The Arizona Revised Statutes have been updated to include the revised sections from the 56th Legislature, 1st Regular Session. Please note that the next update of this compilation will not take place until after the conclusion of the 56th Legislature, 2nd Regular Session, which convenes in January 2024.
This online version of the Arizona Revised Statutes is primarily maintained for legislative drafting purposes and reflects the version of law that is effective on January 1st of the year following the most recent legislative session. The official version of the Arizona Revised Statutes is published by Thomson Reuters.
4-101. Definitions
In this title, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Act of violence":
(a) Means an incident that consists of a riot, a fight, an altercation or tumultuous conduct and that meets at least one of the following criteria:
(i) Bodily injuries are sustained by any person and the injuries would be obvious to a reasonable person.
(ii) Is of sufficient intensity as to require the intervention of a peace officer to restore normal order.
(iii) A weapon is brandished, displayed or used.
(iv) A licensee or an employee or contractor of the licensee fails to follow a clear and direct lawful order from a law enforcement officer or a fire marshal.
(b) Does not include the use of nonlethal devices by a peace officer.
2. "Aggrieved party" means a person who resides at, owns or leases property within a one-mile radius of premises proposed to be licensed and who filed a written request with the department to speak in favor of or opposition to the issuance of the license not later than sixty days after filing the application or fifteen days after action by the local governing body, whichever is sooner.
3. "Beer":
(a) Means any beverage obtained by the alcoholic fermentation, infusion or decoction of barley malt, hops, rice, bran or other grain, glucose, sugar or molasses, or any combination of them, and may include, as adjuncts in fermentation, honey, fruit, fruit juice, fruit concentrate, herbs, spices and other food materials.
(b) Includes beer aged in an empty wooden barrel previously used to contain wine or distilled spirits and as such is not considered a dilution or mixture of any other spirituous liquor.
4. "Biometric identity verification device" means a device authorized by the department that instantly verifies the identity and age of a person by an electronic scan of a biometric of the person, through a fingerprint, iris image, facial image or other biometric characteristic, or any combination of these characteristics, that references the person's identity and age against any record described in section 4-241, subsection K, and that meets all of the following conditions:
(a) The authenticity of the record was previously verified by an electronic authentication process.
(b) The identity of and information about the record holder was previously verified through either:
(i) A secondary, electronic authentication process or set of processes using commercially available data, such as a public records query or a knowledge-based authentication quiz.
(ii) Using a state or federal government system of records for digital authentication.
(c) The authenticated record was securely linked to biometrics contemporaneously collected from the verified record holder and is stored in a centralized, highly secured, encrypted biometric database.
5. "Board" means the state liquor board.
6. "Bona fide guest" means:
(a) An individual who is personally familiar to the member, who is personally sponsored by the member and whose presence as a guest is in response to a specific and personal invitation.
(b) In the case of a club that meets the criteria prescribed in paragraph 8, subdivision (a) of this section, a current member of the armed services of the United States who presents proper military identification and any member of a recognized veterans' organization of the United States and of any country allied with the United States during current or past wars or through treaty arrangements.
7. "Broken package" means any container of spirituous liquor on which the United States tax seal has been broken or removed or from which the cap, cork or seal placed on the container by the manufacturer has been removed.
8. "Club" includes any of the following organizations where the sale of spirituous liquor for consumption on the premises is made only to members, spouses of members, families of members, bona fide guests of members and guests at other events authorized in this title:
(a) A post, chapter, camp or other local unit composed solely of veterans and its duly recognized auxiliary that has been chartered by the Congress of the United States for patriotic, fraternal or benevolent purposes and that has, as the owner, lessee or occupant, operated an establishment for that purpose in this state.
(b) A chapter, aerie, parlor, lodge or other local unit of an American national fraternal organization that has, as the owner, lessee or occupant, operated an establishment for fraternal purposes in this state. An American national fraternal organization as used in this subdivision shall actively operate in at least thirty-six states or have been in active continuous existence for at least twenty years.
(c) A hall or building association of a local unit mentioned in subdivisions (a) and (b) of this paragraph of which all of the capital stock is owned by the local unit or the members and that operates the clubroom facilities of the local unit.
(d) A golf club that has more than fifty bona fide members and that owns, maintains or operates a bona fide golf links together with a clubhouse.
