December 21, 1971 

Hon. 0. N. Humphreys, Jr. Opinion No. M-1015 

Administrator, Texas Alcoholic 

Beverage Commission Re: Whether a private 

P. 0. Box 13127, Capitol Station club permittee loAustin, Texas 78711 cated in a dry area, 

which private club 

also holds a beverage 

cartage permit, may 

purchase beer from a 

beer distributor of 

the type provided for 

in Article 667-3, (b), 

(c), and (d), V.P.C., 

at the premises of 

such distributor and 

transport such beer to 

Dear Mr. Humphreys: its own premises. 

your opinion request dated August 27, 1971, has been 

received and considered by this department. We quote from your 

letter as follows: 

"May the holder of a Private Club 

istration Permit issued for a premises 

cated in a dry area, who also holds a 

Beverage Cartage Permit, purchase beer from 

a beer distributor of the type provided for 

in Article 667-3, (b), (c), and (d), V.P.C., 

at the premises of such distributor and 

transport such beer to its own premises." 

RegloWe conclude that the question must be answered in the 

affirmative. 

Several portions of the Texas Liquor Control Act must 

be considered. The one which,has.given us the most concern was 

enacted by the last.Texas Legislature (Acts 62nd Leg., R.S., 1971, 

Ch. 65, p. 681, Sec. 15, at p. 692-3, codified by Vernon as 

Article 666-20(e), V-.P.C.).* 

*All Articles mentioned are from Vernon's Penal Code. 

-4949- 
. . 

Hon. 0. N. Humphreys, page 2., (M-1015) 

"All distilled spirits sold by a Mixed 

Beverage Permittee or a Private Club Permittee 

mu-t be purchased in this State:from a holder 

of a Local Distributor's Permit. ,;No local 

distributor-may sell distilled spirits to a 

Mixed Beverage Permittee or a Private Club 

Permittee in individual containers containing 

less than one fluid ounce. No local distributors may deliver less than two and fourtenths gallons of distilled spirits in a single shipment. 

"The Commission or Administrator is 

authorized to issue Local Distributor's Permits only to holders of Package Store Permits 

issued under the terms of Section 15(8) of 

Article I of the Texas Liquor Control Act. 

A Local Distributor's Permit shall authorize 

the holder thereof to purchase distilled spirits or liquor from holders of Wholesaler's 

Permits issued under the terms of Section 15(6) 

of Article I of the Texas Liquor Control Act 

only, and to sell and distribute to Mixed 

Beverage Permittees or Private Club Permittees 

such brands of distilled spirits, liquor, and 

other alcoholic beverages as are for general 

distribution and'are available from the wholesaler to all local distributors. The fee for 

a Local Distributor's Permit shall be in the 

amount of Fifty Dollars ($50) and shall be 

paid in addition to, and under the same conditions as, the fee paid for the holder's Package Store Permit. Any holder or any agent of 

a holder of a Wholesaler's Permit issued under 

the terms of Section 15(6) of this Article I 

may enter the licensed premises of a Mixed 

Beverage Permittee or a Private Club Permittee 

for the purpose of determining the brands 

offered for sale and suggesting or promoting 

to the extent authorized'by Section 17 (3)(g) 

of~this Article I, the sale of other brands; 

provided, however, that no holder and no agent 

of a holder of a Section 15(6) Wholesaler's 

Permit shall be authorized to accept a direct 

order from a Mixed Beverage Permittee other 

than a direct order for wine or malt liquor. 

-4950- 
. . 

Hon. 0. N. Humphreys, page 3. (M-1015) 

“No holder of a Nonresident Seller’s 

Permit or a Manufacturer’s Agent’s Permit 

issued under Section 15-l/2 of this Article 

I, shall, unless accompanied by the holder 

or the agent of a holder of a Wholesaler’s 

Permit, solicit any business, directly or 

indir~ectly, from a Mixed Beverage Permittee 

or a Private Club Permittee. 

“Where a Mixed Beverage Permittee or 

a Private Club Permittee is in an area where 

there are no local distributors, the holder 

of a Mixed Beverage Permit or a Private Club 

Permit shall be empowered to purchase alcoholic beverages in the nearest area where 

local distributors are located and transport 

same to the premises of the Mixed Beverage 

Permittee or Club; provided the permittee 

transporting such alcoholic beverages is also 

a holder of a Beverage Cartage ~Permit, and 

provide? that such transporter shall~ acquire 

such alcoholic beverages only on the written 

order from the holder of a Mixed Beverage Permit or officer or manager of the Club and any 

such alcoholic beverages must be accompanied 

by a written statement furnished and signed 

by a local distri.butor, showing the name and 

address of the consignee and consignor, the 

origin and destination of such shipment, and 

such other i,nformation as may be required, by 

the Commission or Administrator; and it shall 

be the duty of the person in charge of such 

alcoholic beverages while they are being so 

transported to exhibit such written statement to any representative of the Commission 

or any peace officer making demand therefor, 

and such statement shall be accepted by such 

representative or offi.cer as prima facie evidence of the lawful ri,ght to transport such 

alcohol,ic beverages 0 

“The Commission is hereby authorized to 

issue a Beverage Cartage Permit to the holder 

of a Mixed Beverage Permi.t or a Private Club 

Permit to transport alcoholic beverages tr the 

licensed premise from the place of purchase. 

