New Hampshire HB 1481: enabling on-premises licensees to sell drinks made with distilled alcohol for take-out.

Bill Text

HB 1481-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2026 SESSION

 26-2832

 08/09

HOUSE BILL 1481-FN

AN ACT enabling on-premises licensees to sell drinks made with distilled alcohol for take-out.

SPONSORS: Rep. Hunt, Ches. 14

COMMITTEE: Commerce and Consumer Affairs

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ANALYSIS

 This bill enables on-premises licensees to purchase a license that allows the purchase of drinks made with distilled alcohol for take-out.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

 Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

 Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

 26-2832

 08/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Six

AN ACT enabling on-premises licensees to sell drinks made with distilled alcohol for take-out.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 1 Transportation of Beverages and Wine. RSA 179:15 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

? 179:15 Transportation of Beverages and Wine. 

 I. A person may transport or deliver beverages and wines in this state without a license, provided such beverages and wines were obtained as authorized by this title and provided such beverages and wines are for consumption only and not for resale purposes. 

 II. Licensees may transport and deliver to their place of business beverages and wines purchased as authorized under this title and may transport and deliver anywhere in the state such beverages and wines ordered from and sold by them in vehicles operated under the control of themselves or of their employees, provided that the owner of such vehicles shall carry a copy of the license issued by the commission in the vehicle driven on behalf of the licensee for whom they are transporting such beverages and wines. 

 III. Every person operating such a vehicle, when engaged in such transportation or delivery, shall carry a copy of the license in the vehicle so operated and shall carry such evidence as the commission by rule may prescribe showing the origin and destination of the beverages and wines being transported or delivered. Upon demand of any law enforcement officer, investigator, or employee of the commission, the person operating such vehicle shall produce for inspection a copy of the license and the evidence required by this section. Failure to produce such license or evidence shall constitute prima facie evidence of unlawful transportation. Except as otherwise provided, beverages and wines may be transported within the state only by a railroad or steamboat corporation or by a person regularly and lawfully conducting a general express or trucking business, and in each case holding a valid carrier's license issued by the commission. Nothing in this section shall prohibit individual retail licensees from arranging for the delivery of wine products to a location central for the parties involved. 

 2 New Section; Restaurant Delivery License. Amend RSA 178 by inserting after section 21 the following new section:

 178:21-a Restaurant Delivery License. 

 I. Any on-premises licensee may purchase a restaurant delivery license from the commission for $250. Such license shall expire one year after the date of issuance and may be renewed by an on-premises licensee for $250 each year. 

 II. Notwithstanding the provisions of RSA 175:6 and RSA 179:15, an on-premises licensee in possession of a restaurant delivery license shall only be permitted to transport beverages, wines, and liquor for delivery to consumers subject to the following requirements: 

 (a) All deliveries of beverages, wines, and liquor shall be accompanied by food prepared by the restaurant delivery licensee and ordered by the consumer; 

 (b) All deliveries of beverages, wines, and liquor conducted pursuant to this section shall be undertaken during the on-premises licensee's hours of operation and shall be delivered only to areas where the sale of alcoholic beverages is permitted; 

 (c) All deliveries of beverages, wines, and liquor shall be solely for the personal consumption of the consumer and not for resale; 

 (d) All beverages and wines transported pursuant to RSA 179:15, II shall be transported in their original, manufactured, sealed containers; 

 (e) ?All drinks containing liquor transported pursuant to this section shall be transported in a container: 

 (1) That shall clearly identify the licensee from which the alcoholic beverage was purchased; 

 (2) That is sealed, with a tamper proof seal, by the restaurant delivery licensee in a manner that clearly demonstrates when the container has been opened; 

 (3) That identifies, on a label, a description of the contents of the alcohol in the beverage; and 

 (4) That identifies, on