N.M. Stat. § 60-3A-3

Current through 2024, ch. 69

Section 60-3A-3 - Definitions

As used in the Liquor Control Act:

A. "alcoholic beverages" means distilled or rectified spirits, potable alcohol, powdered alcohol, frozen or freeze-dried alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, gin and aromatic bitters bearing the federal internal revenue strip stamps or any similar alcoholic beverage, including blended or fermented beverages, dilutions or mixtures of one or more of the foregoing containing more than one-half percent alcohol, but excluding medicinal bitters;

B. "beer" means an alcoholic beverage obtained by the fermentation of any infusion or decoction of barley, malt and hops or other cereals in water, and includes porter, beer, ale and stout;

C. "brewer" means a person who owns or operates a business for the manufacture of beer;

D. "cider" means an alcoholic beverage made from the normal alcoholic fermentation of the juice of sound, ripe apples or pears that contains not less than one-half of one percent alcohol by volume and not more than eight and one-half percent alcohol by volume;

E. "club" means:

(1) any nonprofit group, including an auxiliary or subsidiary group, organized and operated under the laws of this state, with a membership of not less than fifty members who pay membership dues at the rate of not less than five dollars ($5.00) per year and who, under the constitution and bylaws of the club, have all voting rights and full membership privileges, and which group is the owner, lessee or occupant of premises used exclusively for club purposes and which group the director finds:

(a) is operated solely for recreation, social, patriotic, political, benevolent or athletic purposes; and

(b) has been granted an exemption by the United States from the payment of the federal income tax as a club under the provisions of Section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or, if the applicant has not operated as a club for a sufficient time to be eligible for the income tax exemption, it must execute and file with the director a sworn letter of intent declaring that it will, in good faith, apply for an income tax exemption as soon as it is eligible; or

(2) an airline passenger membership club operated by an air common carrier that maintains or operates a clubroom at an airport terminal. As used in this paragraph, "air common carrier" means a person engaged in regularly scheduled air transportation between fixed termini under a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the federal aviation administration;

F. "commission" means the secretary of public safety when the term is used in reference to the enforcement and investigatory provisions of the Liquor Control Act and means the superintendent of regulation and licensing when the term is used in reference to the licensing provisions of the Liquor Control Act;

G. "department" means the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety when the term is used in reference to the enforcement and investigatory provisions of the Liquor Control Act and means the director of the alcoholic beverage control division of the regulation and licensing department when the term is used in reference to the licensing provisions of the Liquor Control Act;

H. "director" means the chief of the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety when the term is used in reference to the enforcement and investigatory provisions of the Liquor Control Act and means the director of the alcoholic beverage control division of the regulation and licensing department when the term is used in reference to the licensing provisions of the Liquor Control Act;

I. "dispenser" means a person licensed under the provisions of the Liquor Control Act selling, offering for sale or having in the person's possession with the intent to sell alcoholic beverages both by the drink for consumption on the licensed premises and in unbroken packages, including locally produced growlers, for consumption and not for resale off the licensed premises;

J. "distiller" means a person engaged in manufacturing spirituous liquors;

K. "golf course" means a tract of land and facilities used for playing golf and other recreational activities that includes tees, fairways, greens, hazards, putting greens, driving ranges, recreational facilities, patios, restaurants, banquet halls, pro shops, cart paths and public and private roads that are located within the tract of land;

L. "governing body" means the board of county commissioners of a county or the city council or city commissioners of a municipality;

M. "growler" means a clean, refillable, resealable container that has a liquid capacity that does not exceed one gallon and that is intended and used for the sale of New Mexico-produced beer, wine or cider for consumption off premises;

N. "hotel" means an establishment or complex having a resident of New Mexico as a proprietor or manager and where, in consideration of payment, food and lodging are regularly furnished to the general public. The establishment or complex must maintain for the use of its guests a minimum of twenty-five sleeping rooms;

