If only the county (not the city) opted into Tennessee River Resort District liquor-by-the-drink, does the state ABC control beer sale hours inside that city?

Plain-English summary

Tennessee River Resort District (TRRD) status (Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-103(a)(3)(F)) is an election that a county or municipality can make to claim a different distribution of sales-and-use tax revenue. The election also allows wine, alcoholic beverages, and beer to be sold for on-premises consumption at clubs, hotels, motels, and restaurants within the TRRD (within three miles of the nearest bank of the Tennessee River). § 57-4-101(a)(19) and § 57-4-102(33).

The opinion addresses what happens when the county elects TRRD status but the municipality inside the county does not. A state representative asked whether the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) then controls the hours of beer sale inside that municipality.

The AG said no, for three reasons:

§ 57-5-301(b)(5) does not apply. That subsection requires the hours of beer sale in a county "in which an incorporated municipality has authorized the sale of liquor by the drink" to match the hours set by ABC rules for liquor-by-the-drink establishments. It is triggered by the municipality authorizing liquor by the drink. When the county (not the municipality) made the TRRD election, the municipality has not authorized liquor by the drink within the meaning of § 57-5-301(b)(5). The subsection also excludes counties and municipalities that legalized liquor by the drink "by a county-wide referendum"; even if the county's TRRD election counted as such, that exclusion still removes ABC control over the resulting beer hours.

§ 57-3-406(e) does not apply to beer. Title 57, Chapter 3 governs "alcoholic beverages," which by definition (§ 57-3-101(a)(1)(A)) excludes beer (at 5% or less alcohol by weight). Beer is governed by Chapter 5, which the ABC does not administer (§ 57-3-103(a)(1)). And the statutory hours in § 57-3-406(e) are set by statute, not by ABC rule, so they would not be a vehicle for ABC control even if they did apply.

§ 57-4-203(d) is not a fit either. That section's restriction on hours of alcoholic-beverage, malt-beverage, and wine sales (3:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. weekdays, 3:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Sundays) applies to establishments licensed for on-premises consumption. The ABC can extend those hours under § 57-4-203(d)(5), but only "in the jurisdictions which have approved the sale of liquor by the drink by referendum," and "jurisdictions" in that subsection means municipalities and metropolitan governments, not counties. Plus, the TRRD election in this scenario was done by county legislative-body resolution (§ 67-6-103(a)(3)(F)(ii)(a)), not by referendum. So the ABC has no extension power here.

The bottom line: hours of beer sale in the municipality stay under municipal authority (resolution or ordinance) under Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-301(b)(1), (3), (4). The municipality, not the ABC, sets the times.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2010. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What is a Tennessee River Resort District?
A: A designation under Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-103(a)(3)(F) that lets a qualifying county or municipality elect to receive a higher share of state sales-and-use tax revenue and that allows for the sale of wine, alcohol, and beer at on-premises consumption establishments within three miles inland from the nearest bank of the Tennessee River, in clubs, hotels, motels, and restaurants. The election is made by the local legislative body.

Q: Why does it matter who made the election, county or city?
A: Because Tennessee's beer-and-liquor regulatory scheme assigns different authority to different levels of government. Municipalities generally set their own beer hours by resolution or ordinance. ABC control over beer hours kicks in only in specific configurations (mostly when an incorporated municipality authorizes liquor by the drink). When the city has not authorized liquor by the drink itself, the ABC's hours rules don't take over.

Q: Can a city inside a TRRD impose its own beer hours?
A: Yes. The municipality retains its general authority under Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-301(b)(1), (3), (4) to set beer hours by resolution or ordinance.

Q: Are wine and liquor by the drink hours in TRRD establishments governed differently?
A: Yes. § 57-4-203(d)(1) limits the hours of sale of alcoholic beverages, malt beverages, and wine in licensed establishments to outside the 3:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. weekday and 3:00 a.m. to noon Sunday windows. The ABC can extend those hours under § 57-4-203(d)(5), but only when liquor by the drink was approved by referendum in a municipality or metropolitan government.

Q: What is the three-mile distance about?
A: § 57-4-102(33) defines a TRRD establishment as one located in a jurisdiction with TRRD status and within three miles inland from the nearest bank of the Tennessee River. So a restaurant five miles inland in a TRRD county is not a TRRD establishment for sale-of-alcohol purposes.

Q: What's the practical effect of the county's TRRD election if the city does nothing?
A: Establishments within the city that meet the TRRD definition (a club, hotel, motel, or restaurant within three miles of the river) can sell wine, alcoholic beverages, and beer for on-premises consumption. The state-level hours rules in § 57-4-203(d)(1) apply to the wine and alcohol side, with no ABC extension authority. The beer hours are governed by the city's resolution or ordinance.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee splits alcohol regulation across Title 57, with Chapter 3 covering "alcoholic beverages" (everything above 5% ABW; not beer), Chapter 4 covering on-premises consumption at clubs, hotels, motels, and restaurants, and Chapter 5 covering beer. Each chapter has its own authority structure and hours rules.