(e) A social club that has more than one hundred bona fide members who are actual residents of the county in which it is located, that owns, maintains or operates club quarters, that is authorized and incorporated to operate as a nonprofit club under the laws of this state, and that has been continuously incorporated and operating for a period of at least one year. The club shall have had, during this one-year period, a bona fide membership with regular meetings conducted at least once each month, and the membership shall be and shall have been actively engaged in carrying out the objects of the club. The club's membership shall consist of bona fide dues-paying members paying dues of at least $6 per year, payable monthly, quarterly or annually, which have been recorded by the secretary of the club, and the members at the time of application for a club license shall be in good standing having for at least one full year paid dues. At least fifty-one percent of the members shall have signified their intention to secure a social club license by personally signing a petition, on a form prescribed by the board, which shall also include the correct mailing address of each signer. The petition shall not have been signed by a member at a date earlier than one hundred eighty days before the filing of the application. The club shall qualify for exemption from the payment of state income taxes under title 43. It is the intent of this subdivision that a license shall not be granted to a club that is, or has been, primarily formed or activated to obtain a license to sell liquor, but solely to a bona fide club, where the sale of liquor is incidental to the main purposes of the club.
(f) An airline club operated by or for airlines that are certificated by the United States government and that maintain or operate club quarters located at airports with international status.
9. "Company" or "association", when used in reference to a corporation, includes successors or assigns.
10. "Control" means the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of an applicant or licensee, whether through the ownership of voting securities or a partnership interest, by agreement or otherwise. Control is presumed to exist if a person has the direct or indirect ownership of or power to vote ten percent or more of the outstanding voting securities of the applicant or licensee or to control in any manner the election of one or more of the directors of the applicant or licensee. In the case of a partnership, control is presumed to mean the general partner or a limited partner who holds ten percent or more of the voting rights of the partnership. For the purposes of determining the percentage of voting securities owned, controlled or held by a person, there shall be aggregated with the voting securities attributed to the person the voting securities of an officer, partner, employee or agent of the person or a spouse, parent or child of the person. Control is also presumed to exist if a creditor of the applicant or licensee holds a beneficial interest in ten percent or more of the liabilities of the licensee. The presumptions in this paragraph regarding control are rebuttable.
11. "Controlling person" means a person directly or indirectly possessing control of an applicant or licensee.
12. "Craft distiller" means a distiller in the United States or in a territory or possession of the United States that holds a license pursuant to section 4-205.10.
13. "Craft producer" means a licensed farm winery, a licensed microbrewery or a licensed craft distiller.
14. "Department" means the department of liquor licenses and control.
15. "Director" means the director of the department of liquor licenses and control.
16. "Distilled spirits" includes alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, tequila, mescal, gin, absinthe, a compound or mixture of any of them or of any of them with any vegetable or other substance, alcohol bitters, bitters containing alcohol, fruits preserved in ardent spirits, and any alcoholic mixture or preparation, whether patented or otherwise, that may in sufficient quantities produce intoxication.
17. "Employee" means any person who performs any service on licensed premises on a full-time, part-time or contract basis with consent of the licensee, whether or not the person is denominated an employee or independent contractor or otherwise. Employee does not include a person who is exclusively on the premises for musical or vocal performances, for repair or maintenance of the premises or for the delivery of goods to the licensee.
18. "Farm winery" means a winery in the United States or in a territory or possession of the United States that holds a license pursuant to section 4-205.04.
19. "Government license" means a license to serve and sell spirituous liquor on specified premises available only to a state agency, state board, state commission, county, city, town, community college or state university or the national guard or Arizona coliseum and exposition center on application by the governing body of the state agency, state board, state commission, county, city, town, community college or state university or the national guard or Arizona exposition and state fair board.
20. "Legal drinking age" means twenty-one years of age or older.
21. "License" means a license or an interim retail permit issued pursuant to this title.
22. "Licensee" means a person who has been issued a license or an interim retail permit pursuant to this title or a special event licensee.
23. "License fees" means fees collected for license issuance, license application, license renewal, interim permit issuance and license transfer between persons or locations.
24. "Manager" means a natural person who meets the standards required of licensees and who has authority to organize, direct, carry on, control or otherwise operate a licensed business on a temporary or full-time basis.
25. "Menu food item" means a food item from a regular menu, special menu or happy hour menu that is prepared by the licensee or the licensee's employee.
26. "Microbrewery" means a brewery in the United States or in a territory or possession of the United States that meets the requirements of section 4-205.08.
