Minnesota Session Laws - 1992, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1992 

                        CHAPTER 486-H.F.No. 2709 
           An act relating to alcoholic beverages; authorizing 
          the sale of confectionery containing alcohol in 
          confectionery stores; providing for the division of 
          liquor control to use unmarked motor vehicles for 
          liquor investigations; providing for reasonable 
          licensing fees; specifying conditions under which a 
          municipality is required to hold a public hearing on 
          the question of continued operation of a municipal 
          liquor store; authorizing dispensing of liquor by an 
          on-sale licensee at the National Sports Center in 
          Blaine; authorizing Blue Earth county to issue an 
          on-sale liquor license to a billiard hall; authorizing 
          Lake township in Roseau county to establish, own, and 
          operate an exclusive liquor store; authorizing the 
          counties of Swift and Aitkin to issue off-sale liquor 
          licenses; amending Minnesota Statutes 1990, sections 
          16B.54, subdivision 2; 31.121; 168.012, subdivision 1; 
          340A.101, subdivision 15, and by adding a subdivision; 
          340A.412, by adding a subdivision; and 340A.602; 
          Minnesota Statutes 1991 Supplement, sections 340A.404, 
          subdivision 2; and 340A.408, subdivision 2; proposing 
          coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 31. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 16B.54, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [VEHICLES.] (a)  [ACQUISITION FROM AGENCY; 
APPROPRIATION.] The commissioner may direct an agency to make a 
transfer of a passenger motor vehicle or truck currently 
assigned to it.  The transfer must be made to the commissioner 
for use in the central motor pool.  The commissioner shall 
reimburse an agency whose motor vehicles have been paid for with 
funds dedicated by the constitution for a special purpose and 
which are assigned to the central motor pool.  The amount of 
reimbursement for a motor vehicle is its average wholesale price 
as determined from the midwest edition of the National 
Automobile Dealers Association official used car guide. 
    (b)  [PURCHASE.] To the extent that funds are available for 
the purpose, the commissioner may purchase or otherwise acquire 
additional passenger motor vehicles and trucks necessary for the 
central motor pool.  The title to all motor vehicles assigned to 
or purchased or acquired for the central motor pool is in the 
name of the department of administration.  
    (c)  [TRANSFER AT AGENCY REQUEST.] On the request of an 
agency, the commissioner may transfer to the central motor pool 
any passenger motor vehicle or truck for the purpose of 
disposing of it.  The department or agency transferring the 
vehicle or truck must be paid for it from the motor pool 
revolving account established by this section in an amount equal 
to two-thirds of the average wholesale price of the vehicle or 
truck as determined from the midwest edition of the National 
Automobile Dealers Association official used car guide. 
    (d)  [VEHICLES; MARKING.] The commissioner shall provide 
for the uniform marking of all motor vehicles.  Motor vehicle 
colors must be selected from the regular color chart provided by 
the manufacturer each year.  The commissioner may further 
provide for the use of motor vehicles without marking by the 
governor, the lieutenant governor, the division of criminal 
apprehension, division of liquor control, division of gambling 
enforcement, arson investigators of the division of fire marshal 
in the department of public safety, financial institutions 
division of the department of commerce, division of state 
lottery in the department of gaming, criminal investigators of 
the department of revenue, state-owned community service 
facilities in the department of human services, the 
investigative staff of the department of jobs and training, and 
the office of the attorney general.  
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 31.121, is 
amended to read: 
    31.121 [FOOD ADULTERATION.] 
