Part 1 General Provisions 57-5-101 – 57-5-114
Part 2 Taxation 57-5-201 – 57-5-208
Part 3 Prohibited Acts 57-5-301 – 57-5-304
Part 4 Transportation 57-5-401 – 57-5-416
Part 5 Beer Wholesaler-Supplier Relations 57-5-501 – 57-5-512
Part 6 Tennessee Responsible Vendor Act of 2006 57-5-601 – 57-5-609

Terms Used In Tennessee Code > Title 57 > Chapter 5 - Beer and Alcoholic Beverages Containing Less Than Five Percent Alcohol

  • Age of majority: means eighteen (18) years of age or older. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Agreement: means any agreement between a wholesaler and a supplier, oral or written, whereby a wholesaler is granted the right to purchase and sell a brand or brands of beer with an alcoholic content of five percent (5%) by weight or less sold by a supplier. See Tennessee Code 57-5-502
  • Ancillary business: means :
    (A) A business owned by a wholesaler, by a substantial stockholder of a wholesaler, or by a substantial partner of a wholesaler, the primary business of which is directly related to the transporting, storing or marketing of the supplier's products. See Tennessee Code 57-5-502
  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • Beer board: means any entity issuing beer permits for off-premise consumption, pursuant to part 1 of this chapter. See Tennessee Code 57-5-603
  • beverage: means and includes alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine, high alcohol content beer, and every liquid containing alcohol, spirits, wine, and high alcohol content beer and capable of being consumed by a human being, other than patent medicine or beer, as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Certified clerk: means a clerk who has successfully satisfied the training requirements contained in this part, and who has received certification from a responsible vendor training program. See Tennessee Code 57-5-603
  • Child born out of wedlock: means a child born to parents who are not married to each other when the child was born. See Tennessee Code 36-2-302
  • Clerk: means any person working in a capacity to sell beer directly to consumers for off-premise consumption. See Tennessee Code 57-5-603
  • Commission: means the alcoholic beverage commission. See Tennessee Code 57-5-603
  • Commission: means the alcoholic beverage commission, except as otherwise provided. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Court: means the juvenile court or any trial court with general jurisdiction. See Tennessee Code 36-2-302
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Designated member: means :
    (A) The spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother or sister of a deceased individual who owned an interest in a wholesaler. See Tennessee Code 57-5-502
  • Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
  • Father: means the biological father of a child born out of wedlock. See Tennessee Code 36-2-302
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • gallons: means a wine gallon or wine gallons, of one hundred and twenty-eight ounces (128 oz. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Gift: means and includes the unauthorized distribution of alcoholic beverages by a licensee for which no payment is expected or received. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Good faith: means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing in the trade, as defined in and interpreted under §. See Tennessee Code 57-5-502
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • High alcohol content beer: means an alcoholic beverage which is beer, ale or other malt beverage having an alcoholic content of more than eight percent (8%) by weight and not more than twenty percent (20%) by weight, except wine as defined in §. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Importer: means any person or entity holding a non-manufacturer non-resident seller's permit pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • License: means the license issued pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Licensee: means any person to whom such license has been issued pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Manufacture: means and includes brewing high alcohol content beer, distilling, rectifying and operating a winery. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Manufacturer: means and includes a brewer of high alcohol content beer, distiller, vintner and rectifier. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Minor: means any person who has not attained eighteen (18) years of age. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Month: means a calendar month. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Mother: means the biological mother of a child born out of wedlock. See Tennessee Code 36-2-302
  • Municipality: means an incorporated town or city having a population of:
    (i) Seven hundred (700) or more, according to the 2010 federal census or a subsequent federal census. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Original bill: A bill which is drafted by a committee. It is introduced by the committee or subcommittee chairman after the committee votes to report it.
  • Parent: means the biological mother or biological father of a child, regardless of the marital status of the mother and father. See Tennessee Code 36-2-302
  • Person: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, syndicate, or any other combination of individuals. See Tennessee Code 57-5-502
  • Personal representative: when applied to those who represent a decedent, includes executors and administrators, unless the context implies heirs and distributees. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
  • Reasonable standards and qualifications: means those criteria established and consistently applied by a supplier to wholesalers in Tennessee and adjoining states who:
    (A) Have entered into, continued or renewed an agreement with the supplier during a period of twenty-four (24) months prior to the proposed transfer of the wholesaler's business. See Tennessee Code 57-5-502
  • Responsible vendor: means a vendor that has received certification from the commission pursuant to this part. See Tennessee Code 57-5-603
  • Responsible vendor training program: means a training program related to the responsible sale of beer for off-premise consumption that has met all the statutory and regulatory requirements set forth in this part, and in commission rules and regulations. See Tennessee Code 57-5-603
  • Retailer: means any person who sells at retail any beverage for the sale of which a license is required under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Retaliatory action: includes , but is not limited to, the refusal to continue an agreement or a material reduction in the quality of service or quantity of products available to a wholesaler under an agreement, which refusal or reduction is not made in good faith. See Tennessee Code 57-5-502
  • sale at retail: means a sale to a consumer or to any person for any purpose other than for resale. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • substantial partner: means a stockholder of or partner in the wholesaler who owns an interest of ten percent (10%) or more of the partnership or of the capital stock of a corporate wholesaler. See Tennessee Code 57-5-502
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • Supplier: means a manufacturer or importer of beer. See Tennessee Code 57-5-502
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • Vendor: means a person, corporation or other entity that has been issued a permit to sell beer for off-premise consumption. See Tennessee Code 57-5-603
  • Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
  • Wholesaler: means a person or entity that sells beer to retailers, but does not include any manufacturer authorized to sell directly to retailers pursuant to §. See Tennessee Code 57-5-502
  • Wholesaler: means any person who sells at wholesale any beverage for the sale of which a license is required under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Wine: means the product of the normal alcoholic fermentation of the juice of dried or fresh, sound, ripe grapes, fruit, or other agricultural products, with the usual cellar treatment and necessary additions to correct defects due to climatic, saccharine, and seasonal conditions, including champagne, sparkling, and fortified wine of an alcoholic content not to exceed twenty-one percent (21%) by volume. See Tennessee Code 57-3-101
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
  • Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.