-4951- 
Hon. 0. N. Humphreys, page 4. (M-1015) 

The holder of a Beveraee Cartage Permit shall 

be privileged to transfer alcoholic beverages 

as herein provided. The annual State fee for 

a Beverage Cartage Permit shall be Ten Dollars 

($10) .I’ 

The Local Distributor’s Permit is new to the Texas 

Liquor ,Control Ac,t and appears for the first time in the Section 

above quoted adopted by the 62nd Legislature. This permit may 

issue only to Package Store Permit holders as authorized by 

Article 666-15(8), which reads as follows: 

“Package Store Permit. A Package Store 

Permit shall authorize the holder thereof to: 

(a). Purchase liquor from,the holders 

in this State of Class A Winery, Class B Winery, 

Wholesaler’s, Class B Wholesaler’s and Wine 

Bottler’s Permits; 

(“1. Sell liquor on or from licensed 

premises at retail to consumer for off-premises 

consumption only and not for the purpose of 

resale, in unbroken original conta?ners only; 

Cd). Sell malt and vinous liquors in 

“orIgina containers of note less than six (6) 

ounces; 

Cd)- Sell vinous liquors, but in quarjtities of not more than five. (5) gallons ,inoriginal containers in any single transaction. 

‘(e) - ,Any person holding more than one 

Package Store Permit may designate one of the 

licensed premises as the place for storage of 

liquor, and he shall be privileged to transfer 

liquor to and from such stora.ge’to and from 

his other licensed premises under such rules 

and regulations as may be prescribed by the 

Commission. 

“The annual State fee for 3 Package Store 

Permit in cities and towns shall be based upon 

the population according to the last preceding 

Federal Census as follows: 

=F=- 

Fee 

25;o 0 or less . . . . $125.00 

25,001 to 75,000 . . . 175.00 

75,001 or more . . . . 250.00 

-4952- 
. 

Hon. 0. N. Humphreys, page 5. (M-1015) 

"The annual State fee for a Package Store 

Permit outside of cities and towns shall be 

One Hundred and Twenty-five Dollars ($125), 

except the annual State fee for a Package Store 

Permit outside of any incorporated city or town 

and within two (2) miles of the corporate limits 

shall be the same as the fee required in said 

incorporated city or town." 

It will be noted that the foregoing quoted portion of 

the statute does not authorize the sale of beer at retail for offpremise consumption. For a Packa-ge Store Permit holder to be 

legally authorized to sell beer, he must also have a Retail Dealer's 

Off-Premise License. Article 667-3(f) provides as follows: 

"Retail Dealer's Off-Premise License. 

A Retail Dealer's Off-Premise License shall 

authorize the holder thereof to sell beer in 

a lawfIll container direct to the consumer, 

but not for resale and not to be opened or 

consumed on or near the premise where sold. 

Annual State fee for a Retail Dealer's OffPremise License shall be Ten Dollars ($lO).' 

A General Distributor's License, a Local Distributor's 

License and a Branch Distributor's License are defined in the following subsections of Article 667-3: 

"(b) General Distributor's License. 

A general distributor's license shall authorize 

the holder thereof to distribute or to sell 

beer to other general distributors, branch distributors, loca'l distributors, retail dealers, 

ultimate consumers and others only in the unbroken original packages in which it is received by him from the manufacturer, general 

distributor, local distributor, or branch distributor and to serve free beer for consumption 

or the licensed prenises. Annual state fee for 

a general distributcr's license shall be Two 

Hundred Dollars ($200,00). 

"(c) Local Distributor's License, A 

local distributor's license shall authorize 

the holder thereof to serve free beer for 

consumption on the licensed premises, and to 

sell and distribute beer to retail dealers 

and ultimate consumers in the county of his 

-4953- 
. 

Hon. 0. N. Humphreys, page 6. (M-1015) 

residence only in the unbroken original 

packages in which it is received by him 

from the manufacturer, general distributor, 

branch distributor, or another local distributor, and to sell and deliver beer to any 

other distributors licensed in this state 

to sell beer. Annual state fee for a local 

distributor’s license shall be Fifty Dollars 

($50.00). 

“(d) B ranch Distributor’s License. 

The holder of a Manufacturer’s or General 

Distributor’s License after obtaining the 

primary license in the county of his domicile or residence, may establish other 

places of business in any county wherein 

the sale of beer is legal for the distribution of beer upon obtaining a Branch Distributor’s License for each such place of 

business as herein provided, and such Branch 

Distributor may serve free beer for consumption on the licensed premises. . . .’ 

