Title 35, ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Any person required to file returns or reports under this chapter, who fails to file a return or report or pay the tax when due is subject to interest and penalty at the rates set forth in § 10-59-6 . However, for a reasonable cause shown, the secretary may reduce or eliminate th…

There is hereby levied an alcohol excise tax on all alcoholic beverages manufactured, purchased, received, or imported in this state. A manufacturer shall pay the alcohol excise tax on all alcoholic beverages manufactured and sold directly to a retailer or consumer. A wholesaler …

Any licensee liable for the payment of the taxes shall keep, in current and available form on the licensed premises, records of all purchases, sales, quantities on hand, and any other information the secretary may prescribe by rule promulgated pursuant to chapter 1-26 . The secre…

Any person outside the state who sells or ships alcoholic beverages to a manufacturer or wholesaler within this state shall provide the secretary a report as the secretary may require, giving the name and address of the licensee or person making the purchase, the quantity and kin…

Twenty-five percent of all of the revenues deposited in the alcoholic beverage fund shall revert to the municipalities. Each municipality's share of the fund shall be determined by the ratio of the population of each municipality to the total population of all the municipalities …

For the purposes of § 35-5-22 , municipalities include: (1) Any municipality as defined in subdivision 9-1-1(6); (2) Any unincorporated town in which a retail licensee is authorized to operate; or (3) Open mess facilities authorized by federal laws at defense installations. Thirt…

Twenty-five percent of all of the revenues deposited in the alcoholic beverage fund shall revert to the counties. Twenty-five percent of the alcoholic beverage fund distributed to counties shall be divided equally by all counties. The remaining seventy-five percent shall be alloc…

In the case of an unincorporated town within an organized township, reversion of its share of the fund under § 35-5-22 shall be made to the treasurer of such township who shall deposit the amount so received in the township general fund. In the case of such an unincorporated town…

The population of any unincorporated town in an organized or unorganized township shall include the entire population of the organized or unorganized township. The population of the unincorporated town in an unorganized township shall be furnished to the secretary by the county a…

After the amount of funds necessary to provide for the reversions to municipalities and counties in §§ 35-5-22 and 35-5-22.2 is determined, the remaining funds may be transferred to the general fund. Source: SDC 1939, § 5.0241; SL 1941, ch 9 ; SL 1945, ch 25 ; SL 1951, ch 8 ; SL …

The alcohol excise tax based on the quantities of different kinds of alcoholic beverages is: (1) Malt beverages, eight dollars and fifty cents per barrel of thirty-one gallons, or a pro rata portion thereof in accordance with the size of the bulk container; (2) All light wines an…

The following alcoholic beverages sold by licensees are exempt from the taxes levied by this chapter: (1) Sacramental wines; or (2) Alcoholic beverages sold by manufacturer licensees for transportation in interstate commerce outside the state, or, to wholesale licensees under thi…

In addition to the alcohol excise tax imposed by § 35-5-3 , a tax of two percent of the purchase price is imposed upon the purchases of alcoholic beverages, except malt beverages, by a wholesaler from a manufacturer or supplier. The tax shall be paid monthly and shall be administ…

Any licensee liable for the payment of the taxes levied under this chapter may be required by the secretary to file with the secretary a bond or bonds, in an amount and form prescribed by the secretary, with corporate surety satisfactory to the secretary. The amount of the bond m…

The surety may cancel the bond required by § 35-5-7 as to future liability by giving thirty days' written notice to the department and the licensee. Unless the licensee gives other sufficient security by the end of the thirty-day period, the licensee's license shall be revoked. S…

The Legislature declares that: (1) Regulation of business relations between beer distributors and manufacturers is necessary and appropriate and in the public interest; and (2) This chapter is enacted pursuant to authority of the state under the provisions of the Twenty-First Ame…

A wholesaler may, at death, transfer the wholesaler's business to a designated member. The consent or approval of the supplier is not required for any transfer of the wholesaler's business at death, including the assignment of wholesaler's rights under the agreement, to a designa…

A successor to a supplier or wholesaler is bound by each distribution agreement the predecessor was a party to at the time of transfer with respect to each brand the successor continues to make available for sale in this state. Source: SL 1990, ch 300 , § 11.

Any waiver of the rights or remedies granted by this chapter is void. However, nothing in this chapter limits or prohibits suppliers and wholesalers from entering into mutually binding written agreements as defined in this chapter or to limit or prohibit good faith dispute settle…

No supplier may require a wholesaler to assent to any amendment to a distribution agreement which is either unreasonable or not made in good faith. Source: SL 1990, ch 300 , § 13.

