SB 17-195

Senate Bill 17-195 updates Colorado's rules for retail liquor stores by allowing current store owners who are Colorado residents and have been licensed since January 1, 2017, to apply for additional licenses under certain conditions. These conditions include transferring ownership of two existing liquor licenses within the same area before getting a new one. The bill also sets limits on how close new liquor stores can be to each other based on population size and restricts self-service alcohol checkout. It requires employees under 21 years old not to handle alcohol and mandates age verification for customers buying alcohol. Since it has been signed, the changes are now law and affect existing and future retail liquor store owners in Colorado.

Official Summary

Under current law, a retail liquor store licensee that was licensed on or before January 1, 2016, and is a Colorado resident is permitted to obtain one additional retail liquor store license on or after January 1, 2017; 2 additional retail liquor store licenses on or after January 1, 2022; and 3 additional retail liquor store licenses on or after January 1, 2027. With regard to additional retail liquor store licenses, the premises cannot be located within 1,500 feet of any other licensed retail liquor store in the same licensing jurisdiction or, if within a municipality with a population of not more than 10,000 people, the premises cannot be located within 3,000 feet of any other licensed retail liquor store in the same licensing jurisdiction. The bill retains the ability for a retail liquor store licensee that is a Colorado resident to obtain one additional retail liquor store license through July 1, 2017, if the new premises satisfies the distance requirements, and starting July 1, 2017, retains the distance requirements and replaces the current time periods and additional license provisions with a structure that mirrors the tiered structure for liquor-licensed drugstores to obtain additional licenses, as follows: For a retail liquor store licensee licensed as of January 1, 2017, that has been a Colorado resident for at least 2 years, in order to obtain an additional retail liquor store license on or after July 1, 2017, the applicant must apply to transfer ownership of 2 licensed retail liquor store licenses within the same local licensing jurisdiction as the premises for which a new license is sought and merge the 2 licenses into a single retail liquor store license; A retail liquor store that qualifies for additional retail liquor store licenses is eligible to obtain: 4 additional licenses, for a total of 5 retail liquor store licenses, on or after July 1, 2017; 7 additional licenses, for a total of 8 retail liquor store licenses, on or after January 1, 2022; 12 additional licenses, for a total of 13 retail liquor store licenses, on or after January 1, 2027; 19 additional licenses, for a total of 20 retail liquor store licenses, on or after January 1, 2032; and an unlimited number of additional retail liquor store licenses, on or after January 1, 2037. A retail liquor store is prohibited from allowing customers to use a self-checkout to complete an alcohol beverage purchase. A retail liquor store is required to: Verify the age of a customer attempting to purchase an alcohol beverage by examining the customer's valid identification; and Maintain certification as a responsible alcohol beverage vendor. An employee of a retail liquor store who is under 21 years of age cannot deliver or otherwise have contact with alcohol beverages offered for sale on, or sold and removed from, the licensed premises. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

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