West Virginia Code 60-7-8b – One-day charitable rare, antique, or vintage liquor auction; licensee fee and application; license subject to provisions of article; exceptions
(a) The commissioner may issue a special one-day, license to a licensed private club in partnership with one or more duly organized, federally approved nonprofit corporations, associations, organizations, or entities allowing the nonprofit to conduct a charitable auction of certain sealed bottles of rare, antique, or vintage liquor, as determined by the commissioner, on the private club licensee‘s licensed premises for off-premises consumption only, when raising money for athletic, charitable, educational, scientific, or religious purposes. A licensed private club may not receive more than 12 licenses under this section per year.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 60-7-8b
- Code: means the official Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended. See West Virginia Code 60-7-2
- Commissioner: means the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Commissioner. See West Virginia Code 60-7-2
- Licensee: means the holder of a license to operate a private club granted under this article, which remains unexpired, unsuspended, and unrevoked. See West Virginia Code 60-7-2
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Private club: means any corporation or unincorporated association which either:
(A) Belongs to or is affiliated with a nationally recognized fraternal or veterans' organization which is operated exclusively for the benefit of its members, which pays no part of its income to its shareholders or individual members, which owns or leases a building or other premises to which club are admitted only duly- elected or approved dues-paying members in good standing of the corporation or association and their guests while in the company of a member and to which club the general public is not admitted, and which maintains in the building or on the premises a suitable kitchen and dining facility with related equipment for serving food to members and their guests. See West Virginia Code 60-7-2
(b) “Auction or auctioning”, for the purposes of this section, means any silent, physical act, or verbal bid auction, where the auction requires in-person bidding at a licensed private club or online internet-based auction bidding, with bidders present at the licensed private club during the nonprofit auction, through a secure internet-based application or website.
(c) Requirements.—
(1) The licensed private club and nonprofit shall jointly complete an application, at least 15 days prior to the event. The application may require, but is not limited to, information relating to the date, time, place, floorplan of the charitable event, and any other information as the commissioner may require. The applicants shall include with the application a written signed and notarized statement that at least 80 percent of the net proceeds from the charitable event will be donated directly to the nonprofit. The commissioner may audit the licensed private club and nonprofit to verify the 80 percent requirement has been met.
(2) The licensed private club and nonprofit must be in good standing with the commissioner, and the applicants must receive the commissioner’s approval prior to the charitable event.
(3) The licensed private club and nonprofit shall submit, and the commissioner shall review, the applicants’ list of rare, antique, or vintage liquor, and the applicants shall submit documentation showing that the liquor was purchased from a licensed retail outlet in accordance with § 60-3A-1 et seq. of this code with all taxes and fees paid. Any rare, antique, or vintage liquor with no documentation or that was not purchased in accordance with § 60-3A-1 et seq. of this code, may be approved for auction, if all taxes and fees are paid to the commissioner in accordance with § 60-3A-1 et seq. of this code. Any undocumented rare, antique, or vintage liquor approved for charitable auction by the commissioner must be labeled in the interest of public health and safety: “Purchase and consume at your own risk, as the authenticity or source of manufacture of this bottle has not been verified”.
(4) The private club and nonprofit may not deliver, mail, or ship sealed or unsealed rare, antique, or vintage liquor bottles.
(5) The winning bidder of the auctioned rare, antique, or vintage liquor shall pay and receive the sealed rare, antique, or vintage liquor bottle before the conclusion of the event.
(6) The applicants shall pay a $150 nonrefundable and nonprorated fee for the license.
(d) Exceptions. —
(1) A nonprofit’s charitable auctioning of sealed rare, antique, or vintage liquor bottles, as determined by the commissioner, is permitted on the private club’s licensed premises, notwithstanding the bingo, raffle, and lottery provisions of §47-20-10, §47-21-11, and § 61-10-1 et seq. of this code, but in compliance with the auction requirements of § 19-2c-1 et seq. of this code;
(2) The nonprofit, upon licensure by this section, is permitted a limited, one-time exception of the requirement to be a licensed retail outlet and hold a retail license issued pursuant to § 60-3A-1 et seq. of this code to sell liquor; and
(3) The private club, upon licensure by this section, is provided a limited, one-time exception from §60-7-12(a)(1) and §60-6-8(6) of this code, to permit the licensed nonprofit to sell at auction the sealed rare, antique, or vintage liquor bottles for off-premises consumption, to permit the carrying onto, the sale of, and the carrying off of the licensed premises the approved sealed liquor bottles. Any private club or nonprofit licensed pursuant to this code section are subject to all penalties for violations committed under § 60-3A-1 et seq. of this code and § 60-7-1 et seq. of this code.