South Carolina Code of Laws
Chapter 6 - Alcoholic Beverage Control Act
Section 61-6-2010. Temporary permits upon referendum vote.

(A) In addition to the provisions of Section 61-6-2000, the department may issue a temporary permit to allow the possession, sale, and consumption of alcoholic liquors by the drink. This permit is valid for a period not to exceed twenty-four hours and may be issued only to bona fide nonprofit organizations and business establishments otherwise authorized to be licensed for sales. The department shall charge a nonrefundable filing fee of one hundred dollars for processing each application and a daily permit fee of fifty dollars for each day for which a permit is approved. An application must be filed for each permit requested. The department must also offer the option of an annual fifty-two week temporary permit for a nonrefundable fee of three thousand dollars per year. However, the optional fifty-two week permit must not extend beyond the expiration date of the biennial license issued pursuant to this chapter. If the expiration date is less than fifty-two weeks from the date of the application for the optional fifty-two week permit, the department must prorate the three thousand dollar fee on a monthly basis. The department in its sole discretion shall specify the terms and conditions of the permit.
(B)(1) The filing and permit fees must be distributed by the State Treasurer to the municipality or county in which the retailer who paid the fee is located. The revenue may be used only by the municipality or county for the following purposes:
(a) capital improvements to tourism-related buildings including, but not limited to, civic centers, convention centers, coliseums, aquariums, stadiums, marinas, parks, and recreational facilities;
(b) purchase or renovation of buildings which are historic properties as defined in Section 60-12-10(4) and (5);
(c) festivals that have a demonstrable and significant impact on tourism;
(d) local youth mentor programs to serve juvenile offenders under the jurisdiction of the family court;
(e) contributions to matching funds necessary for a local government or entity to receive funding from the Legacy Trust Fund pursuant to Chapter 22, Title 51;
(f) contributions to a redevelopment authority pursuant to Chapter 12, Title 31;
(g) acquiring fee and less than fee interest in land while it is still available to be held in perpetuity as wildlife preserves or believed to be needed by the public in the future for active and passive recreation uses and scenic easements, to include the following types of land: ocean, harbor, and pond frontage in the form of beaches, dunes, and adjoining backlands; barrier beaches; fresh and saltwater marshes and adjoining uplands; land for bicycle paths; land protecting existing and future public water supply, well fields, highway buffering and aquifer recharge areas; land for wildlife preserves; and land for future public recreational facilities;
(h) nourishment, renourishment (resanding), and maintenance of beaches;
(i) dune restoration, including the planting of grass, sea oats, or other vegetation useful in preserving the dune system;
(j) maintenance of public beach access;
(k) capital improvements to the beaches and beach-related facilities, such as public parking areas for beach access; dune walkovers and restroom facilities, with or without changing rooms, at public beach parks; and
(l) construction and maintenance of drainage systems.
(2) The revenue may not be used for operating expenses of tourism-related buildings.
(C)(1) A permit authorized by this section may be issued only in those counties or municipalities where a majority of the qualified electors voting in a referendum vote in favor of the issuance of the permit. The county or municipal election commission, as the case may be, shall conduct a referendum upon petition of at least ten percent but not more than seven thousand five hundred qualified electors of the county or municipality, as the case may be. The petition form must be submitted to the election commission not less than one hundred twenty days before the date of the referendum. The names on the petition must be on the petition form provided to county election officials by the State Election Commission. The names on the petition must be certified by the election commission within sixty days after receiving the petition form. The referendum must be conducted at the next general election. The election commission shall cause a notice to be published in a newspaper circulated in the county or municipality, as the case may be, at least seven days before the referendum. The state election laws shall apply to the referendum, mutatis mutandis. The election commission shall publish the results of the referendum and certify them to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. On or after June 21, 1993, the question on the ballot shall be one or both of the following:
(a) "Shall the South Carolina Department of Revenue be authorized to issue temporary permits in this (county) (municipality) for a period not to exceed twenty-four hours to allow the possession, sale, and consumption of alcoholic liquors by the drink to bona fide nonprofit organizations and business establishments otherwise authorized to be licensed for consumption-on-premises sales?" or
(b) "Shall the Department of Revenue be authorized to issue temporary permits in this (county) (municipality) for a period not to exceed twenty-four hours to allow the sale of beer and wine at permitted off-premises locations without regard to the days or hours of sales?".