    A food shall be deemed to be adulterated: 
    (a) If it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious 
substance which may render it injurious to health; but in case 
the substance is not an added substance such food shall not be 
considered adulterated under this clause if the quantity of such 
substance in such food does not ordinarily render it injurious 
to health; or 
    (b) If it bears or contains any added poisonous or added 
deleterious substance, other than one which is a pesticide 
chemical in or on a raw agricultural commodity; a food additive; 
or a color additive, which is unsafe within the meaning of 
section 31.122; or 
    (c) If it is a raw agricultural commodity and it bears or 
contains a pesticide chemical which is unsafe within the meaning 
of section 31.122; or 
    (d) If it is or it bears or contains any food additive 
which is unsafe within the meaning of section 31.122; provided 
that where a pesticide chemical has been used in or on a raw 
agricultural commodity in conformity with an exemption granted 
or tolerance prescribed under section 31.122, and such raw 
agricultural commodity has been subjected to processing such as 
canning, cooking, freezing, dehydrating, or milling, the residue 
of such pesticide chemical remaining in or on such processed 
food shall, notwithstanding the provisions of section 31.122 and 
this clause, not be deemed unsafe if such residue in or on the 
raw agricultural commodity has been removed to the extent 
possible in good manufacturing practice, and the concentration 
of such residue in the processed food when ready to eat is not 
greater than the tolerance prescribed for the raw agricultural 
commodity; or 
     (e) If it consists in whole or in part of a diseased, 
contaminated, filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance, or if it 
is otherwise unfit for food; or 
     (f) If it has been produced, prepared, packed, or held 
under insanitary conditions whereby it may have become 
contaminated with filth, or whereby it may have been rendered 
diseased, unwholesome, or injurious to health; or 
     (g) If it is in whole or in part the product of a diseased 
animal or of an animal which has died otherwise than by 
slaughter, or of an animal that has been fed upon the uncooked 
offal from a slaughterhouse; or 
     (h) If its container is composed in whole or in part of any 
poisonous or deleterious substance which may render the contents 
injurious to health; or 
     (i) If it has been intentionally subjected to radiation, 
unless the use of the radiation was in conformity with a rule or 
exemption in effect pursuant to section 31.122 or section 409 of 
the federal act; or 
     (j) If any valuable constituent has been in whole or in 
part omitted or abstracted therefrom; or 
    (k) If any substance has been substituted wholly or in part 
therefor; or 
    (l) If damage or inferiority has been concealed in any 
manner; or 
    (m) If any substance has been added thereto or mixed or 
packed therewith so as to increase its bulk or weight, or reduce 
its quality or strength or make it appear better or of greater 
value than it is; or 
    (n) If it is confectionery, and (1) has partially or 
completely imbedded therein any nonnutritive object; provided, 
that this clause shall not apply in the case of any nonnutritive 
object if in the judgment of the commissioner, as provided by 
rules, such object is of practical functional value to the 
confectionery product and would not render the product injurious 
or hazardous to health; or (2) bears or contains any 
nonnutritive substance; provided, that this clause shall not 
apply to (i) a confection containing alcohol as defined in 
section 31.76, or (ii) a safe nonnutritive substance which is in 
or on confectionery by reason of its use for some practical 
functional purpose in the manufacture, packaging, or storing of 
such confectionery if the use of the substance does not promote 
deception of the consumer or otherwise result in adulteration or 
misbranding in violation of any provision of the Minnesota food 
law; and provided further, that the commissioner may, for the 
purpose of avoiding or resolving uncertainty as to the 
application of this clause, issue rules allowing or prohibiting 
the use of particular nonnutritive substances; or 
    (o) If it is or bears or contains any color additive which 
is unsafe within the meaning of section 31.122; or 
    (p) If it is oleomargarine or margarine or butter and any 
of the raw material used therein consisted in whole or in part 
of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance, or such 
oleomargarine or margarine or butter is otherwise unfit for food.
     Sec. 3.  [31.76] [CONFECTIONS CONTAINING ALCOHOL.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITION.] "Confection containing 
alcohol" is a confection that contains or bears not more than 
five percent alcohol by volume where the alcohol is in a 
nonliquid form by reason of being mixed with other substances in 
the manufacture of the confection.  "Confection containing 
alcohol" does not include liqueur-filled candy as defined in 
section 340A.101, subdivision 15b. 
    Subd. 2.  [REGULATIONS.] (a) A confection containing 
alcohol may not be sold to any person under the age of 21 years. 
    (b) Each confection containing alcohol must bear a label 
that contains (i) a conspicuous, readily legible statement that 
reads "This product may not be sold to anyone under age 21 years 
of age," and (ii) a conspicuous, readily legible statement to 
the effect that the product contains less than five percent 
alcohol by volume. 
    (c) A confection containing alcohol may be sold only by (i) 
an exclusive liquor store licensed under chapter 340A, or (ii) a 
business establishment that derives more than 50 percent of its 
gross sales from the sale of confections. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 168.012, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  (a) The following vehicles are exempt from 
the provisions of this chapter requiring payment of tax and 
registration fees, except as provided in subdivision 1c:  
    (1) vehicles owned and used solely in the transaction of 
official business by representatives of foreign powers, by the 
federal government, the state, or any political subdivision; 
    (2) vehicles owned and used exclusively by educational 
institutions and used solely in the transportation of pupils to 
and from such institutions; 
    (3) vehicles used solely in driver education programs at 
nonpublic high schools; 
    (4) vehicles owned by nonprofit charities and used 
exclusively to transport disabled persons for educational 
purposes; 
    (5) vehicles owned and used by honorary consul or consul 
general of foreign governments; and 
    (6) ambulances owned by ambulance services licensed under 
section 144.802, the general appearance of which is unmistakable.
    (b) Vehicles owned by the federal government, municipal 
fire apparatus, police patrols and ambulances, the general 
appearance of which is unmistakable, shall not be required to 
register or display number plates.  