The TRRD overlay (§ 67-6-103(a)(3)(F)) is fundamentally a tax provision, but it ties to § 57-4-101(a)(19) and § 57-4-102(33) to permit on-premises sale of wine, alcohol, and beer in a TRRD's club/hotel/motel/restaurant establishments.

§ 57-5-301(b) is the beer-hours provision. (b)(1), (3), and (4) let counties and municipalities set hours by resolution or ordinance. (b)(5) says that "[i]n any county in which an incorporated municipality has authorized the sale of liquor by the drink," the beer hours in that municipality and in the county area outside other liquor-by-the-drink municipalities shall match the ABC's liquor-by-the-drink hours. The county-wide-referendum exclusion at the end of (b)(5) preserves the rule that ABC-conformity applies only where a municipal authorization triggered it.

§ 57-4-203(d)(1) sets the default 3 a.m./8 a.m. weekday and 3 a.m./noon Sunday windows for liquor-by-the-drink establishments. § 57-4-203(d)(5) gives the ABC the power to extend those hours, but only where the jurisdiction has approved liquor by the drink by referendum. The opinion footnotes that "jurisdictions" in this subsection means municipalities and metropolitan governments, not counties; the structure of the opt-out and opt-in flexibility further confirms that.

The TRRD election under § 67-6-103(a)(3)(F)(ii)(a) is made by a two-thirds vote of the local legislative body, which is not a referendum. So even if the ABC's extension power did reach counties, the TRRD county scenario would not qualify because the approval method was legislative, not by popular vote.

The opinion identifies a coherent legislative pattern: when liquor by the drink is approved at the municipal level by referendum, the ABC has a meaningful role; when it is approved at the county legislative-body level (as in TRRD elections), the ABC steps back and local government keeps control of beer hours.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-1-201(a) (ABC jurisdiction)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-3-101(a)(1)(A) ("alcoholic beverage" excludes beer)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-3-103(a)(1) (Chapter 3 does not apply to beer)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-3-406(e) (statutory hours for retailers of alcoholic beverages)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-101(a)(19) (TRRD on-premises sales of wine, alcohol, beer)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-102(33) (TRRD establishment definition; three-mile limit)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-201(a)(1) (ABC authorization)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-203(d)(1) (default on-premises hours)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-203(d)(5) (ABC extension power for referendum jurisdictions)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-101(b) ("beer" definition)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-301(b)(1), (3), (4) (county/municipal beer hours by resolution or ordinance)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-301(b)(5) (ABC-conformity rule for beer hours)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-6-102 (beer reference)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-103(a)(3)(F) (TRRD status election)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-103(a)(3)(F)(ii)(a) (two-thirds legislative vote)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-103(a)(3)(F)(ii)(b) (counties may limit TRRD scope)

Prior AG opinions:

• Op. Tenn. Att'y Gen. 08-85 (Apr. 7, 2008) (TRRD distribution mechanics)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2010/op10-092.pdf

Original opinion text

Hours for the Sale of Beer in a Municipality Located Within a Tennessee River Resort District

QUESTION

If a county, rather than a municipality, has authorized the sale of liquor by the drink by voting to accept Tennessee River resort district status as provided in Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-101(a)(19), does the Alcoholic Beverage Commission ("ABC") under the provisions of Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-301(b)(5) or any other statute control the hours for the sale of beer in a municipality located in such river resort district?

OPINION

No. Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-301(b)(5) is applicable where a municipality through its own action has authorized the sale of liquor by the drink. In the instant fact scenario, the county, but not the municipality separately, has authorized the sale of liquor by the drink. The limitations on the hours for sale found in Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-3-406(e) apply to the sale of alcoholic beverages, but not beer. Furthermore, these limitations are set forth in the statute and are not controlled by the ABC's rules. The ABC may extend the hours of sale set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-203(d)(1) only where the sale of liquor by the drink was approved by referendum of a municipality or a metropolitan government, but not a county. In the instant scenario, the municipality itself did not approve the sale of liquor by the drink, so the ABC plays no role in setting the hours for sales of beer in that municipality.

ANALYSIS

Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-103(a)(3)(F) (Supp. 2009), certain counties and municipalities may elect to become a "Tennessee River resort district" ("TRRD"). Such an election affects the distribution of sales and use tax revenues to TRRD counties and municipalities. See Op. Tenn. Att'y Gen. No. 08-85 (Apr. 7, 2008). Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-101(a)(19) (Supp. 2009), it is lawful to sell wine, alcoholic beverages, and beer to be consumed on the premises of or within the boundaries of a TRRD, which is defined as

a club, hotel, motel or restaurant located within a jurisdiction that has elected Tennessee River resort district status pursuant to the provisions of § 67-6-103(a)(3)(F); provided, that for the purposes of this chapter, such district shall only extend inland for three (3) miles from the nearest bank of the Tennessee River.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-102(33) (Supp. 2009). [Certain counties that elect to be a TRRD may limit the election so that they are not considered TRRDs with regard to Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-101 et seq. Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-103(a)(3)(F)(ii)(b) (Supp. 2009).] In the instant scenario, the county, but not the municipality, elected to become a TRRD. A club, hotel, motel or restaurant located within such a municipality and county -- and within three miles of the Tennessee River -- may sell alcohol because it is located within "a jurisdiction that has elected Tennessee River resort district status," that jurisdiction being the county that made the election. Id.

