H. B. 2856
(By Delegate Fragale)
[Introduced March 28, 1997; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article sixteen, chapter eleven of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eighteen-a, relating to prohibiting a licensee from selling
or otherwise serving for consumption on the licensee's
premises, any beer bottled in a glass container; exemption
for licensee deriving more than fifty percent of revenue
from sale of food; penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article sixteen, chapter eleven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eighteen-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 16. NONINTOXICATING BEER.
§11-16-18a. Sale of bottled beer prohibited for consumption on premises; exemption; penalties.
(a) It is found by the Legislature that in many alcohol
related incidents in or near establishments selling alcoholic
beverages, broken beer bottles are used during those incidents as
a weapons to inflict serious bodily injury on others.
(b) It is unlawful for a licensee to sell or otherwise
serve for consumption on the licensee's premises, any
nonintoxicating beer bottled in an original container made of
glass. A licensee deriving more than fifty percent of its
revenue from the sale of food items, which are sold or otherwise
served for consumption on the licensee's premises, is exempt from
the provisions of this subsection.
(c) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection
(b) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than five
hundred dollars, or confined in the county or regional jail not
more than thirty days, or both fined and imprisoned.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit a licensee
from selling or otherwise serving for consumption on the
licensee's premises, any beer bottled in a glass container.
Restaurants and other such licensees deriving more than fifty
percent of their revenue from the sale of food are exempted.
Section eighteen-a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.