(a)The owner of a business desiring to sell, distribute, manufacture, or store beer in any Class A county outside the limits of any incorporated city or town shall file an application for a permit with the county legislative body or a committee appointed by the county legislative body.
(b)In order to receive a permit, an applicant must establish that:
(1)No beer will be sold except at places where such sale will not cause congestion of traffic or interference with schools, churches, or other places of public gathering, or otherwise interfere with public health, safety and morals, the county legislative body having the right to forbid such storage, sale or manufacture at places within two thousand feet (2,000') of such places of public gatherings in its discretion. Nothing in this subdiv
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(a) The owner of a business desiring to sell, distribute, manufacture, or store beer in any Class A county outside the limits of any incorporated city or town shall file an application for a permit with the county legislative body or a committee appointed by the county legislative body. (b) In order to receive a permit, an applicant must establish that: (1) No beer will be sold except at places where such sale will not cause congestion of traffic or interference with schools, churches, or other places of public gathering, or otherwise interfere with public health, safety and morals, the county legislative body having the right to forbid such storage, sale or manufacture at places within two thousand feet (2,000') of such places of public gatherings in its discretion. Nothing in this subdivision (b)(1) shall apply to places of business that are located in the terminal or main building at public airports serviced by commercial airlines with regularly scheduled flights; (2) No sale shall be made to minors; (3) No person, firm, corporation, joint-stock company, syndicate, or association having at least a five percent (5%) ownership interest in the applicant has been convicted of any violation of the laws against possession, sale, manufacture, or transportation of beer or other alcoholic beverages, or the manufacture, delivery, sale or possession with intent to manufacture, deliver or sell any controlled substance or controlled substance analogue, or any crime involving moral turpitude within the past ten (10) years; (4) No person employed by the applicant in such distribution or sale has been convicted of any violation of the laws against possession, sale, manufacture, or transportation of beer or other alcoholic beverages, or the manufacture, delivery, sale or possession with intent to manufacture, deliver or sell any controlled substance that is listed in Schedules I through V in title 39, chapter 17, part 4, or the manufacture, delivery, sale or possession with intent to manufacture, deliver or sell any controlled substance analogue, or any crime involving moral turpitude within the past ten (10) years; and (5) No sale shall be made for on-premise consumption unless the application so states. (c) An applicant shall disclose the following information in the application: (1) Name of the applicant; (2) Name of applicant's business; (3) Location of business by street address or other geographical description to permit an accurate determination of conformity with the requirements of this section; (4) If beer will be sold at two (2) or more restaurants or other businesses pursuant to the same permit as provided by § 57-5-103(a)(4) , a description of all such businesses; (5) Persons, firms, corporations, joint-stock companies, syndicates, or associations having at least a five percent (5%) ownership interest in the applicant; (6) Identity and address of a representative to receive annual tax notices and any other communication from the county legislative body or its committee; (7) That no person, firm, joint-stock company, syndicate, or association having at least a five percent (5%) ownership interest in the applicant nor any person to be employed in the distribution or sale of beer has been convicted of any violation of the laws against possession, sale, manufacture, or transportation of beer or other alcoholic beverages or any crime involving moral turpitude within the past ten (10) years; (8) Whether or not the applicant is seeking a permit which would allow the sale of beer either for on-premises consumption or for off-premises consumption, or both of the foregoing. If a holder of a beer permit for either off-premises consumption or on-premises consumption desires to change the permit holder's method of sale, the permit holder shall apply to the county legislative body or committee appointed by such body for a new permit; and (9) Such other relevant information as may be required by the county legislative body or its committee. An applicant or permit holder shall be required to amend or supplement its application promptly if a change in circumstances affects the responses provided in its application. (d) Any applicant making a false statement in the application shall forfeit such applicant's permit and shall not be eligible to receive any permit for a period of ten (10) years. (e) Any applicant seeking a license or permit under this section and who complies with the conditions and provisions of this section shall have issued to such applicant the necessary license or permit, and in the event the license or permit is refused, the applicant shall be entitled to a hearing on the application for the issuance of a license or permit. The refusal to grant a license or permit, or the refusal to grant a hearing upon a person's application for a license or permit, may be reviewed by the circuit or chancery court in the manner as authorized under § 57-5-108 . (f) Before any county legislative body or committee appointed by the county legislative body shall issue a license or permit under this section, it may cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation a notice in which the name of the applicant and the address of the location for such license or permit, whether the application is for the sale of alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption and the date and time of its meeting at which such application shall be considered. Such meeting shall be a public hearing for the purpose of hearing the statement of any person or such person's attorney on any application for a license or permit. (g) (1) Temporary beer licenses or permits not to exceed thirty (30) days' duration may be issued at the request of the applicant upon the same conditions governing permanent permits. Such a temporary license or permit shall not allow the sale, storage or manufacture of beer on publicly owned property. (2) Notwithstanding the prohibition concerning beer sales on publicly owned property in this subsection (g), in Class B counties and counties having a population in excess of three hundred thousand (300,000), according to the 2000 federal census or any subsequent federal census a temporary permit authorizing the sale of beer on public property may be issued to a bona fide charitable or nonprofit or political organization as defined in § 57-4-102 , subject to the approval of the appropriate governmental authority charged with the management of such publicly owned property and the approval of the county beer board. (3) Notwithstanding the prohibition concerning beer sales on publicly owned property in this subsection (g), a county authorized to issue a permit under § 57-5-106(c) may issue a temporary permit authorizing the sale of beer on public property. (h) Where a permit or license has been refused three (3) times, the applicant shall not be allowed to apply again for a permit or license on the same premises until after the expiration of one (1) year from the date of the third refusal and only if the circumstances have substantially changed. Nothing in this subsection (h) shall be construed as prohibiting or in any manner limiting the right of any refusal to be reviewed by the circuit or chancery court in the manner as authorized under § 57-5-108 . (i) Class A counties, by resolution of their county legislative bodies, may forbid the sale of beer within three hundred feet (300') of a residential dwelling, measured from building to building; provided, that the owner of the residential dwelling appears in person before the county beer board and objects to the issuance of such permit or license. This subsection (i) shall not apply to locations where beer permits or licenses have been issued prior to the date of adoption of such a resolution by the county legislative body, or to an application for a change in the licensee or permittee at such locations. (j) A county legislative body may impose training or certification restrictions or requirements on employees of a permit holder, but such restrictions or requirements shall not apply to any employee who is possessed of a server permit issued by the alcoholic beverage commission pursuant to chapter 3, part 7 of this title. (k) When a permit or license has been denied based on the testimony of a person at the hearing which caused the county to deny the permit or license, the beer board or other appropriate governing body shall notify the person who testified if the applicant seeks a permit or license again at the same location within twelve (12) months. The person who testified may submit the person's remarks in writing to the beer board or other appropriate governing body at any additional hearing in lieu of making a physical appearance to testify.
Amended by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 944,s 2, eff. 5/15/2018. Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 654,Secs.s1, s2 eff. 3/29/2016. Acts 1933, ch. 69, § 10; 1935, ch. 170, § 4; C. Supp. 1950, § 1191.14; Acts 1961, ch. 105, § 1; 1965, ch. 321, § 2; 1968, ch. 517, § 1; 1972, ch. 637, § 1; 1975, ch. 242, § 1; 1975, ch. 363, §§ 1, 2; 1976, ch. 713, § 1; 1977, ch. 340, § 1; 1978, ch. 637, § 1; 1978, ch. 799, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 7, 36; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 57-205; Acts 1980, ch. 909, § 1; 1983, ch. 386, §§ 2-5; 1984, ch. 610, § 1; 1987, ch. 74, §§ 1-3; 1993, ch. 297, § 5; 1995, ch. 252, § 1; 1995, ch. 396, § 7; 2004, ch. 598, § 1; 2005, ch. 294, §§ 1, 2; 2012, ch. 848, §§ 61, 62.