First Regular Session
Sixty-second General Assembly
LLS NO. 99-0585.02 Jane Brown SENATE BILL 99-118
STATE OF COLORADO
BY SENATOR Epps;
also REPRESENTATIVE Alexander.
BUSINESS AFFAIRS & LABOR
A BILL FOR AN ACT
101 CONCERNING THE HOLDING OF ALCOHOL BEVERAGE TASTINGS ON
102 LICENSED PREMISES.
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does
not necessarily reflect any amendments that may be subsequently
adopted.)
Authorizes most retail licensees to allow licensed Colorado
suppliers to conduct tastings of beer, wine, and spirituous liquors on their
licensed premises. Excludes limited winery licensees, liquor-licensed
drugstore licensees, bed and breakfast permittees, optional premises
licensees, and public transportation system licensees. Requires that such
tastings be participated in only by adult patrons of the licensed premises.
Provides that such tastings may be free of charge.
1 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
2 SECTION 1. 12-47-103, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended
3 BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SUBSECTION to read:
4 12-47-103. Definitions. As used in this article and article 46 of
5 this title, unless the context otherwise requires:
6 (2.5) "ALCOHOL BEVERAGE TASTINGS" MEANS THE ON-PREMISES
7 SAMPLING OF MALT, VINOUS, AND SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS BY ADULT PATRONS
8 OF THE LICENSED PREMISES OF LICENSEES LICENSED PURSUANT TO SECTION
[ ] denotes HOUSE amendment. { } denotes SENATE amendment.
Capital letters indicate new material to be added to existing statute.
Dashes through the words indicate material to be deleted from existing statute.
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1 12-47-402, 12-42-407, 12-47-409, 12-47-411, 12-47-412, 12-7-414,
2 12-47-415, 12-47-416, 12-47-417, OR 12-47-418. SUCH MALT, VINOUS,
3 AND SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS MAY BE IN OPEN CONTAINERS AND MAY BE
4 PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE BY LICENSED COLORADO SUPPLIERS.
5 SECTION 2. 12-47-308 (1) (a) and (3) (a), Colorado Revised
6 Statutes, are amended to read:
7 12-47-308. Unlawful financial assistance. (1) (a) It is unlawful
8 for any person licensed pursuant to article 46 or 47 of this title as a
9 manufacturer, limited winery licensee, wholesaler, or importer, or any
10 person, partnership, association, organization, or corporation interested
11 financially in or with any of said licensees, to furnish, supply, or loan, in
12 any manner, directly or indirectly, to any person licensed to sell at retail
13 pursuant to the provisions of this article or article 46 or 48 of this title any
14 financial assistance or any equipment, fixtures, chattels, or furnishings
15 used in the storing, handling, serving, or dispensing of food or alcohol
16 beverages within the premises or for making any structural alterations or
17 improvements in or on the building on which such premises are located.
18 This section shall not apply to signs or displays within such premises OR
19 TO THE ADVERTISING OF ALCOHOL BEVERAGE TASTINGS AS DEFINED IN
20 SECTION 12-47-103 (2.5).
21 (3) (a) It is unlawful for any person licensed to sell at retail
22 pursuant to this article or article 46 of this title to receive and obtain from
23 the persons or parties described and referred to in subsection (1) (a) of
24 this section, directly or indirectly, any financial assistance or any
25 equipment, fixtures, chattels, or furnishings used in the storing, handling,
26 serving, or dispensing of food or alcohol beverages within the premises
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1 or from making any structural alterations or improvements in or on the
2 building on which such premises are located. This subsection (3) shall
3 not apply to signs or displays within such premises, ALCOHOL BEVERAGE
4 TASTINGS AS DEFINED IN SECTION 12-47-103 (2.5), or to advertising
5 materials that are intended primarily to advertise the product of the
6 wholesaler or manufacturer and that have only negligible value in
7 themselves, or to the inspection and servicing of malt or vinous
8 liquor-dispensing equipment to the extent necessary for the maintenance
9 of reasonable standards of purity, cleanliness, and health.
10 SECTION 3. 12-47-407 (1), Colorado Revised Statutes, is
11 amended to read:
12 12-47-407. Retail liquor store license. (1) A retail liquor store
13 license shall be issued to persons selling only malt, vinous, and spirituous
14 liquors in sealed containers not to be consumed at the place where sold.
15 Malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors in sealed containers shall not be sold
16 at retail other than in retail liquor stores except as provided in section
17 12-47-408. In addition, retail liquor stores may sell nonfood items related
18 to the consumption of such liquors, liquor-filled candy, and food items
19 approved by the state licensing authority that are prepackaged, labeled,
20 directly related to the consumption of such liquors, and are sold solely for
21 the purpose of cocktail garnish in containers up to sixteen ounces.
