The state laws governing alcoholic beverages in New Jersey are among the most complex in the United States, with many peculiarities not found in other states' laws. They provide for 29 distinct liquor licenses granted to manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and for the public warehousing and transport of alcoholic drinks. General authority for the statutory and regulatory control of alcoholic drinks rests with the state government, particularly the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control overseen by the state's Attorney General.
Under home rule, New Jersey law grants individual municipalities substantial discretion in passing ordinances regulating the sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks within their limits. The number of retail licenses available is determined by a municipality's population, and may be further limited by the town's governing body. As a result, the availability of alcohol and regulations governing it vary significantly from town to town. A small percentage of municipalities in the state are "dry towns" that do not allow alcoholic drinks to be sold, and do not issue retail licenses for bars or restaurants to serve alcohol to patrons. Other towns permit alcohol sales 24 hours a day. Retail licenses tend to be difficult to obtain, and when available are subject to exorbitant prices and fervent competition.
In addition to granting local governments wide latitude over liquor sales, New Jersey law has some other unusual features. Corporations are limited to two retail distribution licenses, making it impractical for chain stores to sell alcoholic drinks; this restriction, in conjunction with municipal ordinances, severely limits supermarket and convenience store chains from selling beer as they do in many other states. State law treats drunk driving as a traffic offense rather than a crime, and permits individual municipalities to define the scope of underage drinking laws.
History New Jersey's history of taverns and alcohol production dates to its early colonial period. Colonial winemakers received recognition by the Royal Society of Arts for producing high-quality wine,Westrich, Sal. New Jersey Wine: A Remarkable History. (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2012). . and a local distillery owner was asked by George Washington for his recipe for "cyder spirits" (applejack).Harrison, Karen Tina. "Jersey Lightning" in New Jersey Monthly 13 July 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2012. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the industry developed with the influx of European immigrants, specifically Germans and Italians, who presented a sizable market for alcoholic drinks and brought with them old world winemaking, brewing, and distilling techniques.Pellegrino, Michael. Jersey Brew. (Wantage, NJ: Pellegrino & Feldstein, 2009). . With the rise of the temperance movement culminating in Prohibition (1919–1933), New Jersey's alcohol industry suffered; many breweries, wineries, and distilleries either closed or relocated to other states. MacNeil, Karen. The Wine Bible. (New York: Workman Publishing Company, 2001). . The legacy of Prohibition restricted and prevented the industry's recovery until the state legislature began loosening restrictions and repealing Prohibition-era laws starting in 1981. To this day, New Jersey's alcohol industry and regulations are still lagging behind other modern states despite recently enacted laws.
Controlling authority
Statewide statutes and enforcement New Jersey's laws and regulations regarding alcohol are overseen by the Department of Law and Public Safety's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), which is managed by the state's Attorney General. New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. "ABC Frequently Asked Questions." (Question #1: What is The Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control?). Retrieved 26 January 2013. The current director of the Alcohol Beverage Control division is Dave Rible. State and municipal laws, including those that regulate alcoholic drinks, apply in all territorial waters which includes inland rivers, lakes, and bays, and tidal waters up to three nautical miles from the New Jersey shoreline.Marshall, Jonathan F. (Esq.). "Boating While Intoxication (BWI)" (professional website). Retrieved 24 April 2013.
Starting in 1738, towns in New Jersey began issuing liquor licenses to tavern keepers. Before federal Prohibition in 1919, despite many state liquor statutes, the regulation of alcoholic drinks in New Jersey was almost exclusively local, with wide variations among municipalities.Compiled Statutes of New Jersey, Vol. V. (Newark, NJ: Soney and Sage, 1911). 6329–6332, showing hundreds of laws relating to alcoholic drinks passed between 1877 and 1910.Clark Crane Vogel. "The New Jersey State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control" Newark L. Rev., Volume 5, Number 3 (1940). 243–245. In 1933, after the repeal of Prohibition, the states were again permitted to regulate alcoholic drinks. Immediately upon the end of Prohibition in 1933, New Jersey instituted the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law,"Jersey Liquor Act Permits Bar Sale; Bill, Passed by Legislature, Is Expected to Be Signed by Moore on Monday." in The New York Times (30 November 1933). Retrieved 14 February 2013. which established and granted rulemaking powers to the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. "History of the Division." Retrieved 8 February 2013. The law also established a three-tier alcohol distribution system whereby, with minor exceptions, alcohol manufacturers may only sell to wholesalers, who may only sell to retailers, who may only sell to customers.Shannon Mullen. "N.J. lawmakers try to shake up, stir liquor rules" in The Daily Journal (18 April 2011). Retrieved 9 February 2013.
