Chapter 18B

(a) Right of Transfer to Designated Family Member. - An individual's interest in a wholesaler business, including the rights under the franchise agreement with the supplier, may be transferred or assigned to a designated family member. The transfer or assignment shall not be effe…

The provisions of this Article shall be part of all franchise agreements as defined in G.S. 18B-1302 and may not be altered by the parties. A wholesaler's rights under this Article may not be waived or superseded by the provisions of a written franchise agreement prepared by a su…

If a dispute arises between a wholesaler and supplier under this Article, and such dispute appears likely to lead to litigation, the Commission, upon request of any party or on its own initiative, may require the parties to participate in mediation in an effort to resolve the dis…

(a) Creation of Commission; compensation. - The North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission is created to consist of a chairman and two associate members. The Commission shall be administratively located within the Department of Public Safety but shall exercise its power…

(a) Financial Interests Restricted. - No person shall be appointed to or employed by the Commission, a local board, or the ALE Division if that person or a member of that person's family related to that person by blood or marriage to the first degree has or controls, directly or …

In addition to imposing any other penalty authorized by law, a judge may remove from office or discharge from employment any Commission or local board member or employee, or any ALE agent, who is convicted of a violation of any provision of this Chapter or of any felony and may d…

(a) Powers. - The Commission shall have authority to: (1) Administer the ABC laws; (2) Provide for enforcement of the ABC laws, in conjunction with the ALE Division; (3) Set the prices of alcoholic beverages sold in local ABC stores as provided in Article 8; (4) Require reports a…

(a) Contracting for Private Warehouse. - The Commission shall provide for the receipt, storage, and distribution of spirituous liquor by one of the following methods: (1) By negotiated contract with a privately owned warehouse. (2) By negotiated contract with privately owned ware…

(a) Accounts and Reports. - The Commission may require local boards to submit quarterly mixed beverage reports, quarterly and annual audits, monthly sales records, and any other reports or audits relating to the operations of the local ABC systems. (b) Accounting System. - The Co…

(a) Authority to Set Standards. - The Commission may set standards and adopt rules for alcoholic beverages to protect the public against alcoholic beverages containing harmful or impure substances, alcoholic beverages containing an improper balance of substances as determined by …

The Commission shall have authority to adopt, amend, and repeal rules to carry out the provisions of this Chapter. Those rules shall become effective when adopted and filed pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 150B of the General Statutes. (1937, c. 49, s. 4; cc. 237, 411; 1945,…

(a) Issuance of Bonds. - As a means of raising the funds needed from time to time in the design, acquisition, construction, equipping, maintenance and operation of a warehouse under G.S. 18B-204(a)(3), the Commission may, with the approval of the Governor, at one time or from tim…

Notwithstanding G.S. 18B-201(d) and G.S. 133-32, and any other provision of law, members and employees of the Commission may consume samples of spirituous liquor products under consideration for approval for sale in this State, free of charge. No person may consume more than one …

The Commission shall notify industry members and local boards at least 60 days in advance of the effective date of an approved retail price reduction for a spirituous liquor product. The price of the spirituous liquor for local boards shall be reduced only for the 30 days that th…

(a) Generally. - Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, the purchase, consumption, and possession of malt beverages and unfortified wine by individuals 21 years old and older for their own use is permitted without restriction. (a1) Consumption on Premises During Time of Pe…

(a) Policy. - The intent of this section is to regulate open containers of alcoholic beverages that customers of a permittee take from the permittee's licensed premises into another area where consumption of the alcoholic beverages is allowed. This section shall not in any way li…

If the boundary of a social district directly borders a designated consumption area established by the owner or property owners' association of a multi-tenant establishment that holds a common area entertainment permit, the owner or property owners' association of the multi-tenan…

(a) During the hours of airport operation, any establishment permitted under subdivision (1), (3), (5), or (10) of G.S. 18B-1000 and operating in the Transportation Security Administration-screened portion of an airport may, with the written approval of the airport authority, sel…

