Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 125 - Alcohol beverages.
125.69 - Restrictions on dealings between manufacturers, rectifiers, wholesalers and retailers.

125.69 Restrictions on dealings between manufacturers, rectifiers, wholesalers and retailers.
(1) Interest restrictions.
(a) No intoxicating liquor manufacturer, rectifier, winery, out-of-state shipper permittee, or wholesaler may hold any direct or indirect interest in any “Class A" license or establishment and no “Class A" licensee may hold any direct or indirect interest in a wholesale permit or establishment, except that a winery that has a permit under s. 125.53 may have an ownership interest in a “Class A" license and a person may hold a “Class A" license and both a winery permit under s. 125.53 and a manufacturer's or rectifier's permit under s. 125.52 and may make retail sales and provide taste samples as authorized under the “Class A" license and ss. 125.06 (13) and 125.52 (1) (b) 2.
(b)
1. Except as provided under subds. 4. and 5., no intoxicating liquor manufacturer, rectifier, winery, out-of-state shipper permittee, or wholesaler may hold any direct or indirect interest in any “Class B" license or permit or establishment or “Class C" license or establishment and no “Class B" licensee or permittee or “Class C" licensee may hold any direct or indirect interest in a manufacturer, rectifier, winery, out-of-state shipper, or wholesale permit or establishment.
4. A winery that has a permit under s. 125.53 may have an ownership interest in a “Class B" license issued under s. 125.51 (3) (am) and a person may hold a “Class B" license and both a winery permit under s. 125.53 and a manufacturer's or rectifier's permit under s. 125.52 and may make retail sales and provide taste samples as authorized under the “Class B" license and s. 125.52 (1) (b) 2.
5. A winery that has a permit under s. 125.53 may make retail sales and provide taste samples on county or district fair fairgrounds, as provided in s. 125.51 (10), under a “Class B" license issued under s. 125.51 (10) to a county or local fair association.
(c) No manufacturer, rectifier, winery, or out-of-state shipper permittee, whether located within or without this state, may hold any direct or indirect interest in any wholesale permit or establishment. Except as provided in pars. (a) and (b) 4. and s. 125.53, no retail licensee may hold any direct or indirect interest in any manufacturer, rectifier, winery, or out-of-state shipper permittee.
(d) Except as provided in s. 125.295 (3) (c), no brewpub may hold any direct or indirect interest in any “Class B" license or permit or establishment or “Class C" license or establishment.
(3) Volume discounts to campuses and retailers. A wholesaler of intoxicating liquor shall charge the same price to all campuses and retail licensees and permittees making purchases in similar quantities. Any discount offered on intoxicating liquor shall be delivered to the retailer in a single transaction and single delivery, and on a single invoice.
(4) Retail purchase credit restrictions.
(a) Restrictions on sales.
1. No intoxicating liquor retail licensee or retail permittee may:
a. Receive, purchase or acquire intoxicating liquor from any permittee except for cash or credit for a period of not more than 30 days.
b. Receive, purchase or acquire intoxicating liquor from any permittee if at the time of the receipt, purchase or acquisition, he or she is indebted to any permittee for intoxicating liquor received, purchased, acquired or delivered more than 30 days earlier.
2. No campus or intoxicating liquor retail licensee or permittee may receive any intoxicating liquor on consignment or on any basis other than a bona fide sale.
(b) Restrictions on issuance of licenses and permits. No intoxicating liquor retail license or retail permit may be issued under this chapter to any person having an indebtedness for intoxicating liquor outstanding more than 30 days. In each application for a retail license or retail permit, the applicant shall state whether the applicant has any indebtedness for intoxicating liquor to any licensee or permittee which has been outstanding for more than 30 days.
(d) Penalties. A retail licensee or retail permittee who violates par. (a) is subject to the penalties in s. 125.11, except that he or she may not be imprisoned.
(e) Costs. The cost of administering this subsection shall be charged to the manufacturer, rectifier and wholesaler permittees. The department shall determine the costs and shall establish the procedure for apportioning the cost against the permittees and provide for the method of payment to the department.
(5) Source of supply. No wholesaler may purchase intoxicating liquor for resale unless he or she purchases it either from the primary source of supply for the brand of intoxicating liquor sought to be sold or from a wholesaler within this state who holds a permit issued under this chapter. No wholesaler may sell intoxicating liquor purchased by the wholesaler to any other licensee or permittee under this chapter if the intoxicating liquor has not been purchased by the wholesaler from the primary source of supply or from a wholesaler within the state holding a permit issued under this chapter.
(6) Campuses and retailers to purchase from persons holding permits.
(a) No campus or retail licensee or permittee may purchase intoxicating liquor from, or possess intoxicating liquor purchased from, any person other than a wholesaler holding a permit under this chapter for the sale of intoxicating liquor.
(b) Any person who violates par. (a), if the total volume of intoxicating liquor purchased or possessed by that person in one month is 12 liters or less, may be required to forfeit not more than $100. A person who purchases or possesses more than 12 liters of intoxicating liquor in one month in violation of par. (a) shall be fined not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000.
(c) Notwithstanding par. (b), a “Class B" licensee who purchases intoxicating liquor from a “Class A" licensee for resale or who possesses intoxicating liquor purchased from a “Class A" licensee for resale may be fined not more than $100.
(7) License or permit revocation. The violation of sub. (1), (3) or (5) is sufficient cause for the revocation of the license or permit of any licensee or permittee receiving the benefit from the prohibited act as well as the revocation of the license or permit of the licensee or permittee committing the prohibited act.
(8) Sponsorship payments to state fair park vendors. It is not a violation of this chapter for a manufacturer, rectifier, out-of-state shipper, or wholesaler to make a sponsorship payment or provide any other item of value to a vendor that has been issued a permit by the state fair park board. If the vendor also holds a retail “Class B” license, this subsection is strictly applied only to the state fair park location.
History: 1981 c. 79, 202; 1983 a. 26, 69, 182; 1985 a. 5, 15, 302; 1987 a. 403; 1989 a. 30, 31, 253; 1991 a. 39; 1995 a. 27; 2007 a. 20, 85; 2009 a. 28; 2011 a. 129; 2021 a. 43.

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