State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title30 > Chap545 > Sec30-91Sec. 30-91. Hours and days of closing. Exemption. (a) The sale or the dispensing or consumption or the presence in glasses or other receptacles suitable to permit the consumption of alcoholic liquor by an individual in places operating under hotel permits, restaurant permits, cafe permits, restaurant permits for catering establishments, bowling establishment permits, racquetball facility permits, club permits, coliseum permits, coliseum concession permits, special sporting facility restaurant permits, special sporting facility employee recreational permits, special sporting facility guest permits, special sporting facility concession permits, special sporting facility bar permits, golf country club permits, nonprofit public museum permits, university permits, airport restaurant permits, airport bar permits, airport airline club permits, tavern permits, a manufacturer permit for a brew pub, casino permits, caterer liquor permits and charitable organization permits shall be unlawful on: (1) Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday between the hours of one o'clock a.m. and nine o'clock a.m.; (2) Saturday between the hours of two o'clock a.m. and nine o'clock a.m.; (3) Sunday between the hours of two o'clock a.m. and eleven o'clock a.m.; (4) Christmas, except (A) for alcoholic liquor that is served where food is also available during the hours otherwise permitted by this section for the day on which Christmas falls, and (B) by casino permittees at casinos, as defined in section 30-37k; and (5) January first between the hours of three o'clock a.m. and nine o'clock a.m., except that on any Sunday that is January first the prohibitions of this section shall be between the hours of three o'clock a.m. and eleven o'clock a.m.
(b) Any town may, by vote of a town meeting or by ordinance, reduce the number of hours during which sales under subsection (a) of this section, except sales pursuant to an airport restaurant permit, airport bar permit or airport airline club permit, shall be permissible. In all cases when a town, either by vote of a town meeting or by ordinance, has acted on the sale of alcoholic liquor or the reduction of the number of hours when such sale is permissible, such action shall become effective on the first day of the month succeeding such action and no further action shall be taken until at least one year has elapsed since the previous action was taken.
(c) Notwithstanding any provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section to the contrary, such sale or dispensing or consumption or presence in glasses in places operating under a bowling establishment permit shall be unlawful before two p.m. on any day, except in that portion of the permit premises which is located in a separate room or rooms entry to which, from the bowling lane area of the establishment, is by means of a door or doors which shall remain closed at all times except to permit entrance and egress to and from the lane area. Any alcoholic liquor sold or dispensed in a place operating under a bowling establishment permit shall be served in containers such as, but not limited to, plastic or glass. Any town may, by vote of a town meeting or by ordinance, reduce the number of hours during which sales under this subsection shall be permissible.
(d) The sale or dispensing of alcoholic liquor in places operating under package store permits, drug store permits, manufacturer permits for beer or grocery store beer permits shall be unlawful on Decoration Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, New Year's Day, Sunday or Christmas or, if Independence Day, Christmas or New Year's Day occurs on a Sunday, on the Monday next following such day except that such sale or dispensing shall be lawful on any Independence Day occurring on a Saturday; and such sale or dispensing of alcoholic liquor in places operating under package store permits, drug store permits, manufacturer permits for beer and grocery store beer permits shall be unlawful on any other day before eight o'clock a.m. and after nine o'clock p.m. It shall be unlawful for the holder of a manufacturing permit for a brew pub to sell beer for consumption off the premises on the days or hours prohibited by this subsection. Any town may, by a vote of a town meeting or by ordinance, reduce the number of hours during which such sale shall be permissible.
(e) In the case of any premises operating under a tavern permit or premises operating under a cafe permit, wherein, under the provisions of this section, the sale of alcoholic liquor is forbidden on certain days or hours of the day, or during the period when a tavern permit or cafe permit is suspended, it shall likewise be unlawful to keep such premises open to, or permit it to be occupied by, the public on such days or hours.
(f) The retail sale of wine and the tasting of free samples of wine by visitors and prospective retail customers of a permittee holding a manufacturer permit for a farm winery on the premises of such permittee shall be unlawful on Sunday before eleven o'clock a.m. and after eight o'clock p.m. and on any other day before ten o'clock a.m. and after eight o'clock p.m. Any town may, by vote of a town meeting or by ordinance, reduce the number of hours during which sales and the tasting of free samples of wine under this subsection shall be permissible.