Each supplier of malt beverages licensed by the state authorizing any licensee to sell its malt beverages shall sell its malt beverages through wholesale licensees of the state to retail licensees authorized under state statute, shall designate exclusive sales territories for eve…

The provisions of this chapter shall cover agreements in existence on July 1, 1990, as well as agreements entered into after July 1, 1990. Any written agreement continuous in nature or which has no specific duration or renewal provision which is in existence on July 1, 1990, shal…

For purposes of this chapter, the term, brand, means any word, name, group of letters, symbol, or combination thereof, that is adopted and used by a brewer or importer to identify a specific beer product, and to distinguish that beer product from another beer product. Source: SL …

For purposes of this chapter, the term, brand extension, means any brand that incorporates all or a substantial part of the unique features of a preexisting brand of the same brewer or importer and that relies to a significant extent on the goodwill associated with that preexisti…

Any brewer or importer, who assigns a brand extension to a wholesaler, shall assign the brand extension to the wholesaler to whom the brewer or importer granted the exclusive sales territory for the brand from which the brand extension resulted. This requirement does not apply to…

If prior to July 1, 1999, a brewer or importer assigned a brand extension to a wholesaler who was not the appointed wholesaler for the brand from which the brand extension was made, then any additional brand extension shall be assigned to the wholesaler who first had the brand. S…

Terms used in this chapter mean: (1) "Agreement," any commercial relationship between a wholesaler and a supplier of a definite duration or indefinite duration, whether written or oral, whereby the wholesaler is granted by the supplier the right to offer and sell the supplier's b…

The 1999 amendments to §§ 35-8A-9 and 35-8A-12 and §§ 35-8A-16 to 35-8A-19 , inclusive, apply to any agreement in existence as of July 1, 1999, as well as any agreement entered into after July 1, 1999. Any written agreement in existence on July 1, 1999, which is continuous in nat…

Any supplier and any wholesaler may contract with one another to establish the terms and conditions of their distribution arrangement. If any supplier and any wholesaler have entered into a mutually binding written agreement, the provisions of this chapter do not apply and the re…

No supplier may: (1) Induce or coerce, or attempt to induce or coerce, a wholesaler to do any illegal act by threatening to amend, cancel, terminate, or refuse to renew any agreement existing between the supplier and wholesaler, or by any other means; (2) Require a wholesaler by …

Except as provided in § 35-8A-6 , no supplier may terminate an agreement, cancel an agreement, fail to renew an agreement upon expiration of its terms, refuse to continue under an agreement, or require a material modification of a wholesaler's territory unless good cause exists. …

Upon providing the wholesaler notice by certified mail, a supplier may immediately terminate an agreement, cancel an agreement, fail to renew an agreement upon expiration of its term, or refuse to continue under an agreement if any of the following has occurred: (1) The state or …

Any brewer who amends, cancels, terminates, or refuses to continue or renew any beer agreement, or causes a wholesaler to resign, unless for good cause shown as defined in § 35-8A-5 , from an agreement or unreasonably withholds consent to any assignment, transfer, or sale of a wh…

If the brewery assumes ownership of the wholesaler's business upon payment of full value to the wholesaler or upon repossession under a loan from the brewer to the wholesaler, the brewery may operate the wholesalership for only a reasonable period of time thereafter, not to excee…

Any party to a distribution agreement aggrieved by a violation of any provision of this chapter may seek injunctive relief enjoining the violation and recovery of damages caused by the violation. The prevailing party to any action charging a violation of this chapter is entitled …

It is a Class 1 misdemeanor to sell or give for use as a beverage any alcoholic beverage to any person under the age of eighteen years unless: (1) It is done in the immediate presence of a parent or guardian or spouse, who is at least twenty-one years of age, while not on the pre…

It is a Class 2 misdemeanor to sell or give for use as a beverage any alcoholic beverage to any person who is eighteen years of age or older but less than twenty-one years of age unless it is done in the immediate presence of a parent or guardian or spouse over twenty-one years o…

Any person charged with a violation of § 35-9-1 , 35-9-1.1 , or 35-12B-7 , may offer evidence, as a defense, that the person made a reasonable attempt to investigate the age of the person by examining an age-bearing identification document that would have appeared valid to a reas…

No person may be convicted of illegally selling any alcoholic beverage to any underage person pursuant to § 35-9-1 or 35-9-1.1 , if the underage person was in possession of, and the seller relied upon, any false age - bearing identification document that was furnished to the unde…

No criminal penalty may be imposed on a licensee licensed pursuant to this title if: (1) The person making the sale in violation of § 35-9-1 or 35-9-1.1 is an employee or agent of the licensee; (2) The employee or agent does not own a controlling interest in the licensee; and (3)…

If a sale is in violation of § 35-9-1 or 35-9-1.1 and does not constitute a criminal offense against the licensee, the state's attorney for the county in which the sale took place may as part of any proceeding against the person making the sale request that the court require the …

Upon a request from the state's attorney and notice to the licensee, the court shall conduct a hearing to determine if the licensee is liable under §§ 35-9-1.4 to 35-9-1.6 , inclusive, and upon a finding that the licensee is liable, the court may order the licensee to pay a fine …

No person, acting as a social host, may, knowingly, permit any person aged eighteen, nineteen, or twenty to illegally consume any alcoholic beverage, regardless of the source of the alcoholic beverage, on or at the premises of the person acting as social host. Any violation of th…

It is a defense against a conviction for a violation of §§ 35-9-9 and 35-9-10 that, immediately upon learning of the illegal consumption, the social host or an agent of the social host took effective and appropriate action to stop the illegal consumption and to secure or to attem…

It is not a defense of a violation of §§ 35-9-9 and 35-9-10 that the social host was not physically present on or at the premises if the social host knew that illegal consumption of alcoholic beverages would occur in his or her absence. Source: SL 2014, ch 177 , § 4.

For purposes of §§ 35-9-9 to 35-9-12 , inclusive, the term, social host, means anyone who hosts a social gathering and knowingly condones the illegal consumption of alcohol by underage persons on property that the host controls. Source: SL 2014, ch 177 , § 5.