(a) Possession at Home. - It shall be lawful, without an ABC permit, for any person at least 21 years old to possess for lawful purposes any amount of fortified wine and spirituous liquor at his home or a temporary residence, such as a hotel room. (b) Possession on Other Property…

It shall be unlawful to consume, or to allow the consumption of, alcoholic beverages at any adult live entertainment business as defined in G.S. 14-202.10 except pursuant to one or more permits allowing the sale or consumption of alcohol issued pursuant to this Chapter. (2024-41,…

(a) Sale. - It is unlawful for any person to do any of the following: (1) Sell malt beverages or unfortified wine to anyone less than 21 years old. (2) Sell fortified wine, spirituous liquor, or mixed beverages to anyone less than 21 years old. (a1) Give. - It is unlawful for any…

(a) A violation of G.S. 18B-302(a) or (a1) is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 15A-1340.23, if the court imposes a sentence that does not include an active punishment, the court must include among the conditions of probation a requirement that the per…

(a) Limited Immunity for Samaritan. - Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person under the age of 21 shall not be prosecuted for a violation of G.S. 18B-302 for the possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages if all of the following requirements and conditions are …

(1905, c. 498, ss. 6-8; Rev., ss. 3526, 3534; C.S., s. 3371; 1937, c. 49, ss. 12, 16, 22; c. 411; 1955, c. 999; 1967, c. 222, ss. 1, 8; c. 1256, s. 3; 1969, c. 1018; 1971, c. 872, s. 1; 1973, c. 1226; 1977, c. 176, s. 1; 1977, 2nd Sess., c. 1138, ss. 8-12, 18; 1979, c. 384, s. 3;…

(a) Offense. - It shall be unlawful for any person to sell any alcoholic beverage, or possess any alcoholic beverage for sale, without first obtaining the applicable ABC permit and revenue licenses. (b) Prima Facie Evidence. - Possession of the following amounts of alcoholic beve…

(a) Sale to Intoxicated Person. - It shall be unlawful for a permittee or his employee or for an ABC store employee to knowingly sell or give alcoholic beverages to any person who is intoxicated. (b) Discretion for Seller. - Any person authorized to sell alcoholic beverages under…

(a) Authority. - An individual may make, possess, and transport wines and malt beverages for the individual's own use, the use of the individual's family and guests, use at organized affairs, exhibitions, or competitions, or use at home maker special events pursuant to G.S. 18B-1…

(a) Offenses. - It shall be unlawful for any person, except as authorized by this Chapter, to: (1) Sell or possess equipment or ingredients intended for use in the manufacture of any alcoholic beverage, except equipment and ingredients provided under a Brew on Premises permit or …

(a) A food business as defined in G.S. 18B-1000(3), a retail business as defined in G.S. 18B-1000(7), or an eating establishment as defined in G.S. 18B-1000(2) that holds an ABC permit under this Chapter and is located in a part of a city that has been designated as an Urban Rede…

(a) Opened Containers. - Except as authorized by a common carrier vehicle permit under G.S. 18B-1001(23), it shall be unlawful for a person to transport fortified wine or spirituous liquor in the passenger area of a motor vehicle in other than the manufacturer's unopened original…

(a) Purchase-Transportation. - A person who is not a permittee may purchase and transport for off-premises consumption a keg or kegs as defined in G.S. 18B-101(7c) after obtaining a purchase-transportation permit. Failure to obtain a purchase-transportation permit according to th…

(a), (b) Repealed by Session Laws 2022-44, s. 3(h), effective July 7, 2022. (c) Designated Store. - A mixed beverage permittee may purchase spirituous liquor from an ABC store that is designated as a mixed beverage ABC store operated by any local board operating in the same count…

(a) Appointment. - The Secretary of Public Safety shall appoint and supervise the Director of the Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement of the Department of Public Safety. The Director of the Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement of the Department of Public Safety may appoint and sup…

