Yalobusha County Beer Law
RE: ORDER OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF YALOBUSHA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI,
ADOPTING PROPER RULES AND REGULATION AS TO THE TRANSPORTATION, STORAGE, SALE, DISTRIBUTION, POSSESSION, AND/OR RECEIPT OF WINE AND BEER OF AN ALCOHOLIC CONTENT OF NOT MORE THAN FIVE PER CENT (5%) BY WEIGHT IN THE TERRITORY OF YALOBUSHA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI, OUTSIDE OF MUNICIPALITIES LOCATED THEREIN
On motion of Supervisor Frank J. Tillman, the following Order was moved for adoption, to-wit:
ORDER
WHEREAS, by election held in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, on the 11th day of December, A.D. 2007, under the provisions of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 67-3-7 (1972), the transportation, storage, sale, distribution, receipt, and/or possession of wine and beer of an alcoholic content of not more than five per cent (5%) by weight was made lawful and permitted in Yalobusha County, Mississippi; and,
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Yalobusha County, Mississippi, is authorized under the provisions of Mississippi Code Annotated, Section 67-3-65 (1972), and under its general police powers, to prescribe and enforce reasonable and proper rules and regulations, for fixing zones and territories, prescribing hours of opening and closing, and for such other measures as will promote public health, safety, morals, and general welfare, as this Board may order to be applicable to the territory of Yalobusha County, Mississippi, outside of municipalities located therein; and,
WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Yalobusha County, Mississippi, after due investigation, desires to adopt rules and regulations in connection with the sale and consumption of beer and wine of an alcoholic content of not more than five per cent (5%) by weight as authorized by law so as to promote the public health, morals and safety of the citizens of Yalobusha County, Mississippi.
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF YALOBUSHA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI, AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Preamble Adopted. That the matters and facts found and
adjudged in the preamble to this Order be, and the same are hereby, adopted herein.
Section 2. Geographic Area Effected. This Order shall apply to all areas
within Yalobusha County except any part thereof lying within the corporate limits of any municipality thereof.
Section 3. Definitions. When used herein the words and terms “person”,
“retailer”, “sale”, and “light wines or beer” shall have the definitions as defined and described in Section 27-71-301 of the Mississippi Code Annotated (1972) which said definitions as contained in said section of said act are hereby adopted for the purposes of this Order. For purposes of this Order, the term “bartender/server” shall mean any person whose employment requires him or her to sell or serve beer and/or light wine directly to the public. However, persons whose employment requires only that he or she clear or bus tables that have glasses or other containers that contain or did contain light wine and/or beer, or stocking, bagging or otherwise handling purchases of light wine or beer, and/or that he or she wait on tables by taking orders for or delivering orders of alcoholic beverages, shall not be included in the definition of “bartender/server”.
Section 4. Privilege License Required.
a) Requirement. Any person or entity desiring to engage in the business of selling beer and light wine at retail shall pay the county a privilege license tax in the amount as that imposed by Section 27-71-303, Section 27-71-345 and Section 67-3-27 of the Mississippi Code Annotated (1972) for the purpose of engaging in such business and shall file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors an application showing that such person possesses all the requirements provided for in this Order. Such applicant shall exhibit a permit as required by Section 67-3-17 and Section 67-3-23 of the Mississippi Code Annotated (1972). All such county privilege licenses shall be applied for and renewed annually. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of the retail sale of beer and light wine without having first applied for and obtained from the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors a privilege license to engage in such business.
b) Application for Privilege License. Any person or entity desiring a license to sell beer at retail or desiring to renew such a license to sell beer and/or light wine shall file an application with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in the form of a sworn statement giving the name of the business, its location, the mailing address, and if a partnership or firm, the name and address of each partner or member and, if a corporation, the names of two principal officers and the nature of the business in which engaged. In the case any business is conducted by the same person or entity at two or more separate places, a separate license for each place of business shall be required. The applicant shall further show in the sworn application for a license that the applicant and/or its principals (as identified below) possess the following qualifications:
1. Over twenty-one (21) years of age and a person of good moral character;
2. No convictions in this or any other state of a felony, or of pandering, or of keeping or maintaining a house of prostitution; and,
3. No revocation of any license or permit to sell alcoholic liquors, beer, or light wine, pursuant to the laws of Yalobusha County, this state or any other state, or of the United States, within two (2) years preceding the date of application.