(g) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (a) of this section to the contrary, food or nonalcoholic beverages may be sold, dispensed or consumed in places operating under an airport restaurant permit, an airport bar permit or an airport airline club permit, at any time, as allowed by agreement between the state of Connecticut and its lessees or concessionaires.
(h) The sale or the dispensing or consumption or the presence in glasses or other receptacles suitable to permit the consumption of alcoholic liquor by an individual in places operating under a nonprofit golf tournament permit shall be unlawful on any day prior to eleven o'clock a.m. and after nine o'clock p.m.
(i) The tasting of free samples of beer by visitors of a permittee holding a manufacturing permit for beer on the premises of such permittee shall be unlawful on Sunday before eleven o'clock a.m. and after eight o'clock p.m. and on any other day before ten o'clock a.m. and after eight o'clock p.m. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the right of a holder of such permit to conduct manufacturing operations at any time. Any town may, by vote of a town meeting or ordinance, reduce the number of hours during which the tasting and free samples of beer under this subsection shall be permissible.
(j) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any permittee to continue the sale or dispensing of alcoholic liquor until the closing hour established under this section.
(1949 Rev., S. 4296; 1949, March, 1950, 1951, S. 2170d; 1957, P.A. 617, S. 2; 1961, P.A. 301; February, 1965, P.A. 553, S. 12; 1967, P.A. 365, S. 4; 489; 1971, P.A. 89, S. 1; 254, S. 5; 309, S. 1; 541; 1972, P.A. 1, S. 1; 68, S. 5; 294, S. 32; P.A. 73-11; 73-533, S. 7; P.A. 74-181, S. 1, 2; 74-307, S. 12; P.A. 75-598, S. 5; P.A. 76-347, S. 6; P.A. 79-272; P.A. 80-181; 80-198, S. 1; P.A. 81-169, S. 1, 3; 81-367, S. 8, 9; P.A. 82-33, S. 1, 2; 82-299, S. 5, 6; P.A. 83-283, S. 4, 5; P.A. 84-494, S. 10, 11; 84-546, S. 80, 173; P.A. 85-380, S. 4, 10, 12; P.A. 86-403, S. 98, 132; P.A. 87-321, S. 5, 6; P.A. 89-181, S. 5, 6; P.A. 90-44; P.A. 93-139, S. 68; P.A. 95-161, S. 2; P.A. 99-159, S. 3; P.A. 00-192, S. 77, 102; P.A. 01-17, S. 1; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-1, S. 103; P.A. 05-7, S. 2; 05-226, S. 2, 3; 05-288, S. 134.)
History: 1961 act permitted sale of liquor after voting hours on election days in hotel, restaurant, club and tavern permit premises; 1965 act added references to golf country club permits; 1967 acts added references to cafe permits and changed closing time for sales under package store, package store beer, drug store, drug store beer and grocery store permits from nine to eight o'clock p.m.; 1971 acts changed closing time for Sunday liquor sales under Subdiv. (a) from nine to eleven o'clock p.m., added references to charitable organization permits, prohibited sales on Saturday between two o'clock a.m. and nine o'clock a.m. and changed closing time for Sunday sales, when allowed, from one to two a.m. and prohibited sales on Independence Day (or the following Monday, if on Sunday) and Labor Day under package store, drug store and grocery store permits; 1972 acts added exception re elections at which not all electors may vote to prohibition of sales on election days, added reference to university permits and deleted provision prohibiting sales on Decoration Day; P.A. 73-11 specified that liquor may be sold on Christmas for on-premises consumption with hot meals; P.A. 73-533 added references to coliseum and coliseum concession permits; P.A. 74-181 authorized towns to allow sale of liquor on Sunday and tavern permit between noon and eleven o'clock p.m.; P.A. 74-307 added references to the various special sporting facility permits; P.A. 75-598 added provision governing times and days when sales allowed under night club permits; P.A. 76-347 added references to bowling establishment permits and specific provision regulating sales under such permits; P.A. 79-272 divided section into Subsecs. and changed location and wording of provision granting towns power to reduce hours of operation for clarity; P.A. 80-181 changed time of closing for sales period which began on Sunday from eleven o'clock that day to one