The word “beer” is nowhere used in .Article 666-20(e). 

The first paragraph of this Section 20(e) requires that all distilled spirits sold by a Private Club permittee must be purchased 

from the holder of a Local Distributor’s Permit. There are no 

other words of command or prohibition with regard to the purchase 

of alcoholic beverages throughout the remainder of this Section. 

The language in its fourth paragraph which may tend to contain 

words of command or prohibition are as follows: 

“Where a Mixed Beverage Permittee or a 

Private Club Permittee is in an area where 

there are no local distributors, the holder 

of a Mixed Beverage Permit or a Private Club 

Permit shall be empoweredto purchase alcoholic beverages in the nearest ‘area where 

~local distributors are located. . .‘I 

The question in the instant request relates ,only ,to 

private. clubs operating in a county in which a portion thereof 

is at least wet for the sale of beer. In counties that are comgletely dry private clubs must operate under what is known as the 

Locker System , a system which requires that each individual member purchase his own liquor and beer and transport it to the club 

-4954- 
‘ . 

Hon. 0. N. Humphreys, page 7. (M-1015) 

for storage in an individual locker provided by the club. The 

“Locker System” and “Pool System” are defined in Article 666-15(e), 

Section 1 as follows: 

” ‘Locker System’ shall mean that system 

of alcoholic beverages storage whereby the club 

rents to its members lockers wherein the member 

may store alcoholic beverages for consumption by 

himself or his guests. All such alcoholic beverages so stored under the ‘locker system’ shall 

be purchased and owned by the member as an individual. 

” ‘Pool System’ shall mean that system of 

liquor storage where all members of the pool 

participate ~equally in the purchase of all alcoholic beverages and the replacement of all alcoholic beverages is paid for by moneys assessed 

and collected in advance from each member equally. 

Such pool system shall be legal only in an area 

which has been voted ‘wet’ for alcoholic beverages 

by the majority of voters at an election held 

under local opt ion .” 

* * * * Y * 

“(c-2) Notwithstanding any other provision of 

this Section 15 me), the pool system shall be legal for any private club operating in any county 

where the sale of any alcoholic beverage has been 

legalized, either throughout the entire county 

or any portion of such county.” 

From the fore&oing definitions it can be seen that, in 

the case of a private club operating under the “Locker System” it 

is not permissible to have the beer and li uor transported to the 

club by an agent of the members. Arti,cle :66-4(b) prohibits the 

transportat io. of liquor or beer in a dry area except by a person 

who has purchased the same for his own consumption at a place where 

the sale thereof was legal and transported the same to a place where 

the possession thereof was legal. 

While the language of Article 666-20(f) leaves a great 

deal to be desired in clarity of expression, there is no indication that the Legislature intended to restrict the sources of 

purchase of beer by private club permittees. If such an intention 

-4955- 
Hon. 0. N. Humphreys, page 8. (M-1015) 

had been desired, the first three words of Article 666-20(e) could 

just as easily have been changed to read "all alcoholic beverages". 

Such language would then clearly have indicated that the Legislature intended that such private club permittees purchase theirs beer 

from holders of a "Local Distributor's Permit". Since the Legislature did not impose any such restriction in this new statute and 

since the Legislature d.id not change the authority of 'a holder oft, 

a General Distributor~ls License, a Local Distributor's License or 

a Branch Distributor's License defined in Article 667-3 it can only 

be concluded that the Legislature did not intend to limit the sources 

of supply for beer as they did with distilled spirits. The Language~ of the fourth paragraph of Article 666-20(e), then, can only 

be viewed as dealing with transportation and not with the sources 

of supply for the purchase of beer. 

SUMMARY ------- 

A Private Club Permittee operating under 

the ~"Pool System "in a dry area may purchase 

beer from the holder of a General Distributor's 

License, Local Distributor's License, or Branch 

Distributor'sLicense at the place of business 

of such distributor and transport the same to the 

private club provided (1) that such,club is the 

holder of a Beverage Cartage Permit, (2) that 

such beer is acquired only on the written order 

of an officer or manager of the club, and (3) 

that during the transportation thereof such beer 

is accompanied by a written statement furnished 

and signed by the selling such beer. 

6 very truly, 

PPrepared by Max P. Flusche, Jr. 

Assistant Attorney General 

eneral of Texas 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Kerns, Taylor, Chairman 

W. E. Allen, Co-Chairman 

-4956- 
Hon. 0. N. Humphreys, page g0 (M-1015) 

Larry Craddock 

Howard Fender 

S. J. Aronson 

James Mabry 

SAM MCDANIEL 

Staff Legal Assistant 

ALFRED WALKER 

Executive Assistant 

NOLA WHITE 

First Assfstant 

-4957-