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108 Op. Md. Att'y Gen. 3 (2023)

handle is hein.sag/sagmd0112 and id is 1 raw text is: ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES STATUTORY INTERPRETATION - HEALTH - FOOD SERVICE FACILITIES - WINERIES - WHETHER THE HOLDER OF A CLASS 4 LIMITED WINERY LICENSE CAN PREPARE CERTAIN LIMITED FOODS FOR SALE OR SERVICE AT THE WINERY March 14, 2023 Edward C. Rothstein, President Board of Carroll County Commissioners Since the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Maryland has had a detailed scheme of laws that regulate the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcohol in the State. See 1933 Md. Laws, Spec. Sess., ch. 2; see also U.S. Const., Amend. XXI (repealing the 18th amendment and recognizing state regulation of alcohol). That scheme, broadly speaking, establishes a three tier system that distinguishes alcohol manufacturers from wholesalers, and wholesalers from alcohol retailers. See Department of Legis. Servs., Regulation of the Alcoholic Beverages Industry in Maryland 13 (2017) (Regulation of Alcohol). Licenses for manufacturers and wholesalers are issued by the State's Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC), while retail licenses are issued by the local boards of license commissioners in the counties and Baltimore City. Regulation of Alcohol, supra, at 13; see also 99 Opinions of the Attorney General 31, 32 (2014). You have asked for an opinion of the Attorney General regarding the scope of one type of manufacturer's license-the Alcoholic Beverages Article. Among other things, that provision 1 These sources and others written before 2021 indicate that the State Comptroller is responsible for licensing and regulating alcohol manufacturers and wholesalers. In 2019, the Legislature passed a law creating the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, see 2019 Md. Laws, ch. 12, which, as of 2021, is tasked with issuing manufacturing and wholesaling licenses, and generally enforcing and regulating the State's alcohol laws, see Comptroller of Maryland, Maryland Alcohol [and] Tobacco Commission, https://www.marylandtaxes.gov/divisions/atcndex.php (noting that, [e]ffective January 1, 2021, the ATC became authorized to enforce and regulate the state's laws concerning alcoholic beverages) (last visited Mar. 8, 2023). The Comptroller continues to have authority over alcohol taxes. See Alcohol & Tobacco Tax Joint Annual Report by the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission & Comptroller of Maryland 1 (2021). 3