New Jersey's alcohol laws and regulations are codified in Title 33 of the New Jersey Statutes, and Title 13, Chapter 2 of the New Jersey Administrative Code respectively.N.J.S.A. 33 , known as "Intoxicating Liquors."N.J.A.C. 13:2, known as "Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control." After New Jersey's current state constitution was adopted in 1947 and some departments were consolidated, the department was incorporated into the Department of Law and Public Safety under the New Jersey Attorney General's office. The statutes define an alcoholic drink as "any fluid or solid capable of being converted into a fluid, suitable for human consumption, and having an alcohol content of more than one-half of one per centum (1/2 of 1%) by volume, including alcohol, beer, lager beer, ale, porter, naturally fermented wine, treated wine, blended wine, fortified wine, sparkling wine, distilled liquors, blended distilled liquors and any brewed, fermented or distilled liquors fit for use for drink purposes or any mixture of the same, and fruit juices."
Municipal control
New Jersey has a strong tradition of municipal home rule.Karcher, Alan. New Jersey's Multiple Municipal Madness. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1989). . Local municipalities thus have considerable authority in the licensing and regulating of alcohol-related businesses. These powers include: limiting the number of licenses to sell alcoholic beverages at retail (Class C licenses), limiting the hours of retail alcohol sales, prohibiting the retail sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday, regulating the conduct of any retail establishment licensed to sell alcoholic beverages, regulating the nature and condition of the licensed premises limiting persons within the municipality to a single liquor license, limiting a license to cover only the specific licensed premises; and allowing municipalities with populations of 15,000 or more to appoint a municipal alcoholic beverage control board of three persons with terms for three years.
Retail licenses for consumption or distribution are allocated proportionally to a municipality's population. Licenses permitting on-premises retail sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages (i.e. bars and restaurants) are allocated at a ratio of one license for 3,000 residents. Distribution licenses are available at a ratio of one license per 7,500 residents.New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. "ABC Frequently Asked Questions." (Question #13: How many liquor stores and restaurants are allowed in each municipality?). Retrieved 26 January 2013. Small towns with populations less than 1,000 can issue at least one consumption and one distribution license. Given the regulatory latitude allowed municipalities, the actual number of licenses extant in a municipality may more or less depend on a variety of factors, including: whether the municipality's existing licenses were grandfathered by predating the 1948 imposition of statutory limits on the number of retail licenses per town,Goldstein, Howard (liquor license broker). "State of liquor licenses in 2012" (professional website) (3 January 2013). Retrieved 8 February 2013. whether the town has decided to offer fewer licenses, and whether the municipality has decided by ordinance or referendum to become dry, and prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages within its limits. Because the law grants a municipality significant regulatory latitude, 35 of the state's 565 municipalities are currently dry.New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. "New Jersey ABC list of dry towns" (1 May 2013). Conversely, because of the grandfathering of licenses, several municipalities have a substantially higher ratio of licenses. For instance, the resort town of Wildwood has a permanent population of 5,300, but 61 active liquor licenses.Gilfillian, Trudy. "Wildwood considers beach bars among ways to increase revenue" in The Press of Atlantic City (14 February 2012). Retrieved 5 March 2013.
Other authorities Casinos in Atlantic City and federal enclaves (e.g. military bases, national parks) are not under the jurisdiction of either the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control or municipal alcoholic beverage control boards. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and the New Jersey Casino Control Commission are responsible for the regulation of alcoholic beverages at casinos.New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. "Alcoholic Beverage Control Handbook for Retail Licensees." Retrieved 26 February 2013.N.J.A.C. 13:69I, known as "Casino Hotel Alcoholic Beverage Control." Per Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 of the United States Constitution, the federal government may "exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings." While some state laws do apply in federal enclaves, court decisions have exempted military bases and other federal lands from state and local alcohol laws.Collins v. Yosemite Park Co., 304 U.S. 518 (1938).United States v. Mississippi Tax Comm'n, 421 U.S. 599 (1975).
Liquor licenses and permits
New Jersey law provides for 29 distinct liquor licenses divided into the following five classes: Class A for manufacturers, Class B for wholesalers, Class C for retailers, Class D for transportation licenses, and Class E for public warehouses. State law allows the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control to create temporary permits "to provide for contingencies where it would be appropriate and consonant with the spirit of this chapter to issue a license, but the contingency has not been expressly provided for." Special permits are allowed to range in price from $10 to $2000, are limited to 25 days per year for a given premises, and currently there are three types of permits for non-licensees.N.J.A.C. 13:2–5.New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. "Alcoholic Beverage Control Handbook for Municipal Issuing Authorities." Retrieved 26 February 2013. Excluding seasonal licenses and special permits, ABC licenses are issued for one year starting on July 1, and ending on June 30.