South Carolina General Assembly
121st Session, 2015-2016

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A73, R102, S179

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Senators L. Martin and Hembree
Document Path: l:\s-jud\bills\l. martin\jud0037.kw.docx

Introduced in the Senate on January 13, 2015
Introduced in the House on March 17, 2015
Passed by the General Assembly on June 4, 2015
Governor's Action: June 5, 2015, Signed

Summary: Definition of alcoholic liquors

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  12/10/2014  Senate  Prefiled
  12/10/2014  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary
   1/13/2015  Senate  Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 117)
   1/13/2015  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (Senate Journal-page 117)
   1/20/2015  Senate  Referred to Subcommittee: Rankin (ch), Allen, Bennett
   2/11/2015  Senate  Committee report: Favorable Judiciary 
                        (Senate Journal-page 11)
   2/12/2015          Scrivener's error corrected
   3/10/2015  Senate  Debate interrupted (Senate Journal-page 35)
   3/11/2015  Senate  Read second time (Senate Journal-page 23)
   3/11/2015  Senate  Roll call Ayes-37  Nays-4 (Senate Journal-page 23)
   3/12/2015  Senate  Read third time and sent to House (Senate Journal-page 7)
   3/17/2015  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 33)
   3/17/2015  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 33)
    5/6/2015  House   Committee report: Favorable Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 40)
   5/12/2015  House   Requests for debate-Rep(s). Hill, McCoy, Beddingfield, 
                        Wells, Hiott, Toole, GR Smith, Kennedy, Loftis, 
                        Norman, Crosby, Johnson, Yow, Finlay, Gagnon, Thayer, 
                        Willis, Limehouse, White, Cobb-Hunter 
                        (House Journal-page 50)
    6/3/2015  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 164)
    6/3/2015  House   Roll call Yeas-99  Nays-2 (House Journal-page 165)
    6/4/2015  House   Read third time and enrolled (House Journal-page 28)
    6/4/2015          Ratified R 102
    6/5/2015          Signed By Governor
   6/17/2015          Effective date 06/05/15
   6/18/2015          Act No. 73

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

12/10/2014
2/11/2015
2/12/2015
5/6/2015


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

(A73, R102, S179)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 61-6-20, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE DEFINITION OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS, SO AS TO INCLUDE POWDERED OR CRYSTALLINE ALCOHOLS WHEN HYDROLYZED IN THE DEFINITION OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS; AND TO AMEND SECTION 61-6-4157, RELATING TO THE PROHIBITION TO POSSESS, USE, SELL, OR PURCHASE POWDERED ALCOHOL, SO AS TO INCLUDE BOTH POWDERED AND CRYSTALLINE ALCOHOL WHEN HYDROLYZED.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Alcoholic liquors defined, powdered or crystalline alcohol added

SECTION    1.    Section 61-6-20(1) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 61-6-20.    As used in the ABC Act, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(1)(a)    'Alcoholic liquors' or 'alcoholic beverages' means any spirituous malt, vinous, fermented, brewed (whether lager or rice beer), or other liquors or a compound or mixture of them, including, but not limited to, a powdered or crystalline alcohol, by whatever name called or known, which contains alcohol and is used as a beverage for human consumption, but does not include:

(i)        wine when manufactured or made for home consumption and which is not sold by the maker of the wine or by another person; or

(ii)    a beverage declared by statute to be nonalcoholic or nonintoxicating.

(b)    'Alcoholic liquor by the drink' or 'alcoholic beverage by the drink' means a drink poured from a container of alcoholic liquor, without regard to the size of the container for consumption on the premises of a business licensed pursuant to Article 5 of this chapter.

(c)    'Powdered or crystalline alcohol' means a powdered or crystalline product prepared or sold for either direct use or reconstitution for human consumption that contains any amount of alcohol when hydrolyzed."

Prohibition on powdered alcohol, crystalline alcohol added

SECTION    2. Section 61-6-4157 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 253 of 2014, is amended to read:

"Section 61-6-4157.    (A)    As used in this section, 'powdered or crystalline alcohol' is alcohol prepared or sold in a powdered or crystalline form that contains any amount of alcohol when hydrolyzed for either direct use or reconstitution for human consumption.

(B)(1)    It is unlawful for a person to use, offer for use, purchase, offer to purchase, sell, offer to sell, or possess powdered or crystalline alcohol.

(2)    It is unlawful for a holder of a license pursuant to the provisions of this chapter for on-premises or off-premises consumption of alcoholic liquors to use powdered or crystalline alcohol as an alcoholic beverage.

(3)    Any person or license holder that violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be punished as follows:

(a)    for a first offense, by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both;

(b)    for a second offense, by a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both;

(c)    for a third or subsequent offense, by a fine of not more than three thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.

(C)    This section does not apply to the use of powdered or crystalline alcohol for commercial uses specifically approved by state law, or for bona fide research purposes by a:

(1)    health care provider that operates primarily for the purpose of conducting scientific research;

(2)    state institution;

(3)    private college or university; or

(4)    pharmaceutical or biotechnology company."

Time effective

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Ratified the 4th day of June, 2015.

Approved the 5th day of June, 2015.

__________


This web page was last updated on August 12, 2015 at 11:07 AM