If the applicant is a partnership, firm, or limited liability company, all members of the partnership, firm or limited liability company must be named and must meet the above-listed qualifications. If the applicant is a corporation, all officers and directors thereof, and any stockholder owning more than five percent (5%) of the stock of such corporation, and the person who shall conduct and manage the licensed premises for the corporation shall possess all the qualification required herein for an individual licensee. Discovery of any false statement made on the application or during the application process shall be grounds for immediate revocation of the privilege license. The licensee shall retain a list of all persons employed by licensee who shall sell and/or serve beer and/or light wine, including with the list the name, address and age of each employee and such list shall be made available upon request of Yalobusha County. The applicant shall be the owner of the premises for which the permit for license is sought or the holder of any existing written lease thereon. Any license issued shall be displayed conspicuously in licensee’s place of business and shall not be transferable.
Section 5. Privilege License Holder Regulated. It shall be unlawful in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, for any owner, proprietor, manager or employee of any establishment which has a privilege license authorizing the sale of light wine and beer at retail to violate any of the following provisions of this section:
a) Hours Regulated. Sell, give, dispense or permit to be consumed in or upon a licensed premises, any light wine or beer during the days, Monday through Saturday, between the hours of midnight and 7:00 a.m. the following morning and on Sundays, election days, Christmas or such other times as the Board of Supervisors may designate with approval of the Mississippi State Tax Commission.
b) Sale of Refrigerated Wine or Beer. Sell, give, dispense, or permit to be
consumed any light wine or beer which has been refrigerated, except those establishments which qualify as restaurants under Subsection (c) of this Section.
c) On Premise Consumption. To permit the opening of a container of such light wine and beer and the consumption of such wine and beer on the premises of the holder of a permit authorizing the sale of such beverage, or permitting of either to be done on such premises by the holder of such permit unless such retail establishment is a bona fide restaurant holding a permit authorizing the sale of such beverages. The word “restaurant” for the purpose of this order means a place which is regularly and in a bona fide manner used and kept open for the service of meals to guests for compensation and which has suitable seating facilities for guests and has suitable kitchen facilities connected therewith for cooking an assortment of foods and meals commonly ordered at various hours of the day; the service of such food as sandwiches and salads only shall not be deemed in compliance with this requirement. No place shall qualify as a restaurant under the provisions of this Order unless fifty percent (50%) or more of the revenue derived from such place shall be from the preparation, cooking and serving of meals, and not from the sale of such light wine and beer. The owner of the permit shall keep adequate gross receipts evidencing sales of foods, meals, and non-alcoholic drinks as well as receipts evidencing purchases of foods and non-alcoholic drink used in preparation of such meals. Such records and/or receipts shall be kept by the owner of the permit for no less than two (2) years.
d) Distance Requirements. Sell or store light wine or beer within three
hundred (300) feet of any church, school, kindergarten, or funeral home. Such distances shall be measured along a straight line between the nearest points of the building in which such light wine and beer is sold or stored and the building housing such church, school, kindergarten or funeral home.
e) Advertising Signs. Display any outside sign or signs advertising the sale of light wine or beer or display any sign within a building on the premises which is visible from the outside of such building.
f) Visibility of Beer or Container. To store, keep or display light wine or beer, or any empty carton or containers thereof in or on the premises covered by such license in such a manner as to be visible from outside of said premises.
g) Furnishing to Minors. Sell, give or furnish in any manner any light wine or beer at any time or place to a person under the age of twenty-one (21) years of age, or to knowingly sell, furnish or give the same to any person for delivery to such minors, unless authorized pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 67-3-54.