Counties and municipalities may establish the hours for the sale of beer by resolution or ordinance. Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-301(b)(1), (3), and (4) (Supp. 2009). However, in some instances the hours for the sale of beer are by statute conformed to the hours of sale set forth in the ABC's rules and regulations.

In any county in which an incorporated municipality has authorized the sale of liquor by the drink, as provided for in chapter 4 of this title, the hours for the sale of beer as defined in § 57-6-102, in that part of the county outside of incorporated municipalities and in all of its municipalities which have authorized the sale of liquor by the drink, shall be the same as the hours authorized by the rules and regulations promulgated by the alcoholic beverage commission for establishments selling liquor by the drink. . . . This subdivision (b)(5) shall not apply to counties and municipalities that have legalized the sale of liquor by the drink by a county-wide referendum.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-301(b)(5) (Supp. 2009) (emphasis added). Under the instant facts, the county, not the municipality, authorized the sale of liquor by the drink. Accordingly, the ABC's rules and regulations would not control the hours for the sale of beer in such a municipality under Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-301(b)(5).

Nor do other statutes provide such control to the ABC. Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-3-406(e) (Supp. 2009), which limits the hours for sale of "alcoholic beverages" by retailers, falls within the ABC's jurisdiction. Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-1-201(a) (Supp. 2009). However, as defined, "alcoholic beverage" does not include beer, and chapter 3 of title 57 does not apply to the sale of beer. Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 57-3-101(a)(1)(A) and -103(a)(1) (Supp. 2009). Also, the limitation is not based on the ABC's rules but instead is explicitly set forth in the statute. Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-3-406(e) (Supp. 2009). Accordingly, the ABC and its rules would not control the hours for the sale of beer in the above-described municipality under section 57-3-406(e). ["Alcoholic beverage" does not include "beer [that] contains an alcoholic content of five percent (5%) by weight or less." Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-3-101(a)(1)(A) (Supp. 2009). This exclusion neatly coincides with the definition of "beer" as "beer, ale or other malt beverages, or any other beverages having an alcoholic content of not more than five percent (5%) by weight, except wine." Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-101(b) (Supp. 2009).]

Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-201(a)(1) (2002), the ABC is authorized to administer Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-203(d)(1) (Supp. 2009), which limits the sale of "alcoholic beverages, and/or malt beverages, and/or wine" by hotels, clubs, motels, restaurants, and other establishments. These establishments may not sell or give away such beverages between 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. on weekdays or 3:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon on Sundays. Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-203(d)(1) (Supp. 2009). As used in this section, the term "malt beverages" means beer. [There is no definition for "malt beverages" in Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-102 (Supp. 2009). However, as used in Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-203(d)(1) (Supp. 2009), "malt beverages" means beer because it would be superfluous for it to include alcoholic beverages or wine. Also, "beer" is defined as "beer, ale or other malt beverages, or any other beverages having an alcoholic content of not more than five percent (5%) by weight, except wine." Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-101(b) (Supp. 2009). Thus, "beer" includes malt beverages with five percent (5%) or less alcoholic content.] Thus, these establishments may not sell beer between the hours set forth in section 57-4-203(d)(1) (Supp. 2009). However, the ABC has the power to "extend the hours of sale in the jurisdictions which have approved the sale of liquor by the drink by referendum." Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-203(d)(5) (Supp. 2009). As used in this statute, the term "jurisdictions" means municipalities and metropolitan governments, but not counties. [Permitting municipalities and metropolitan governments that have approved liquor by the drink by referendum to opt out of and back into subsection (d)(5) infers that that subsection applies only to those municipalities and metropolitan governments to begin with, and not to counties. Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-4-203(d)(5) (Supp. 2009). Also, reading this subsection as not applicable to counties that have approved liquor by the drink by referendum coincides with Tenn. Code Ann. § 57-5-301(b)(5) (Supp. 2009). In both instances, the ABC does not control the hours for sale of beer because liquor by the drink was approved by county-wide referendum.] Even if "jurisdictions" did include counties, with regard to the instant facts, the ABC would not be able to extend the hours for sale of beer in the TRRD because the municipality did not approve liquor by the drink and the county's approval was "by adopting a resolution or ordinance approved by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the legislative body of the jurisdiction" and not by referendum. Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-103(a)(3)(F)(ii)(a) (Supp. 2009). Accordingly, the limitation is stated in the statute and is not controlled by the ABC and its rules.

ROBERT E. COOPER, JR.
Attorney General and Reporter

GINA J. BARHAM
Deputy Attorney General

NICHOLAS G. BARCA
Assistant Attorney General

Requested by:

The Honorable Vance Dennis
State Representative
105 War Memorial Building
Nashville, Tennessee 37243