Bill Text: MS HB1261 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

Mississippi House Bill 1261 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Brewpubs; revise restrictions where beer manufactured by may be sold.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-02-02 - Died In Committee [HB1261 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2010-HB1261-Introduced.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2010 Regular Session

To: Ways and Means

By: Representative Watson

House Bill 1261

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 27-71-301 AND 67-3-22, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW THE SALE AND CONSUMPTION OF LIGHT WINE AND BEER OFF THE PREMISES OF THE BREWPUB WHERE THE LIGHT WINE AND BEER WERE MANUFACTURED; TO AMEND SECTION 67-3-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 27-71-301, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-71-301. When used in this article the words and terms hereafter mentioned shall have the following definitions:

(a) "State Auditor" means the State Auditor of Public Accounts of the State of Mississippi or any legally appointed deputy, clerk or agent.

(b) "Person" includes all natural persons or corporations, a partnership, an association, a joint venture, an estate, a trust, or any other group or combination acting as a unit and shall include the plural as well as the singular unless an intention to give another meaning thereto is disclosed in the context.

(c) "Consumer" means a person who comes into the possession of beer or light wine, the sale of which is authorized by Chapter 3 of Title 67, Mississippi Code of 1972, for the purpose of consuming it, giving it away or otherwise disposing of it in any manner except by sale, barter or exchange.

(d) "Retailer" means any person who comes into the possession of such light wines or beer for the purpose of selling it to the consumer, or giving it away, or exposing it where it may be taken or purchased or acquired in any other manner by the consumer.

(e) "Wholesaler" means any person who comes into possession of such light wine or beer for the purpose of selling, distributing, or giving it away to retailers or other wholesalers or dealers inside or outside of this state.

(f) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Revenue of the Department of Revenue or his duly appointed agents or employees.

(g) "Sale" includes the exchange of such light wines or beer for money, or giving away or distributing any such light wines or beer for anything of value.

(h) "Light wines or beer" means beer and light wines legalized for sale by the provisions of Chapter 3 of Title 67, Mississippi Code of 1972.

(i) "Distributor" includes every person who receives either from within or from without this state, from a brewery, a winery or any other source, light wines or beer as defined in Chapter 3 of Title 67, Mississippi Code of 1972, for the purpose of distributing or otherwise disposing of such light wines or beer to a wholesaler or retailer of such light wines or beer.

(j) (i) "Brewpub" means the premises of any restaurant, as defined in Section 67-1-5, in which light wine or beer is manufactured or brewed, subject to the production limitation imposed in Section 67-3-22, for consumption * * * on the premises, for consumption off the premises in accordance with Section 67-2-22, and for consumption off the premises as provided in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph (j).

(ii) "Premises," for the purpose of this paragraph (j) for a brewpub operated by a hospitality operator, means only those areas immediately adjacent and connected to the brewing facility where food is normally sold and consumed. "Premises," for the purposes of this paragraph (j) for a brewpub not operated by a hospitality operator, means those areas normally used by the brewpub to conduct business and shall include the selling areas, brewing areas and storage areas. For purposes of this paragraph (j), "hospitality operator" shall have the meaning ascribed to the term in Section 67-33-22.

(iii) Any brewpub in a municipality meeting the criteria established in this subparagraph (iii) may allow patrons to leave the brewpub's premises with light wine and beer manufactured on its premises for the patrons' consumption within certain areas or districts as may be designated by the governing authority of the municipality, regardless of whether the municipality is located in a county which has voted against coming out from under the dry law. The municipality must meet the following criteria:

1. Have a population in excess of fifty thousand (50,000) according to the latest federal decennial census;

2. Have a state institution of higher learning located; and

3. Be traversed by U.S. Highway 49.

(k) "Hospitality cart" means a mobile cart from which alcoholic beverages and light wine and beer are sold on a golf course and for which a hospitality cart permit has been issued under Section 67-1-51.

SECTION 2. Section 67-3-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

67-3-13. (1) Except as otherwise provided herein and as authorized under this section and Section 67-9-1, in any county which has at any time since February 26, 1934, elected, or which may hereafter elect, to prohibit the transportation, storage, sale, distribution, receipt and/or manufacture of wine and beer of an alcoholic content of not more than four percent (4%) by weight in such county, it is hereby declared to be unlawful to possess such beverages therein. In any county which, after July 1, 1998, elects to prohibit the transportation, storage, sale, distribution, receipt and/or manufacture of wine and beer of an alcoholic content of not more than five percent (5%) by weight in such county, it is hereby declared to be unlawful to possess such beer therein. Any person found possessing any beer or wine of any quantity whatsoever in such county shall, on conviction, be imprisoned not more than ninety (90) days or fined not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or be both so fined and imprisoned.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, in any county or municipality in which the transportation, storage, sale, distribution, receipt and/or manufacture of light wine and beer is prohibited, it shall not be unlawful for a permitted wholesaler or distributor to possess light wine and beer when such light wine and beer is held therein solely for the purpose of storage and for distribution to other counties and municipalities in which possession of such beverages is lawful.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, in any county in which transportation, storage, sale, distribution, receipt and/or manufacture of light wine and beer is prohibited, it shall not be unlawful:

(a) To receive, store, possess or consume light wine or beer at a resort area as defined in Section 67-1-5 or an area or district designated by a municipality as described in Section 27-71-301(j)(iii);

(b) To distribute and transport light wine or beer to a resort area as defined in Section 67-1-5 or an area or district designated by a municipality as described in Section 27-71-301(j)(iii); and

(c) To purchase, sell, receive, distribute, transport, store, possess or consume light wine or beer that has been manufactured on the premises of a brewpub, provided that the brewpub complies with the provisions of Section 67-3-22.

SECTION 3. Section 67-3-22, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

67-3-22. (1) The production limits for a brewpub shall be based upon production as determined by the State Tax Commission pursuant to Section 27-71-307, Mississippi Code of 1972, and shall be limited as follows:

(a) A stand-alone restaurant or restaurant operated by a hospitality operator with less than fifty (50) guest rooms in the aggregate shall not manufacture more than forty thousand three hundred (40,300) gallons of light wine or beer per calendar year.

(b) A restaurant operated by a hospitality operator with fifty (50) or more guest rooms in the aggregate but less than five hundred (500) guest rooms in the aggregate shall not manufacture more than sixty thousand (60,000) gallons of light wine or beer per calendar year.

(c) A restaurant operated by a hospitality operator with five hundred (500) or more guest rooms in the aggregate but less than one thousand (1,000) guest rooms in the aggregate shall not manufacture more than seventy-five thousand (75,000) gallons of light wine or beer per calendar year.

(d) A restaurant operated by a hospitality operator with one thousand (1,000) or more guest rooms in the aggregate shall not manufacture more than ninety-nine thousand (99,000) gallons of light wine or beer per calendar year.

(2) Light wine or beer produced at a brewpub shall not be sold at a price less than it cost to manufacture such light wine or beer.

(3) Light wine or beer manufactured by a brewpub may be sold away from the premises of the brewpub, as defined in Section 27-71-301, provided that it is packaged in a form that it may be properly sealed and carried away from the premises for the purpose of such off-premises sales; provided, however, that the final one hundred (100) gallons of beer within a fermenting tank may be placed in kegs for sale on the premises to facilitate transition from one fermenting tank to another.

(4) A brewpub shall be required to offer for sale light wine or beer that is normally carried on the inventory of wholesalers or distributors of light wine or beer.

(5) As used in this section, the term "hospitality operator" means a business that operates guest rooms that at any one time will accommodate transient guests on a daily or weekly basis in conjunction with a brewpub at one (1) location or facility.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.