h) Selling, Giving to Mentally Incompetent or Intoxicated Persons. Sell, give or furnish in any manner any light wine or beer at any time or place to any person who is known to be insane or mentally incapacitated, or to any person who is visibly intoxicated, or to knowingly sell, give or furnish the sale to any person for delivery to such persons.
i) Employing Persons with Violations of this Order. Employ as a bartender/server who has been convicted of two or more violations of this Order within the last 24 months of such employment. It shall be the responsibility of the licensee/employer to conduct routine background checks of its bartenders/servers to insure compliance with this Section.
j) Lewd, Immoral Practices. Permit in his or her presence any lewd, immoral or improper entertainment, conduct or practices.
k) Disorderly Conduct; Disturbing the Peace. Permit loud, boisterous or disorderly conduct of any kind upon the premises or to permit the use of loud musical instruments so as to disturb the peace and quiet of the community wherein such business is located.
l) Gambling Operations. Permit or suffer gambling or the operation of games of chance upon the licensed premises.
Section 6. Consumption upon Streets, Sidewalks or other Public Ways. It
shall be unlawful within Yalobusha County for any person to consume or have in his or her possession any open container containing light wine or beer in an alley, public park, public playground, public recreational areas, school grounds, school buildings, public streets, public sidewalks or any county or publicly owned buildings. Such offense shall be deemed a misdemeanor and punishable as provided by law.
Section 7. No Minors Employed . No holder of a license shall have any person under the age of eighteen (18) in his employ sell, dispense, handle, or stock light wine or beer beverages. However in no case, shall any person be employed under the age of (21) as a bartender in a restaurant as defined herein in Section 5(c).
Section 8. Violations and Penalties; Revocation of Privilege License.
a) Individuals or entities holding retail beer and light wine privilege licenses.
In addition to any other penalties prescribed by law, any business entities violating the provisions of this Order shall be subject to the following penalties:
i. First Offense. A beer and light wine privilege licensee that violates the provisions of this Order may have such license suspended for a period of up to 30 days and a fine of not more than $400.00 or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 30 days or both.
ii. Second Offense. A beer and light wine privilege licensee that
violates the provisions of this Order a second time within 365 calendar days of the first offense may have its license suspended for a period of up to a 180 days, and also, a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 60 days or both.
iii. Third Offense. A beer and light wine privilege licensee that
violates the provisions of this Order a third time within 365
calendar days of the first offense shall have its license revoked, a fine of $1,000.00, and imprisonment in the county jail for 6 months or both. The licensee may reapply for such license, pursuant to the requirements of this Order after two (2) years from the date of the third violation that led to such revocation.
Section 9. Cumulative and Supplemental. This Order is declared to be cumulative and supplemental to any and all acts and laws of the State of Mississippi pertaining to the governing of the sale and distribution of light wines and beer.
Section 10. Any Portion Declared Unconstitutional or in Conflict. If any Section, Paragraph, Clause, or Sentence of this Order be declared illegal or unconstitutional, or in conflict with any existing statutes of this State, it shall not impair or effect the validity or remainder of said Order and all provisions, conditions, and stipulation of said Order shall remain in full force and effect.
Section 11. Immediate Effect. This Order effecting the health, safety and
welfare of the public shall be in full force and effect from and after date and time of its passage. The above and forgoing Order having been first reduced to writing, considered section by section and then as a whole, was duly seconded for adoption by Supervisor Tommy Vaughn ; and,
Upon a roll call vote being call the following vote resulted:
Supervisor Tommy Vaughn voted: AYE;
Supervisor Amos Sims voted: AYE;
Supervisor M. H. Surrette voted: AYE;
Supervisor George Suggs voted: AYE;
Supervisor Frank J. Tillman voted: AYE;
Thereupon, the President of the Board declared said motion carried and said Order was adopted on this the 19th day of December, 2007, at 2:35 p.m.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
YALOBUSHA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI
BY: _________________________
AMOS SIMS, PRESIDENT
ATTEST:
____________________________
AMY F. MCMINN,
CLERK OF THE BOARD