(a) Appointment. - Except as provided in subsection (f), each local board shall hire one or more ABC enforcement officers. Local ABC enforcement officers shall be designated as "ABC Officers". The local board may designate one officer as the chief ABC officer for that board. (b) …

(a) Authority. - To procure evidence of violations of the ABC law, alcohol law-enforcement agents, employees of the Commission, local ABC officers, and officers of local law-enforcement agencies that have contracted to provide ABC enforcement under G.S. 18B-501(f) shall have auth…

(a) Storage. - A law-enforcement officer who seizes alcoholic beverages as evidence of an ABC law violation shall provide for the storage of those alcoholic beverages until the commencement of the trial or administrative hearing relating to the violation, unless some other dispos…

(a) Property Subject to Forfeiture. - The following kinds of property shall be subject to forfeiture: (1) Motor vehicles, boats, airplanes, and all other conveyances used to transport nontaxpaid alcoholic beverages in violation of the ABC laws; (2) Containers for alcoholic bevera…

When a person is convicted of a violation of the ABC laws, the court may order him to make restitution to any law-enforcement agency for reasonable expenditures made in purchasing alcoholic beverages from him or his agent as part of an investigation leading to his conviction. (19…

(a) Kinds of Elections. - The following kinds of alcoholic beverage elections shall be permitted: (1) Malt beverage; (2) Unfortified wine; (3) ABC store; and (4) Mixed beverage. (a1) ABC Store Elections Requiring Merger. - A jurisdiction located in a county where an ABC board is …

(a) Generally. - Except as otherwise provided in this section, an alcoholic beverage election shall be conducted in the same manner and under the same rules as a referendum under Chapter 163. (b) How County Election Called. - A county alcoholic beverage election shall be conducte…

(a) Malt Beverage Elections. - Any one or more of the propositions listed below may be placed on the ballot for a malt beverage election. Each voter may vote on each proposition on the ballot. The propositions to be used shall be chosen by the governing body or petitioner request…

(a) Malt Beverage Elections. - If a malt beverage election is held under G.S. 18B-602(a) and the sale of malt beverages is approved, the Commission may issue permits to qualified persons and establishments in the jurisdiction that held the election as follows: (1) If on-premises …

(a) Time Limits. - No county alcoholic beverage election may be held within three years of the certification of the results of a previous election on the same kind of alcoholic beverages in that county. No city alcoholic beverage election may be held within three years of the cer…

If a jurisdiction has lawfully voted in favor of ABC stores or in favor of the sale of some kind of alcoholic beverage, and the jurisdiction would not be eligible to hold another election under the conditions set by G.S. 18B-600, then that jurisdiction may continue to hold electi…

(a) Membership. - A local ABC board shall consist of three or five members appointed for three-year terms unless the board is a board for a merged ABC system under G.S. 18B-703 and a different size membership has been provided for as part of the negotiated merger. If the board is…

(a) Powers. - A local board shall have authority to do all of the following: (1) Buy, sell, transport, and possess alcoholic beverages as necessary for the operation of its ABC stores. In providing delivery of spirituous liquor to a mixed beverages permittee, as required by G.S. …

(a) Generally. - A local board may transact business as a corporate body, except as limited by this section. A local board shall not be considered a public authority under G.S. 159-7(b)(10). (b) Budget Officer. - The general manager of the local board shall be the budget officer …

(a) Conditions for Merger. - Any city governing body or board of county commissioners may merge its ABC system with the system of one or more other cities or counties if: (1) Stores operated by the systems of those jurisdictions serve the same general area or are in close proximi…

(a) Improper Influence. - Neither the Commission nor its individual members shall attempt to coerce any appointing authority to appoint a particular person as a member of a local board or attempt to coerce a local board to employ any particular applicant. (b) Purpose. - This sect…

(a) Local Board Compliance. - The Commission shall establish performance standards pursuant to G.S. 18B-203(a)(20). The Commission shall ensure that all local boards comply with established performance standards by conducting regular or special audits, conducting performance eval…