CO Code § 44-3-409 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 44 - Revenue - Regulation of Activities|Article 3 - Alcohol Beverages|Part 4 - Classes of Licenses and Permits|§ 44-3-409. Retail Liquor Store License - Rules

      A retail liquor store license shall be issued to persons selling only malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors in sealed containers not to be consumed at the place where sold. Malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors in sealed containers shall not be sold at retail other than in retail liquor stores except as provided in section 44-3-410 or except as allowed under this article 3. (a) (I)A retail liquor store license shall be issued to persons selling only malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors in sealed containers not to be consumed at the place where sold. Malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors in sealed containers shall not be sold at retail other than in retail liquor stores except as provided in section 44-3-410 or except as allowed under this article 3.    On and after July 1, 2016, the state and local licensing authorities shall not issue a new retail liquor store license if the premises for which the retail liquor store license is sought is located:   Within one thousand five hundred feet of another retail liquor store licensed under this section or a liquor-licensed drugstore licensed under section 44-3-410;    For a premises located in a municipality with a population of ten thousand or fewer, within three thousand feet of another retail liquor store licensed under this section or a liquor-licensed drugstore licensed under section 44-3-410; or    For a premises located in a municipality with a population of ten thousand or fewer that is contiguous to the city and county of Denver, within one thousand five hundred feet of another retail liquor store licensed under this section or a liquor-licensed drugstore licensed under section 44-3-410.          In addition, retail liquor stores may sell any nonalcohol products, but only if the annual gross revenues from the sale of nonalcohol products do not exceed twenty percent of the retail liquor store's total annual gross sales revenues. For purposes of calculating the annual gross revenues from the sale of nonalcohol products, sales revenues from the following products are excluded:   Lottery products;    Cigarettes, tobacco products, and nicotine products, as defined in section 18-13-121 (5);    Ice, soft drinks, and mixers; and    Nonfood items related to the consumption of malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors.       Nothing in this section or in section 44-3-103 (48) prohibits a licensed retail liquor store from:   Selling items on behalf of or to benefit a charitable organization, as defined in section 39-26-102, or a nonprofit corporation subject to the “Colorado Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act”, articles 121 to 137 of title 7, and determined to be exempt from federal income tax by the federal internal revenue service, if the retail liquor store does not receive compensation for the sale;    At the option of the licensee, displaying promotional material furnished by a manufacturer or wholesaler, which material permits a customer to purchase other items from a third person, so long as the retail liquor store licensee does not receive payment from the third person and the customer orders the additional merchandise directly from the third person; or    Allowing tastings to be conducted on the licensed premises if the licensee has received authorization to conduct tastings pursuant to section 44-3-301.            A person licensed under this section to sell malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors in a retail liquor store:   Shall purchase the malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors only from a wholesaler licensed pursuant to this article 3; and    (A) Shall not sell malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors to consumers at a price that is below the retail liquor store's cost, as listed on the invoice, to purchase the malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors, unless the sale is of discontinued or close-out malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors.       A person licensed under this section that obtains additional retail liquor store licenses in accordance with subsection (4)(b)(III) of this section may operate under a single or consolidated corporate entity but shall not commingle purchases of or credit extensions for purchases of malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors from a wholesaler licensed under this article 3 for more than one licensed premises. A wholesaler licensed under this article 3 shall not base the price for the malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors it sells to a retail liquor store licensed under this section on the total volume of malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors that the licensee purchases for multiple licensed premises.         