H 4001

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 4001
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS
BY AMENDING SECTION 61-6-4160, RELATING TO THE PROHIBITION ON THE SALE OF
ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS ON CERTAIN DAYS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN LOCAL
GOVERNING BODIES MAY AUTHORIZE THE SALE OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS ON SUNDAYS UNDER
CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  Section 61-6-4160 of the S.C.
Code is amended to read:
    Section 61-6-4160. (A) It is unlawful to sell alcoholic liquors on Sunday except as authorized by law, on Christmas Day, or during periods proclaimed by the Governor in the
interest of law and order or public morals and decorum. Full authority to
proclaim these periods is conferred upon the Governor in addition to all his
other powers. It is unlawful for a retail dealer to sell
alcoholic liquors on Sunday except as authorized and provided for in this
section.
    (B) The Department of Revenue may
issue a permit to allow the sale of alcoholic liquors on Sunday between 1:00
p.m. and 5:00 p.m. by a licensed retail dealer in a county or municipality that
authorizes the sale of alcoholic liquors on Sunday in the manner provided in
subsection (C). The department shall charge a nonrefundable filing fee of one
hundred dollars for processing each application. The department shall charge
for an annual fifty-two week permit a nonrefundable fee of three thousand
dollars per year. However, the fifty-two-week permit must not extend beyond the
expiration date of the biennial license issued pursuant to this chapter. If the
expiration date is less than fifty-two weeks from the date of the application
for the fifty-two-week permit, the department must prorate the
three-thousand-dollar fee on a monthly basis. The permit fee must be waived if
the applicant certifies to the department that the applicant is the owner of
the retail premises in which the permit is sought, and the applicant does not
have an ownership interest in other retail locations where a permit authorizing
the Sunday sale of liquor may be issued. The department in its sole discretion
shall specify the terms and conditions of the permit. The filing and permit
fees must be distributed by the Department of Revenue pursuant to the
provisions of Section 61-6-2010(B).
    (C)(1) A permit authorized by this
section may be issued only in those counties or municipalities where a majority
of the qualified electors voting in a referendum vote in favor of the issuance
of the permit. The county or municipal election commission, as the case may be,
shall conduct a referendum upon petition of at least ten percent but not more
than seven thousand five hundred qualified electors of the county or
municipality, as the case may be. The petition form must be submitted to the
county or municipal election commission not less than one hundred twenty days
before the date of the referendum. The names on the petition must be on the
petition form provided to county or municipal election officials by the State
Election Commission. The names on the petition must be certified by the county
or municipal election commission within sixty days after receiving the petition
form. The referendum must be conducted at the next general election. The county
or municipal election commission shall cause a notice to be published in a
newspaper circulated in the county or municipality, as the case may be, at
least seven days before the referendum. The state election laws must apply to
the referendum, mutatis mutandis. The county or municipal election commission
shall publish the results of the referendum and certify them to the South
Carolina Department of Revenue. The question on the ballot must be:
    "Shall the South Carolina Department of Revenue be
authorized to issue permits to licensed retail dealers in this (county)
(municipality) to allow for the sale of alcoholic liquors on Sunday between
1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. in compliance with the provisions of the Alcoholic
Beverage Control Act?"
       (2) A referendum for this purpose may
not be held by a county or municipality more often than once in forty-eight
months by the same county or municipality initiating the referendum.
       (3) The conducting of a referendum by
a county shall not affect the right of a municipality which is within that
county to conduct a referendum within forty-eight months of the county
referendum.
       (4) The expenses for this purpose must
be paid by the county or municipality conducting the referendum.
       (5) In addition to the petition method
of calling the referendum provided for in item (1), a county or municipal
governing body by ordinance also may call the referendum. Upon receipt of a
copy of the ordinance filed with the county or municipal election commission at
least sixty days before the date of the next general election, the commission
shall conduct the referendum in the manner provided in this section at that
general election. The provisions of this item are in addition to the authority
of a municipal governing body to call for a referendum under the circumstances
enumerated in subsection (D).
    (D)(1) The municipal governing body may
by ordinance order a referendum on the question of the issuance of permits to
allow the sale of alcoholic liquors in the following circumstances:
  (a) parts of the municipality are
located in more than one county;
  (b) as a result of a favorable vote in
a county referendum held pursuant to this section, permits may be issued in
only the parts of the municipality located in that county; and
  (c) the proposed referendum would
authorize issuance of permits in the remaining parts of the municipality.
       (2) The method of ordering a
referendum provided in this subsection is in addition to the petition method.
       (3) Upon receipt of a copy of the
ordinance filed with the municipal election commission at least sixty days
before the date of the general election, the commission must conduct the
referendum at the time of the general election and publish and certify its
results in the same manner as provided in subsection (C).
    (E) Notwithstanding the results of a
county referendum held in the county in which the municipality resides:
       (1) a municipal referendum failing to
approve the issuance of permits pursuant to this section shall have the effect
of not authorizing the issuance of permits in the entirety of the municipality;
and
       (2) a municipal referendum approving
the issuance of permits pursuant to this section shall have the effect of
authorizing the issuance of permits in the entirety of the municipality.
    (F) Permits authorized to be issued in
a county or municipality pursuant to this section may continue to be issued or
reissued without the requirement of a further referendum.
    (G)(1) For purposes of referendums held
pursuant to this section, "general election" means a:
  (a) municipal general election held at
a time other than the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of
even-numbered years; or
  (b) county general election held on
the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November of even-numbered
years.
       (2) A municipality that does not have
a municipal general election scheduled within the same calendar year as a
county general election may call, by ordinance, for a referendum to be held on
the same date as the county general election, provided that a copy of the
ordinance has been filed with the county and municipal election commissions no
later than the date required by Section 7-13-355. The expenses for a referendum
ordered by a municipality must be paid by the municipality. When a municipal
referendum is held at the time of a county general election, the referendum may
be conducted by the municipal or county election commission as provided for by
an agreement between the municipality and county.
    (H) A
person who violates a provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction, must be punished as follows:
    (a)(1) for a first offense, by a fine of two hundred dollars
or imprisonment for sixty days;
    (b)(2) for a second offense, by a fine of one thousand
dollars or imprisonment for one year; and
    (c)(3) for a third or subsequent offense, by a fine of two
thousand dollars or imprisonment for two years.
SECTION
2.  This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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This web page was last updated on February 13, 2025 at 11:34 AM