House Amendment 4
H 3772 - Session 124 (2021-2022)
Alcohol
View Vote History

Rep. HILL proposes the following Amendment No. 4 to H. 3772 (COUNCIL\DG\3772C003.JN.DG21):

Reference is to Printer's Date 2/18/21-H.

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking SECTIONS 1 and 2 and inserting:

/ SECTION1 .Article 1, Chapter 4, Title 61 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 61-4-280.(A) As used in this section:

(1) 'Customer' means an individual who is at least twenty-one years of age and who purchases products from a licensed retail dealer through the use of the Internet, mobile applications, or other similar technology.

(2) 'Delivery' means local delivery of beer or wine made by a retail dealer or delivery service employees or independent contractors. Delivery by a delivery service must be made on the same day the beer and wine is collected from the retail dealer and may not be interstate or further hired, including to a common carrier.

(3) 'Delivery service' means a third party that delivers items from a retail dealer to consumers for personal consumption and not for resale using employees or independent contractors to facilitate the delivery. A 'delivery service' also may facilitate delivery through technology services that connect customers with retail dealers through the use of the Internet, mobile applications, and other similar technology.

(4) 'Recipient' means an individual who is at least twenty-one years of age, who is physically present at the address designated by the customer, and who is receiving the intended delivery from the delivery service.

(5) 'Retail dealer' means a person or entity licensed under this title as a retailer authorized to sell beer, ale, porter, and wine in sealed containers for off-premises consumption or on-premises consumption and does not include a manufacturer or any other person or entity licensed to manufacture beer and wine.

(6) 'Sealed container' means a vessel containing beer or wine, which has not been opened, tampered with, uncapped or unsealed subsequent to its original filling and airtight sealing by the manufacturer, importer, or retail dealer.

(7) 'Third party' means any individual, partnership, association, company, limited liability company, corporation, or other entity or group who is licensed to do business in this State, regardless of the state of residency, that has a contractual relationship with at least one licensed retail dealer, and who is not an employee of the retail dealer.

(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a retail dealer may hire a delivery service to deliver sealed packages of beer, wine, and alcoholic liquors for personal consumption. A retail dealer may itself deliver sealed packages of beer, wine, and alcoholic liquors for perso nal consumption. Delivery shall not occur on the premises of any church, school, or playground, as those terms are defined in Section 61-6-120, within any residence hall or dormitory on a college or university campus in this State, or within the premises of licensed on-premises retailers, excluding hotels. For purposes of determining whether the area for the delivery of beer, wine, and alcoholic liquors is permissible, the Department of Revenue shall make available to the delivery service the addresses of active licensed on-premises retailers upon which the delivery service may reasonably rely in furtherance of prohibiting such delivery.

(C)Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a company that only provides technology services to a retail dealer to obtain a delivery service license if the company does not employ or contract with delivery drivers, but merely provides software or an application that connects consumers and licensed retail dealers.

( D)Each individual who delivers beer, wine, and alcoholic liquors for a retail dealer or delivery service must be at least twenty-one years of age, must not have a felony conviction within the last ten years, as confirmed by a background check conducted by the delivery service prior to being hired, and must undergo certification and training to deliver beer, wine, and alcoholic liquors as provided by the department and as administered by the retail dealer or delivery service.

(E )(1)A licensed retail dealer may market, receive, and process orders for beer, wine, and alcoholic liquor products under this section using electronic means owned, operated, and maintained by a third party, provided that:

(a) the retail dealer maintains ultimate control and responsibility over the sales transaction and transfer of physical possession of the beer, wine, and alcoholic liquors to the delivery service employee or independent contractor;

(b) the retail dealer retains the sole discretion to determine whether to accept and complete a sales transaction or reject it;

(c) the retail dealer retains the independence to determine which beer, wine, and alcoholic liquors are made available for ordering through electronic means, which are made available for delivery to the recipient at the address designated by the customer, and to independently set the price of such products;

(d) the sales transaction takes place between the customer and the retail dealer and the retail dealer appears as the merchant of record;

(e) any credit or debit card information provided by a customer to the third party for the purpose of transacting a purchase with a retail dealer is automatically directed to the retail dealer such that the retail dealer appears as the merchant of record at the time of purchase and on the receipt;

(f) the retail dealer, or an employee of the retail dealer, processes by the licensed premise that accepts the order, all payments initiated by a customer that is transacting a purchase with the retail dealer; and

(g) the beer, wine, and alcoholic liquors are in the possession of the retail dealer prior to the retail dealer 's processing of payment for such products.

(F )At the time of delivery, a delivery service licensee must have some form of electronic or current state of the art age verification software technology available at the point of delivery, must require the recipient to provide valid photographic identification to verify the recipient is at least twenty-one years of age, and must obtain the recipient's signature.

(G )A retail dealer and delivery service shall refuse delivery and return the beer, wine, and alcoholic liquors to the retail dealer 's licensed premises on the same date of collection and attempted delivery when the recipient is not present or:

(1) is less than twenty-one years of age;

(2) fails to produce valid identification; or

(H)A customer order made through a delivery service licensee shall result in a sale deemed to have been made on the retail dealer 's licensed premises.

(I ) A person who violates the provisions of this section, upon conviction:

(1) for a first offense, must be fined one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both;

(2) for a second offense, must be fined two thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than sixty days, or both; and

(3) for a third or subsequent offense, must be fined five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years." /