    (c) Unmarked vehicles used in general police work and, 
liquor investigations, arson investigations, and passenger 
automobiles, pickup trucks, and buses owned or operated by the 
department of corrections shall be registered and shall display 
appropriate license number plates which shall be furnished by 
the registrar at cost.  Original and renewal applications for 
these license plates authorized for use in general police work 
and for use by the department of corrections must be accompanied 
by a certification signed by the appropriate chief of police if 
issued to a police vehicle, the appropriate sheriff if issued to 
a sheriff's vehicle, the commissioner of corrections if issued 
to a department of corrections vehicle, or the appropriate 
officer in charge if issued to a vehicle of any other law 
enforcement agency.  The certification must be on a form 
prescribed by the commissioner and state that the vehicle will 
be used exclusively for a purpose authorized by this section.  
      (d) Unmarked vehicles used by the department of revenue in 
conducting seizures or criminal investigations must be 
registered and must display passenger vehicle classification 
license number plates which shall be furnished at cost by the 
registrar.  Original and renewal applications for these 
passenger vehicle license plates must be accompanied by a 
certification signed by the commissioner of revenue.  The 
certification must be on a form prescribed by the commissioner 
and state that the vehicles will be used exclusively for the 
purposes authorized by this section. 
     (e) All other motor vehicles shall be registered and 
display tax-exempt number plates which shall be furnished by the 
registrar at cost, except as provided in subdivision 1c.  All 
vehicles required to display tax-exempt number plates shall have 
the name of the state department or political subdivision, or 
the nonpublic high school operating a driver education program, 
on the vehicle plainly displayed on both sides thereof in 
letters not less than 2-1/2 inches high and one-half inch wide; 
except that each state hospital and institution for the mentally 
ill and mentally retarded may have one vehicle without the 
required identification on the sides of the vehicle.  Such 
identification shall be in a color giving contrast with that of 
the part of the vehicle on which it is placed and shall endure 
throughout the term of the registration.  The identification 
must not be on a removable plate or placard and shall be kept 
clean and visible at all times; except that a removable plate or 
placard may be utilized on vehicles leased or loaned to a 
political subdivision or to a nonpublic high school driver 
education program. 
     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 340A.101, 
subdivision 15, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 15.  [LICENSED PREMISES.] "Licensed premises" is the 
premises described in the approved license application.  In the 
case of a restaurant, club, or exclusive liquor store licensed 
for on-sales of alcoholic beverages and located on a golf 
course, "licensed premises" means the entire golf course except 
for areas where motor vehicles are regularly parked or operated. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 340A.101, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 15b.  [LIQUEUR-FILLED CANDY.] "Liqueur-filled candy" 
is any confectionery containing more than one-half of one 
percent alcohol by volume in liquid form that is intended for or 
capable of beverage use. 
     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1991 Supplement, section 
340A.404, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [SPECIAL PROVISION; CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS.] (a) The 
city of Minneapolis may issue an on-sale intoxicating liquor 
license to the Guthrie Theatre, the Cricket Theatre, the Orpheum 
Theatre, and the State Theatre, notwithstanding the limitations 
of law, or local ordinance, or charter provision relating to 
zoning or school or church distances.  The licenses authorize 
sales on all days of the week to holders of tickets for 
performances presented by the theatres and to members of the 
nonprofit corporations holding the licenses and to their guests. 
    (b) The city of Minneapolis may issue an intoxicating 
liquor license to 510 Groveland Associates, a Minnesota 
cooperative, for use by a restaurant on the premises owned by 
510 Groveland Associates, notwithstanding limitations of law, or 
local ordinance, or charter provision. 
    (c) The city of Minneapolis may issue an on-sale 
intoxicating liquor license to Zuhrah Shrine Temple for use on 
the premises owned by Zuhrah Shrine Temple at 2540 Park Avenue 
South in Minneapolis, notwithstanding limitations of law, or 
local ordinances, or charter provision relating to zoning or 
school or church distances. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1991 Supplement, section 
340A.408, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [INTOXICATING LIQUOR; ON-SALE.] (a) The license 
fee for a retail on-sale intoxicating liquor license is the fee 
set by the city or county issuing the license subject to the 
limitations imposed under this subdivision.  The license fee is 
intended to cover the costs of issuing and inspecting and other 
directly related costs of enforcement. 
    (b) The annual license fee for an on-sale intoxicating 
liquor license issued by a municipality to a club must be no 
greater than: 
    (1) $300 for a club with under 200 members; 
    (2) $500 for a club with between 201 and 500 members; 
    (3) $650 for a club with between 501 and 1,000 members; 
    (4) $800 for a club with between 1,001 and 2,000 members; 
    (5) $1,000 for a club with between 2,001 and 4,000 members; 
    (6) $2,000 for a club with between 4,001 and 6,000 members; 
or 
    (7) $3,000 for a club with over 6,000 members. 