(2) On or after June 21, 1993, a question authorized by this subsection may not appear on the ballot for a county or municipality less than forty-eight months following the failure of a question authorized by this subsection in said county or municipality.
(3) The expenses for a referendum for this purpose must be paid by the county or municipality conducting the referendum.
(4) In addition to the petition method of calling the referendum provided for in item (1) of this subsection, a county or municipal governing body by ordinance may also call the referendum. Upon receipt of a copy of the ordinance filed with the county or municipal election commission at least sixty days before the date of the next general election, the commission shall conduct the referendum in the manner provided in this section at that general election. The provisions of this item are in addition to the authority of a municipal governing body to call for a referendum under the circumstances enumerated in subsection (D).
(D)(1) The municipal governing body may order a referendum on the question of the issuance of temporary permits to allow the possession, sale, and consumption of alcoholic liquors by the drink in the following circumstances:
(a) parts of the municipality are located in more than one county;
(b) as a result of a favorable vote in a county referendum held pursuant to this section, permits may be issued in only the parts of the municipality located in that county; and
(c) the proposed referendum would authorize issuance of permits in the remaining parts of the municipality.
(2) The method of ordering a referendum provided in this subsection is in addition to the petition method provided in subsection (C). An unfavorable vote in a municipal referendum does not affect the authority to issue these permits in the part of the municipality located in a county where these permits may be issued.
(3) Upon receipt of a copy of the ordinance filed with the municipal election commission at least sixty days before the date of the general election, the commission must conduct the referendum at the time of the general election and publish and certify its results in the same manner as provided in subsection (C). Subsection (C)(2) does not apply to this referendum.
(E) Temporary permits for the sale of beer and wine for off-premises consumption authorized to be issued in a county or municipality pursuant to the referendum provided for at that time may continue to be issued or reissued without the requirement of a further referendum.
(F) Temporary permits issued by the Department of Revenue pursuant to this section may be issued in all parts of a municipality if any part of the municipality is located in a county where the issuance of these permits is allowed.
(G) A business establishment located within a building on the grounds of an international airport in this State where the possession, sale, and consumption of alcoholic liquors by the drink is permitted on its licensed premises may apply for and receive a temporary permit authorized by this section, notwithstanding any other requirements of this section to the contrary, to allow the possession, sale, and consumption of alcoholic liquors by the drink for a period not to exceed twenty-four hours on its licensed premises if any county within the territory of the airport district which operates the international airport or any municipality located within the territory of the district has approved, by referendum, the issuance of these temporary permits.
(H)(1) For purposes of referendums held pursuant to this section, "general election" means a municipal general election held at a time other than the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of even-numbered years or a county general election held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of even-numbered years.
(2) A municipality that does not have a municipal general election scheduled within the same calendar year as a county general election may call, by ordinance, for a referendum to be held on the same date as the county general election, provided that a copy of the ordinance has been filed with the county and municipal election commissions no later than the date required by Section 7-13-355. The expenses for a referendum ordered by a municipality shall be paid by the municipality. When a municipal referendum is held at the time of a county general election, the referendum may be conducted by a municipal or county election commission as provided for by an agreement between the municipality and the county.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 415, Section 1; 1996 Act No. 462, Section 24B; 1997 Act No. 155, Part II, Section 45A; 2000 Act No. 391, Section 1; 2002 Act No. 353, Section 1; 2003 Act No. 70, Sections 15, 16; 2005 Act No. 139, Section 19; 2006 Act No. 259, Section 1; 2006 Act No. 386, Section 56; 2008 Act No. 353, Section 2, Pt 21E.1, eff July 1, 2008; 2011 Act No. 67, Section 4, eff June 17, 2011; 2012 Act No. 266, Section 1, eff June 18, 2012; 2018 Act No. 193 (S.820), Section 1, eff May 17, 2018.
Effect of Amendment
The 2008 amendment added subsection (F) relating to temporary permits.
The 2011 amendment added subsection (G).
The 2012 amendment added subsection (H).
2018 Act No. 193, Section 1, rewrote (C), deleting a prior reference to a date and providing a subsequent referendum may not be held less than forty-eight months following the failure of a question.

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