A person licensed to sell at retail who complies with this subsection (3) and rules promulgated pursuant to this subsection (3) may deliver malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors to a person of legal age if:   The person receiving the delivery of malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors is located at a place that is not licensed pursuant to this section;    The delivery is made by an employee of the licensed retail liquor store who is at least twenty-one years of age and who is using a vehicle owned or leased by the licensee to make the delivery;    The person making the delivery verifies, in accordance with section 44-3-901 (11), that the person receiving the delivery of malt, vinous, or spirituous liquors is at least twenty-one years of age; and    The retail liquor store derives no more than fifty percent of its gross annual revenues from total sales of malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors from the sale of malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors that the retail liquor store delivers.       The state licensing authority shall promulgate rules as necessary for the proper delivery of malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors and is authorized to issue a permit to any person who is licensed under this section to sell at retail and delivers the liquors pursuant to this subsection (3). A permit issued under this subsection (3) is subject to the same suspension and revocation provisions as are set forth in section 44-3-601 for other licenses granted pursuant to this article 3.         Except as provided in subsection (4)(b) of this section, it is unlawful for any owner, part owner, shareholder, or person interested directly or indirectly in a retail liquor store to conduct, own either in whole or in part, or be directly or indirectly interested in any other business licensed pursuant to this article 3.    An owner, part owner, shareholder, or person interested directly or indirectly in a retail liquor store may have an interest in:   An arts license granted under this article 3;    An airline public transportation system license granted under this article 3;    For a retail liquor store licensed on or before January 1, 2016, and whose license holder is a Colorado resident, additional retail liquor store licenses as follows, but only if the premises for which a license is sought satisfies the distance requirements specified in subsection (1)(a)(II) of this section:   On or after January 1, 2017, and before January 1, 2022, one additional retail liquor store license, for a maximum of up to two total retail liquor store licenses;    On or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2027, up to two additional retail liquor store licenses, for a maximum of three total retail liquor store licenses; and    On or after January 1, 2027, up to three additional retail liquor store licenses, for a maximum of four total retail liquor store licenses; or       A financial institution referred to in section 44-3-308 (4).          A liquor-licensed drugstore may apply to the state and local licensing authorities, as part of a single application, for a merger and conversion of retail liquor store licenses to a single liquor-licensed drugstore license as provided in section 44-3-410 (1)(b).     History. Source: L. 2018: (1)(a)(I) amended,(SB 18-067), ch. 4, p. 31, § 2, effective March 1; (1)(a)(II) amended,(SB 18-243), ch. 366, p. 2201, § 8, effective June 4; entire article added with relocations,(HB 18-1025), ch. 152, p. 1005, § 2, effective October 1; (2) and (3) amended,(SB 18-243), ch. 366, p. 2201, § 8, effective January 1, 2019.    Editor's note:    This section is similar to former § 12-47-407 as it existed prior to 2018.      Subsection (1)(a)(I) of this section was numbered as § 12-47-407 (1)(a)(I) in SB 18-067. That provision was harmonized with and relocated to this section as this section appears in HB 18-1025. (2) (a) Subsection (1)(a)(I) of this section was numbered as § 12-47-407 (1)(a)(I) in SB 18-067. That provision was harmonized with and relocated to this section as this section appears in HB 18-1025.    Subsection (1)(a)(II) of this section was numbered as § 12-47-407 (1)(a)(II) in SB 18-243. That provision was harmonized with and relocated to this section as this section appears in HB 18-1025.    Subsections (2) and (3) of this section were numbered as § 12-47-407 (2) and (3), respectively, in SB 18-243. Those provisions were harmonized with and relocated to this section as this section appears in HB 18-1025, effective January 1, 2019.        Cross references:   For the legislative declaration in SB 18-243, see section 1 of chapter 366, Session Laws of Colorado 2018.   ANNOTATION   Law reviews. For article, “The Colorado Liquor Code: Distinct and Definite Requirements”, see 17 Colo. Law. 841 (1988).   Annotator's note. The following annotations include cases decided under former provisions similar to this section.   The state has decided that the sale of liquor should be regulated rather than prohibited. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. Johnson, 170 Colo. 259 , 460 P.2d 770 (1969).   In the regulatory scheme, limited discretion has been delegated to the board to determine the neighborhood requirements and the inhabitants' desires on the basis of competent facts relevant to each application. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. Johnson, 170 Colo. 259 , 460 P.2d 770 (1969).   Applied in In re Title Pertaining to Sale of Table Wine in Grocery Stores, 646 P.2d 916 (Colo. 1982).