§ 5-03-01 — State wholesale license required - Qualifications - Penalty - Exception

Before any person engages in the sale at wholesale of beer or liquor in this state, that
person shall first procure a license from only the state tax commissioner. The license must only
allow sale to licensed retailers, licensed wholesalers, regular retail outlets on federal military
reservations, and sale for export from a federally bonded warehouse, or a foreign trade zone, to
an export bonded warehouse. No license may be issued unless the applicant files a sworn
application, accompanied by the required fee, showing the following qualifications:
1. If the applicant is not a corporation, the applicant must be a citizen of the United States
and a resident of this state and a person of good moral character. If the applicant is a
corporation, the manager of the licensed premises must be a resident of this state, a
citizen of the United States, and a person of good moral character, and the officers,
directors, and stockholders must be citizens of the United States and persons of good
moral character. Corporate applicants must first be properly registered with the
secretary of state.
2. The state tax commissioner may require the applicant to set forth other information
necessary to enable the state tax commissioner to determine if a license should be
granted.
3. A person is not eligible for such a license unless that person has a warehouse and
office in this state, in which is kept a complete set of records relative to that person's
alcoholic beverage transactions in this state.
4. The applicant may not have any financial interest in any retail alcoholic beverage
business.
5. The provisions of this section relating to warehousing do not apply to a wholesaler of
beer located in an adjoining state that permits wholesalers licensed in North Dakota to
deliver beer to retailers without warehousing in that state.
A lender who acquires an inventory of beer or liquor by reason of a foreclosure of a security
interest in the inventory is exempt from the requirement to obtain a license before the sale of the
inventory. The lender shall offer the inventory for sale first to the wholesaler. A lender who
forecloses upon a security interest in beer inventory for which the lender has a security interest
shall dispose of the beer inventory within ninety days of obtaining possession of the inventory.
Any person distributing alcoholic beverages in this state without compliance with this title is
guilty of a class B misdemeanor.