O. "licensed premises" means the contiguous areas of the structure and the grounds that are under the direct control of the licensee; provided that "licensed premises" includes a restaurant that has operated continuously in two separate structures since July 1, 1987 and that is located in a local option district that has voted to disapprove the transfer of liquor licenses into that local option district, hotel, golf course, ski area or racetrack and all public and private rooms, facilities and areas in which alcoholic beverages are sold or served in the customary operating procedures of the restaurant, hotel, golf course, ski area or racetrack. "Licensed premises" also includes rural dispenser licenses located in the unincorporated areas of a county with a population of less than thirty thousand, located in buildings in existence as of January 1, 2012, that are within one hundred fifty feet of one another and that are under the direct control of the license holder;

P. "local option district" means a county that has voted to approve the sale, serving or public consumption of alcoholic beverages, or an incorporated municipality that falls within a county that has voted to approve the sale, serving or public consumption of alcoholic beverages, or an incorporated municipality of over five thousand population that has independently voted to approve the sale, serving or public consumption of alcoholic beverages under the terms of the Liquor Control Act or any former act;

Q. "manufacturer" means a distiller, rectifier, brewer or winer;

R. "minor" means a natural person under twenty-one years of age;

S. "package" means a container of alcoholic beverages that is filled or packed by a manufacturer or wine bottler for sale by the manufacturer or wine bottler to wholesalers;

T. "person" means an individual, corporation, firm, partnership, copartnership, association or other legal entity;

U. "rectifier" means a person who blends, mixes or distills alcohol with other liquids or substances for the purpose of making an alcoholic beverage for the purpose of sale other than to the consumer by the drink, and includes all bottlers of spirituous liquors;

V. "restaurant" means an establishment having a New Mexico resident as a proprietor or manager that is held out to the public as a place where food is prepared and served primarily for on-premises consumption to the general public in consideration of payment and that has a dining room, a kitchen and the employees necessary for preparing, cooking and serving food; provided that "restaurant" does not include establishments as defined in rules promulgated by the director serving only hamburgers, sandwiches, salads and other fast foods;

W. "retailer" means a person licensed under the provisions of the Liquor Control Act selling, offering for sale or having in the person's possession with the intent to sell alcoholic beverages in unbroken packages, including growlers, for consumption and not for resale off the licensed premises;

X. "ski area" means a tract of land and facilities for the primary purpose of alpine skiing, snowboarding or other snow sports with trails, parks and at least one chairlift with uphill capacity and may include facilities necessary for other seasonal or year-round recreational activities;

Y. "spirituous liquors" means alcoholic beverages as defined in Subsection A of this section except fermented beverages such as wine, beer and cider;

Z. "wholesaler" means a person whose place of business is located in New Mexico and who sells, offers for sale or possesses for the purpose of sale any alcoholic beverages for resale by the purchaser;

AA. "wine" means alcoholic beverages obtained by the fermentation of the natural sugar contained in fruit or other agricultural products, with or without the addition of sugar or other products, that do not contain less than one-half percent nor more than twenty-one percent alcohol by volume;

BB. "wine bottler" means a wholesaler who is licensed to sell wine at wholesale for resale only and who buys wine in bulk and bottles it for wholesale resale;

CC. "winegrower" means a person who owns or operates a business for the manufacture of wine or cider;

DD. "winer" means a winegrower; and

EE. "winery" means a licensed premises in which a winegrower manufactures and stores wine or cider.

NMS § 60-3A-3

Laws 1981, ch. 39, § 3; 1984, ch. 58, § 1; 1987, ch. 254, § 23; 1998, ch. 109, § 1; 1999, ch. 64, § 1; 2001, ch. 86, § 2; 2004, ch. 22, § 1; 2009, ch. 139, § 1; 2012, ch. 25, § 1; 2015, ch. 3, § 28; 2015, ch. 102, § 2; 2016, ch. 73, § 1; 2016, ch. 76, § 1.

Amended by 2021, c. 7,s. 5, eff. 7/1/2021.

Amended by 2019, c. 229,s. 3, eff. 7/1/2019.

Amended by 2016, c. 73,s. 1, eff. 7/1/2016.

Amended by 2016, c. 76,s. 1, eff. 5/18/2016.

Amended by 2015, c. 102,s. 2, eff. 7/1/2015.

Amended by 2015, c. 3,s. 28, eff. 7/1/2015.

Amended by 2012, c. 25,s. 1, eff. 5/16/2012.