125.17 Issuance of operators' licenses.
125.18 Issuance of managers' licenses.
125.185 Provisional retail licenses.
125.19 Alcohol beverage warehouse permit.
SUBCHAPTER II
FERMENTED MALT BEVERAGES
125.25 Class "A" licenses.
125.26 Class "B" licenses.
125.27 Class "B" permits.
125.272 Face-to-face retail sales.
125.275 Industrial fermented malt beverages permit.
125.28 Wholesalers' licenses.
125.30 Out-of-state shippers' permits; delivery to wholesalers.
125.31 Multiple licenses and permits; brewers.
125.315 Evading provisions of law by giving away fermented malt beverages.
125.32 General restrictions and requirements.
125.33 Restrictions on dealings between brewers, brewpubs, wholesalers, and retailers.
125.34 Distribution restrictions on wholesalers, brewers, brewpubs, and out-of-state shippers.
SUBCHAPTER III
INTOXICATING LIQUOR
125.51 Retail licenses and permits.
125.52 Manufacturers' and rectifiers' permits.
125.535 Direct wine shippers' permits.
125.54 Wholesalers' permits.
125.545 Small winery cooperative wholesalers.
125.55 Combination permits.
125.58 Out-of-state shippers' permit; exception to requirement.
125.60 Wholesale alcohol permit.
125.61 Medicinal alcohol permit.
125.62 Industrial alcohol permit.
125.63 Industrial wine permit.
125.65 Permit to solicit for future sales.
125.66 Sale without license; failure to obtain permit; penalties.
125.67 Evading provisions of law by giving away intoxicating liquor; penalties.
125.68 General restrictions and requirements.
125.69 Restrictions on dealings between manufacturers, rectifiers, wholesalers and retailers.
125.70 Trade show samples.
Ch. 125 Note
NOTE: Chapter 79, laws of 1981, which created this chapter of the statutes, contains extensive notes explaining the revisions. See the 1981 Session Laws.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
125.01
125.01
Legislative intent. This chapter shall be construed as an enactment of the legislature's support for the 3-tier system for alcohol beverages production, distribution, and sale that, through uniform statewide regulation, provides this state regulatory authority over the production, storage, distribution, transportation, sale, and consumption of alcohol beverages by and to its citizens, for the benefit of the public health and welfare and this state's economic stability. Without the 3-tier system, the effective statewide regulation and collection of state taxes on alcohol beverages sales would be seriously jeopardized. It is further the intent of the legislature that without a specific statutory exception, all sales of alcohol beverages shall occur through the 3-tier system, from manufacturers to licensed wholesalers to retailers to consumers. Face-to-face retail sales at licensed premises directly advance the state's interest in preventing alcohol sales to underage or intoxicated persons and the state's interest in efficient and effective collection of tax.
125.01 Annotation
State liquor laws, including licensing requirements, are applicable to liquor establishments owned or operated by either tribe members or non-Indians, and located on Indian reservations. Any license issued counts toward the local quota.
75 Atty. Gen. 123.
125.01 Annotation
Indian tribes are within the coverage of this chapter; any license issued to a tribe counts toward the local quota.
76 Atty. Gen. 80.
125.015
125.015
Severability. If any provision or clause of this chapter or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this chapter that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are severable.
125.015 History
History: 2007 a. 20.
125.015 Annotation
Interpreting s. 990.001 (11), an unconstitutional clause was found severable. Wisconsin Wine & Spirit Institute v. Ley,
141 Wis. 2d 958,
416 N.W.2d 914 (Ct. App. 1987).
125.02
125.02
Definitions. Except as otherwise provided, in this chapter:
125.02(1)
(1) "Alcohol beverages" means fermented malt beverages and intoxicating liquor.
125.02(2)
(2) "Brewer" means any person who manufactures fermented malt beverages for sale or transportation, except that "brewer" does not include a permittee under
s. 125.295.
125.02(2d)
(2d) "Brewer group" means a brewer, including all premises for which the brewer holds a permit issued under
s. 125.29, together with all of the following:
125.02(2d)(a)
(a) All brewers that share membership with the brewer in a controlled group of brewers, as determined under
26 USC 5051 (a) (2) (B).
125.02(2p)
(2p) "Brewpub group" means a brewpub, including all premises for which the brewpub holds a permit issued under
s. 125.295, together with all of the following:
125.02(2p)(a)
(a) All brewpubs that share membership with the brewpub in a controlled group of brewpubs, as determined under
26 USC 5051 (a) (2) (B).
125.02(2t)
(2t) "Brewpub premises" means any premises covered by a permit issued under
s. 125.295.
125.02(3)
(3) "Brewery premises" means all land and buildings used in the manufacture or sale of fermented malt beverages at a brewer's principal place of business.
125.02(3r)
(3r) "Caterer" means any person holding a restaurant permit under
s. 254.64 who is in the business of preparing food and transporting it for consumption on premises where gatherings, meetings, or events are held, if the sale of food at each gathering, meeting, or event accounts for greater than 50 percent of the gross receipts of all of the food and beverages served at the gathering, meeting, or event.
125.02(4)
(4) "Club" means an organization, whether incorporated or not, which is the owner, lessee or occupant of a building or portion thereof used exclusively for club purposes, which is operated solely for a recreational, fraternal, social, patriotic, political, benevolent or athletic purpose but not for pecuniary gain and which only sells alcohol beverages incidental to its operation.
125.02(5)
(5) "Department" means the department of revenue.
125.02(6)
(6) "Fermented malt beverages" means any beverage made by the alcohol fermentation of an infusion in potable water of barley malt and hops, with or without unmalted grains or decorticated and degerminated grains or sugar containing 0.5% or more of alcohol by volume.
125.02(7)
(7) "Hotel" means a hotel, as defined in
s. 254.61 (3), that is provided with a restaurant.
125.02(8)
(8) "Intoxicating liquor" means all ardent, spirituous, distilled or vinous liquors, liquids or compounds, whether medicated, proprietary, patented or not, and by whatever name called, containing 0.5% or more of alcohol by volume, which are beverages, but does not include "fermented malt beverages".
125.02(8m)
(8m) "Legal drinking age" means 21 years of age.
125.02(9)
(9) "License" means an authorization to sell alcohol beverages issued by a municipal governing body under this chapter.
125.02(10)
(10) "Manufacturer" means a person, other than a rectifier, that ferments, manufactures or distills intoxicating liquor.
125.02(11)
(11) "Municipality" means a city, village or town.
125.02(12)
(12) "Peace officer" means a sheriff, undersheriff, deputy sheriff, police officer, constable, marshal, deputy marshal or any employee of the department or of the department of justice authorized to act under this chapter.
125.02(13)
(13) "Permit" means any permit issued by the department under this chapter.
125.02(14)
(14) "Person" means a natural person, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation or association or the owner of a single-owner entity that is disregarded as a separate entity under
ch. 71.
125.02(14m)
(14m) "Premises" means the area described in a license or permit.
125.02(15)
(15) "Primary source of supply" means the manufacturer, the rectifier or the exclusive agent designated by the manufacturer or rectifier.
125.02(15m)
(15m) "Principal business" means the primary activity as determined by analyzing the amount of capital, labor, time, attention and floor space devoted to each business activity and by analyzing the sources of net income and gross income. The name, appearance and advertising of the entity may also be taken into consideration if they are given less weight.
125.02(16)
(16) "Rectifier" means any one of the following:
