the goods, wares,

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and merchandise so to be sold, the clerk shall record the state license in full, endorse upon its

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words "Local License, Fees Paid", and affix his or her official signature, together with the date of

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the endorsement. The clerk shall then issue a local license authorizing sales within the limits of

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the town or city; provided, that no local license shall issue without proof that the itinerant vendor

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has been issued a permit to make sales at retail by the division of taxation. Any failure to obtain a

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local license and have proper endorsements made on the state license is subject to the same

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penalty as though no state license had been issued.

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      (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, this chapter does not

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apply to those individuals involved in retail selling or the retail sale of farm produce; provided,

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that the Town of Bristol has the power to license and regulate itinerant vendors selling cut

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flowers, potted plants and nursery stock including Christmas trees in the Town of Bristol.

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     5-15-6. False statements -- Failure to comply with requirements. -- Any false

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statement in an application, either original or supplementary, for a license, and any failure on the

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part of any licensee to comply with all the requirements of § 5-15-12 shall subject the itinerant

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vendor to the same penalty as if he or she had no license, and to the further and additional penalty

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of a fine of two hundred dollars ($200), paid to the person first filing the complaint with the

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prosecuting officer.

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     5-15-7. Duration of state licenses. -- All state licenses expire by limitation three (3)

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months from the date of issuance, and may be, if desired, surrendered at any time prior to

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expiration for cancellation.

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     5-15-8. Cancellation of license -- Return of deposit. -- Upon the expiration and return

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or surrender of each state license, the state treasurer shall cancel the license, endorse the date of

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delivery and cancellation on it, and place the license on file. He or she shall then hold the special

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deposit of each licensee, as provided in this chapter, for the period of sixty (60) days; and after

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satisfying any and all claims made upon the deposit under § 5-15-9, shall return the deposit or any

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portion of it remaining in his or her hands to the licensee depositing it.

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     5-15-9. Enforcement of claims against deposit. -- Each deposit made with the general

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treasurer is subject, as long as it remains in his or her hands, to attachment and execution in

 

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behalf of creditors whose claims arise in connection with business done in the state, and to the

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payment of any fines and penalties incurred by the licensee through violations of this chapter.

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Claims under civil process shall be enforced against the general treasurer as garnishee or trustee

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by action in the usual form. All claims upon each deposit shall be satisfied after judgment in the

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order in which notice of the claim is received by the general treasurer, until all those claims are

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satisfied, or the deposit exhausted; but no notice filed after the expiration of the sixty (60) days

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limit referred to in § 5-15-8 is valid. No deposits shall be paid over by the general treasurer to

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licensees so long as there are any outstanding claims or notices of claims against them

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respectively, unless he or she finds that there is unreasonable delay in enforcing those claims.

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     5-15-10. Penalty for vending without license. -- Every itinerant vendor who sells or

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exposes for sale, at public auction or private sale, any goods, wares, and merchandise without

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required state and local licenses, issued as provided in this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor

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and shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one

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thousand dollars ($1,000), and by imprisonment of not less than thirty (30) nor more than ninety

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(90) days.

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     5-15-11. Advertising unlicensed sale. -- All persons, both principals and agents, who, by

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circular, handbill, newspaper, or in any other manner, advertise any sale referred to in § 5-15-10

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before proper licenses are issued to the vendor shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon

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conviction shall be fined not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) or be imprisoned not more than

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sixty (60) days.

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     5-15-12. Disclosures as to special sales. -- No itinerant vendor may advertise, represent,

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or represent any sale as an insurance, bankrupt, insolvent, assignee, trustee, estate, executor,

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administrator, receiver, wholesale or manufacturer's or closing-out sale, or as a sale of any goods

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damaged by smoke, fire, water, or otherwise, or in any similar form, unless he or she, before so

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doing, states under oath to the general treasurer, either in the original application for a state

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license, or in a supplementary application subsequently filed and copied on the license, all the

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facts relating to the reasons and character of that special sale advertised or represented, including:

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      (1) A statement of the names of the persons from whom the goods, wares, and

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merchandise were obtained;

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      (2) The date of delivery to the person applying for the license;

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      (3) The place from which those goods, wares, and merchandise were last taken; and

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      (4) All details necessary to exactly locate and fully identify all goods, wares and

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merchandise to be sold.

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     5-15-13. Enforcement -- Failure to produce license as evidence -- Seizure. -- (a) It is

 

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the duty of the officers in each town and city in this state to see that the provisions of this chapter

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are complied with and to prosecute for violations of those provisions. All of those officers shall

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have power to demand the production of the proper state and local licenses from any itinerant

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vendor advertising or actually engaged in business, and any failure to produce those licenses shall

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be prima facie evidence against the vendor that he or she has none.

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      (b) Property held out for sale by any itinerant vendor in this state without a permit to

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make sales at retail issued by the division of taxation is subject to seizure, without a warrant, by

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the tax administrator, his or her agents or employees, or by any deputy sheriff, or police officer of

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the state when directed by the tax administrator to do so. Any property seized may be offered by

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the tax administrator for sale at public auction to the highest bidder after advertisement to

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discharge any tax liability owed to the state; provided, that any property seized in that manner is

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not released until the tax administrator is satisfied that all taxes owed to the state are paid and the

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retailer is in compliance with the sales/use tax law.

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     5-15-14. Jurisdiction of prosecutions. -- Prosecutions under this chapter may be heard

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and determined by any court having criminal jurisdiction over other offenses punishable by law to

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the same extent as previously provided.

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     5-15-15. Exempt sales. -- The provisions of this chapter do not apply to sales made to:

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      (1) Dealers by commercial travelers or selling agents in the usual course of business;

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      (2) Bona fide sales of goods, wares, and merchandise by sample for future delivery;

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      (3) Hawkers on the streets;

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      (4) Peddlers from vehicles;

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      (5) Sheriffs, constables, or public officers of the state selling goods, wares, and

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merchandise according to law;

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      (6) Bona fide assignees, for the benefit of creditors residing within this state;

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      (7) Receivers appointed in this state, selling goods, wares, and merchandise in this state;

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      (8) The owner or owners or the occupants of any land, building, or structure upon which

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a tax is annually assessed by the city or town in which it is located, selling goods, wares, and

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merchandise during the course of any fair, exposition or similar public event; or

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      (9) Sales made within the confines of an enclosed shopping mall.

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     5-15-16. Towns to which chapter inapplicable. -- The provisions of this chapter do not

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apply to the towns or cities of Narragansett, New Shoreham, South Kingstown, Westerly or

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Newport. The town or city councils of those towns or cities shall be authorized and empowered to

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make ordinances licensing itinerant vendors, and those town or city councils may prescribe

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penalties for the violation of those ordinances; provided, that the ordinance does not include the

 

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licensing of hotels and inns as itinerant vendors; and provided, that the cities and towns

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mentioned in this section do not issue a license to any vendor without the vendor providing proof

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that the itinerant vendor has been issued a permit to make sales at retail by the division of

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taxation.

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     5-15-17. Prohibited sales. -- (a) No itinerant vendor, except an authorized

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manufacturer's representative, shall offer for sale any of the following items:

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      (1) Food manufactured and packaged for sale for consumption by a child under the age

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of two (2) years; or

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      (2) Drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics as defined in § 21-31-2.

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      (b) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of

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up to one hundred dollars ($100) for each item offered for sale or sold.

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC004275

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- ITINERANT VENDORS

***

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     This act would repeal the chapter of the general laws regulating itinerant vendors and

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their various licensing requirements, responsibilities, and duties.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC004275

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