This is а suit to set aside an order of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, petitioner, suspending the wine and beer retail pеrmit and the retail dealer’s on-premise late hours license held by Carl E. Carlin, respondent. The trial court rendered judgment setting aside thе order of suspension on the ground that it is not supported by substantial evidence. The Court of Civil Appeals reversed the trial court’s judgmеnt and dismissed the cause as moot.
Under the terms of the Commission’s order, which was issued on June 8, 1970, Carlin’s permit and liсense were suspended for a period of 15 days from June 22, 1970. Carlin instituted this suit promptly, and on June 18, 1970, the trial court entered an ex parte order staying enforcement of the administrative suspension order. The Commission filed a motion to dismiss, asserting that under the provisions of Arts. 666-15 and 667-22, Vernon’s Ann.P.C.,
The Court of Civil Appeals reasoned that the order of suspension was and could be effective only for the specific 15-day period designated therein. Since this period of 15 days, which began on June 22, 1970, expired even before judgment was rendered by the trial court, the intermediate court concluded that the cause is moot. We granted the Commission’s application for writ of error, because it was our tentative view that the holding of the Court of Civil Appeals is unsound. See Departmеnt of Public Safety of State of Texas v. Austin,
Shortly before the case was to be argued in this Court, the Attorney General learned for the first time that Carlin no longer holds a wine and beer retail permit. The parties have now filed a stipulation showing that on June 22, 1971, which was after the motion for rehearing was overruled by the Court of Civil Appeals, the Commission issued to Carlin a mixed beverage permit and, in conjunction therewith, a late hours permit. At that time Carlin surrendered his wine and beer retail permit to the Commission. He apparently has no further need for a late hours license such as that held by him in connection with his wine and beer retail permit.
The particular controversy that gave rise to this suit, i. e., the dispute over the suspension of Carlin’s wine and beer permit and late hours license, has become simply an academic question. So far as we have been able to determine, the Texas Liquor Control Act contains no provision making an ordеr suspending a permit or license of one class effective to prevent the holder from operating under a permit or license of an entirely different class. It is clear then that the order here under attack will not in itself, if upheld and made effective nоw, affect the permits issued to Carlin in 1971.
Since Carlin is still in the liquor business and operating under existing permits, the Attorney General suggests that the casе is analogous to House of Tobacco v. Calvert, Tex.Sup.,
Therе is no comparable provision in the Liquor Control Act, and it is our opinion that House of Tobacco and Isbell are not applicable here. The grounds for refusing to issue an original or renewal permit are found in Art. 666-11, while the grounds for cancelling or suspending a permit are set out in Art. 666-12. Neitlier of thеse statutes contains anything to suggest that the previous suspension of Carlin’s wine and beer retail permit or late hours license has, in itsеlf, any bearing upon the renewal, cancellation or suspension of his existing mixed beverage and late hours permits.
It is also suggestеd that a final judgment in this suit will be conclusive between the parties as to the facts underlying the original order of suspension. A new order suspеnding Carlin’s present permits could then be based, we are told, on the judgment in the instant case. This may well be so in some instances. No attеmpt will be made to explore that question, however, since a judgment upholding or overturning the suspension order will not finally resolve any existing controversy between the parties. The suspension order is predicated on a finding that on December 25, 1969, Carlin conducted “his business in a place and manner of such nature which, based on the general welfare, health, peace, morals and safety of the people and on the public sense of decency, warrants the cancellation or suspension of the said permit and license.” See Art. 667-19, subd. A(14). From a reading of Arts. 666-11 and 666-12, it seems to us that the “fact” underlying the suspension order, even if
The judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals is affirmed.
Notes
. Except as otherwise indicated, all statutes are referred to by the article number under which they appear in Vernon’s Annotated Penal Code.