22 Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the sale of food
23 items that could constitute a snack, a meal, or portion of a meal. Nothing
24 in this section or in section 12-47-103 (30) shall be construed to prohibit
25 the sale of items by a retail liquor store on behalf of or to benefit a
26 charitable organization, as defined in section 39-26-102, C.R.S., or a
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1 nonprofit corporation subject to the "Colorado Revised Nonprofit
2 Corporation Act", articles 121 to 137 of title 7, C.R.S., and determined
3 to be exempt from federal income tax by the federal internal revenue
4 service, if the retail liquor store does not receive compensation for any
5 such sale. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a retail liquor store
6 licensee, at the option of the licensee, from displaying promotional
7 material furnished by a manufacturer or wholesaler, which material
8 permits a customer to purchase other items from a third person if the
9 retail liquor store licensee does not receive payment from the third person
10 and if the ordering of the additional merchandise is done by the customer
11 directly from the third person. NOTHING IN THIS SUBSECTION (1) SHALL
12 PROHIBIT A RETAIL LIQUOR STORE LICENSEE FROM ALLOWING ALCOHOL
13 BEVERAGE TASTINGS, AS DEFINED IN SECTION 12-47-103 (2.5), TO BE
14 CONDUCTED ON ITS LICENSED PREMISES BY COLORADO LICENSED
15 SUPPLIERS.
16 SECTION 4. 12-47-901 (1) (h) and (5) (k), Colorado Revised
17 Statutes, are amended to read:
18 12-47-901. Unlawful acts - exceptions. (1) Except as provided
19 in section 18-13-122, C.R.S., it is unlawful for any person:
20 (h) (I) To consume malt, vinous, or spirituous liquor in any public
21 place except on any licensed premises permitted under this article to sell
22 such liquor by the drink for consumption thereon; to consume any alcohol
23 beverage upon any premises licensed to sell liquor for consumption on
24 the licensed premises, the sale of which is not authorized by the state
25 licensing authority; to consume alcohol beverages at any time on such
26 premises other than such alcohol beverage as is purchased from such
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1 establishment; or to consume alcohol beverages in any public room on
2 such premises during such hours as the sale of such beverage is
3 prohibited under this article.
4 (II) Notwithstanding subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (h), it
5 shall not be unlawful for a person who is at least twenty-one years of age
6 to consume malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors while such person is a
7 passenger aboard a luxury limousine, as defined in section 40-16-101 (3),
8 C.R.S., or a charter or scenic bus, as defined in section 40-16-101 (1.3),
9 C.R.S. Nothing in this subparagraph (II) shall be construed to authorize
10 an owner or operator of a luxury limousine or charter or scenic bus to sell
11 or distribute malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors without obtaining a public
12 transportation system license pursuant to section 12-47-419.
13 (III) NOTWITHSTANDING SUBPARAGRAPH (I) OF THIS PARAGRAPH
14 (h), IT SHALL NOT BE UNLAWFUL FOR ADULT PATRONS TO CONSUME MALT,
15 VINOUS, AND SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS ON LICENSED PREMISES WHEN SUCH
16 CONSUMPTION IS CONDUCTED WITHIN THE LIMITATIONS OF THE LICENSEE'S
17 LICENSE AND IS PART OF ALCOHOL BEVERAGE TASTINGS, AS DEFINED IN
18 SECTION 12-47-103 (2.5), AND WHEN THE LIQUORS ARE PROVIDED BY A
19 LICENSED COLORADO SUPPLIER.
20 (5) It is unlawful for any person licensed to sell at retail pursuant
21 to this article:
22 (k) (I) To have on the licensed premises, if licensed as a retail
23 liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore, any container that shows
24 evidence of having once been opened or that contains a volume of liquor
25 less than that specified on the label of such container; except that a
26 person holding a retail liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore license
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1 may have upon the licensed premises malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors
2 in open containers, when the open containers were brought on the
3 licensed premises by and remain solely in the possession of the sales
4 personnel of a person licensed to sell at wholesale pursuant to this article
5 for the purpose of sampling malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors by the
6 retail licensee only. Nothing in this paragraph (k) shall apply to any
7 liquor-licensed drugstore where the contents, or a portion thereof, have
8 been used in compounding prescriptions.
9 (II) NOTWITHSTANDING SUBPARAGRAPH (I) OF THIS PARAGRAPH
10 (k), IT SHALL NOT BE UNLAWFUL FOR A LICENSEE TO ALLOW ALCOHOL
11 BEVERAGE TASTINGS, AS DEFINED IN SECTION 12-47-103 (2.5), TO BE
12 CONDUCTED ON ITS LICENSED PREMISES BY A COLORADO SUPPLIER.
13 SECTION 5. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds,
14 determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
15 preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.