    (c) The license fee for the issuance of a wine license may 
not exceed one-half of the license fee charged for an on-sale 
intoxicating liquor license, or $2,000, whichever is less. 
    (d) The town board of a town in which an on-sale 
establishment has been licensed by a county may impose an 
additional license fee on each such establishment in an amount 
not to exceed 20 percent of the county license fee. 
     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 340A.412, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 13.  [FIRST CLASS CITIES; RENEWAL OF INACTIVE 
LICENSES PROHIBITED.] A city of the first class may not renew an 
on-sale intoxicating liquor license if the holder of the license 
has not made on-sales authorized by the license at any time 
during the one-year period immediately prior to the date of 
renewal. 
    Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 340A.602, is 
amended to read: 
    340A.602 [CONTINUATION.] 
    In any city in which the report of the operations of a 
municipal liquor store has shown in any two of three consecutive 
years both (1) a net loss in any two of three consecutive years 
or has shown and (2) that no contribution to other municipal 
funds has been made from the net income of the operation in any 
two of three consecutive years, the city council shall, not more 
than 45 days prior to the end of the fiscal year following the 
three-year period, hold a public hearing on the question of 
whether the city shall continue to operate a municipal liquor 
store.  Two weeks notice, written in clear and easily 
understandable language, of the hearing must be printed in the 
city's official newspaper.  Following the hearing the city 
council may on its own motion or shall upon petition of five 
percent or more of the registered voters of the city, submit to 
the voters at a general or special municipal election the 
question of whether the city shall continue or discontinue 
municipal liquor store operations by a date which the city 
council shall designate.  The date designated by the city 
council must not be more than 30 months following the date of 
the election. 
     Sec. 11.  [NATIONAL SPORTS CENTER; SALES OF ALCOHOLIC 
BEVERAGES.] 
    The Blaine city council may by ordinance authorize a holder 
of a retail on-sale intoxicating liquor license issued by the 
city or a contiguous city to dispense alcoholic beverages at the 
National Sports Center to persons attending a social event at 
the center.  The licensee must be engaged to dispense alcoholic 
beverages at a social event held by a person or organization 
permitted to use the National Sports Center.  Nothing in this 
section authorizes a licensee to dispense alcoholic beverages at 
any amateur athletic event held at the center. 
    Sec. 12.  [ON-SALE LICENSE; BLUE EARTH COUNTY.] 
    The Blue Earth county board may issue an on-sale 
intoxicating liquor license to a billiard hall located within 
South Bend township in the county, without regard to whether the 
licensed establishment meets the definition of "restaurant" in 
Minnesota Statutes, section 340A.101, subdivision 25.  All other 
provisions of Minnesota Statutes, chapter 340A, not inconsistent 
with this section apply to the license authorized under this 
section. 
    Sec. 13.  [LAKE TOWNSHIP; OPERATION OF LIQUOR STORE.] 
    Notwithstanding any other provision of law:  (1) the Roseau 
county board may issue an off-sale retail intoxicating liquor 
license to the town board of Lake township in the county, and 
may set the fee for the license, and (2) the town board of Lake 
township may by majority vote establish, own, and operate an 
exclusive liquor store within the township for the off-sale of 
intoxicating liquor if the exclusive liquor store is operated 
under a license issued by Roseau county.  The authority granted 
under this section does not include the authority for the town 
board to issue retail alcoholic beverage licenses.  All 
provisions of Minnesota Statutes, chapter 340A, that apply to 
the off-sale intoxicating liquor licenses, not inconsistent with 
this section, apply to the establishment, ownership, and 
operation of an exclusive liquor store under this section. 
    Sec. 14.  [SWIFT COUNTY; OFF-SALE LICENSE.] 
    Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 340A.405, 
subdivision 2, paragraph (e), the Swift county board may issue 
an off-sale intoxicating liquor license to an establishment 
located less than one mile by the most direct route from the 
boundary of the city of Benson.  All other provisions of 
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 340A, not inconsistent with this 
section apply to the license authorized under this section. 
    Sec. 15.  [AITKIN COUNTY; OFF-SALE LICENSE.] 
    Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 340A.405, 
subdivision 2, the Aitkin county board may issue an off-sale 
intoxicating liquor license to an establishment located within 
Malmo township.  All provisions of Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
340A, not inconsistent with this section apply to the license 
authorized under this section. 
    Sec. 16.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Sections 10 to 12 and 15 are effective the day following 
final enactment.  Section 13 is effective on approval by the 
town board of Lake township and compliance with Minnesota 
Statutes, section 645.021, subdivision 3.  Section 14 takes 
effect upon approval by resolutions adopted by the governing 
bodies of Six Mile Grove township and the city of Benson. 
    Presented to the governor April 16, 1992 
    Signed by the governor April 20, 1992, 4:40 p.m.