27. "Mixed cocktail":
(a) Means any drink combined at the premises of an authorized licensee that contains a spirituous liquor and that is combined with at least one other ingredient, which may include additional spirituous liquors, fruit juice, vegetable juice, mixers, cream, flavored syrup or other ingredients except water, and that when combined contains more than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume.
(b) Does not include a drink sold in an original manufacturer's packaging or any drink poured from an original manufacturer's package without the addition of all of the cocktail's other ingredients at the premises of the licensed bar, liquor store or restaurant.
28. "Off-sale retailer" means any person that operates a bona fide regularly established retail liquor store that sells spirituous liquors, wines and beer and any established retail store that sells commodities other than spirituous liquors and that is engaged in the sale of spirituous liquors only in the original unbroken package, to be taken away from the premises of the retailer and to be consumed off the premises.
29. "On-sale retailer" means any person operating an establishment where spirituous liquors are sold in the original container for consumption on or off the premises or in individual portions for consumption on the premises.
30. "Permanent occupancy" means the maximum occupancy of the building or facility as set by the office of the state fire marshal for the jurisdiction in which the building or facility is located.
31. "Person" includes a partnership, limited liability company, association, company or corporation, as well as a natural person.
32. "Premises" or "licensed premises":
(a) Means the area from which the licensee is authorized to sell, dispense or serve spirituous liquors under the provision of the license.
(b) Includes a patio that is not contiguous to the remainder of the premises or licensed premises if the patio is separated from the remainder of the premises or licensed premises by a public or private walkway or driveway not to exceed thirty feet, subject to rules the director may adopt to establish criteria for noncontiguous premises.
33. "Registered alcohol delivery contractor":
(a) Means a person who delivers spirituous liquor to a consumer on behalf of a bar, beer and wine bar, liquor store, beer and wine store or restaurant.
(b) Does not include:
(i) A motor carrier as defined in section 28-5201.
(ii) An independent contractor, a subcontractor of an independent contractor, an employee of an independent contractor or an employee of a subcontractor as provided in section 4-203, subsection J.
34. "Registered mail" includes certified mail.
35. "Registered retail agent" means any person who is authorized pursuant to section 4-222 to purchase spirituous liquors for and on behalf of the person and other retail licensees.
36. "Repeated acts of violence" means:
(a) For licensed premises with a permanent occupancy of two hundred or fewer persons, two or more acts of violence occurring within seven days or three or more acts of violence occurring within thirty days.
(b) For licensed premises with a permanent occupancy of more than two hundred but not more than four hundred persons, four or more acts of violence within thirty days.
(c) For licensed premises with a permanent occupancy of more than four hundred but not more than six hundred fifty persons, five or more acts of violence within thirty days.
(d) For licensed premises with a permanent occupancy of more than six hundred fifty but not more than one thousand fifty persons, six or more acts of violence within thirty days.
(e) For licensed premises with a permanent occupancy of more than one thousand fifty persons, seven or more acts of violence within thirty days.
37. "Sell" includes soliciting or receiving an order for, keeping or exposing for sale, directly or indirectly delivering for value, peddling, keeping with intent to sell and trafficking in.
38. "Spirituous liquor" includes alcohol, brandy, whiskey, rum, tequila, mescal, gin, wine, porter, ale, beer, any malt liquor or malt beverage, absinthe, a compound or mixture of any of them or of any of them with any vegetable or other substance, alcohol bitters, bitters containing alcohol, any liquid mixture or preparation, whether patented or otherwise, that produces intoxication, fruits preserved in ardent spirits, and beverages containing more than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume.
39. "Tamperproof sealed" means designed to prevent consumption without the removal of a tamperproof cap, seal, cork or closure that has a device, mechanism or adhesive that clearly shows whether a container has been opened.
40. "Vehicle" means any means of transportation by land, water or air, and includes everything made use of in any way for such transportation.
41. "Vending machine" means a machine that dispenses merchandise through the means of coin, token, credit card or other nonpersonal means of accepting payment for merchandise received.
42. "Veteran" means a person who has served in the United States air force, army, navy, marine corps or coast guard, as an active nurse in the services of the American red cross, in the army and navy nurse corps in time of war, or in any expedition of the armed forces of the United States, and who has received a discharge other than dishonorable.
43. "Voting security" means any security presently entitling the owner or holder of the security to vote for the election of directors of an applicant or a licensee.
44. "Wine" means the product obtained by the fermentation of grapes, other agricultural products containing natural or added sugar or cider or any such alcoholic beverage fortified with grape brandy and containing not more than twenty-four percent of alcohol by volume.