Montana Alcoholic Beverage Control Division briefs committee on warehouse expansion, licensing and online-shipment enforcement

The Department of Revenue's Alcoholic Beverage Control Division presented an overview of Montana's liquor regulation and distribution system to the Business, Labor, and Economic Affairs Committee, emphasizing the state's role as the wholesale liquor operator and the operational and enforcement challenges the division faces.

Deputy Director Scott Mendenhall introduced the department's biennial report and directed members to the publication on the department website. Becky Schlauch, administrator of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, told the committee Montana is a control-state wholesaler and described the division's three core functions: licensing, liquor distribution and outreach. "Being a controlled jurisdiction simply means that the state participates in the distribution channel," Schlauch said.

Schlauch walked members through licensing types and recent changes, including the "co-located licensed premises" option that allows a manufacturer (for example a brewery, distillery or winery) to stack a retail license at the same location to sell more product. She also described a delivery endorsement for retailers that permits beer and wine delivery under conditions that include a delivering employee aged 21 or older and that the delivery include food…