a.m. on Monday; P.A. 80-198 deleted provision in Subsec. (c) which had prohibited sales of liquor on election days under tavern permit unless election is one at which not all electors may vote; P.A. 81-169 added Subsec. (e) to state the hours during which the retail sale and tasting of free samples of wine are permissible at farm wineries and to allow towns to shorten such hours; P.A. 81-367 eliminated references to package store beer permits and drug store beer permits and eliminated prohibition against sales on Good Friday; P.A. 82-33 eliminated the prohibition against liquor sales on election day, provided that liquor may be sold on the Fourth of July if it occurs on a Saturday and deleted references to "package store beer permits" and "drug store beer permits"; P.A. 82-299 amended Subsec. (a) by adding references to catering establishments; P.A. 83-283 amended Subsec. (a) by adding reference to racquetball facility permits; P.A. 84-494 added a new Subsec. (f) concerning the hours of operation of premises operating under airport restaurant permits and airport bar permits; P.A. 84-546 made technical change in Subsec. (a); P.A. 85-380 deleted provisions in Subsecs. (a) and (f) re nightclub permits and added Subsec. (g) re hours during which liquor may be served under a nonprofit golf tournament permit; P.A. 86-403 made technical changes; P.A. 87-321 amended Subsec. (f) by establishing hours and days of closing for airport airline clubs and by providing that food or nonalcoholic beverages may be sold, dispensed or consumed in places operating under any class of airport permit at any time, as allowed by agreement between the state and its lessees or concessionaires; P.A. 89-181 amended Subsec. (c) to include brew pubs; P.A. 90-44 amended Subsec. (a) to allow lane side service of alcohol in bowling alleys at two p.m. rather than five p.m.; P.A. 93-139 made technical changes, added a provision to allow towns to reduce the hours of sale in all permit premises except sales pursuant to an airport restaurant permit, airport bar permit or airport airline club permit and allowed Sunday sales in all towns; P.A. 95-161 amended Subsec. (d) to prescribe the days and hours brew pubs could sell beer for off-premise consumption and inserted new Subsec. (i) re on-premise consumption, relettering former Subsec. as (j); P.A. 99-159 amended Subsec. (e) to add Subdiv. indicators and a provision in new Subdiv. (2) to allow for one year premises operating under a manufacturer permit for a brew pub in which class III gaming takes place to remain open when the brew pub itself must be closed; P.A. 00-192 amended Subsec. (a) to add references to casino permits and caterer liquor permits, designate existing exception in Subdiv. (4) as Subpara. (A), substitute "where food is also available" for "with hot meals" in said Subpara. and add Subdiv. (4)(B) re casino permittees, effective May 26, 2000 (Revisor's note: In Subdiv. (4)(B), a reference to "section 24 of this act" was deemed by the Revisors to be a reference to definition section 76, and codified accordingly as section "30-37k", for accuracy); P.A. 01-17 amended Subsec. (c) by deleting references to the color or transparency of drink containers for alcoholic liquor dispensed under a bowling establishment permit; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-1 amended Subsec. (d) to change the closing hour for sales by package stores, drug stores and grocery stores from eight o'clock p.m. to nine o'clock p.m., effective August 16, 2003; P.A. 05-7 amended Subsec. (d) by adding references to manufacturer permits for a brew pub and manufacturer permits for beer and deleting provision re unlawful sale of beer for consumption off premises of brew pub, and amended Subsec. (e)(1) by adding references to manufacturer permits for beer, but see entry for P.A. 05-226; P.A. 05-226 repealed section 2 of P.A. 05-7 which amended Subsecs. (d) and (e), effective July 8, 2005, amended Subsec. (d) to include references to manufacturer permits for beer and amended Subsec. (e) to delete references to premises operating under a manufacturer permit for a brew pub, delete Subdiv. (1) designator and delete former Subdiv. (2) re exception for premises operating under a manufacturer permit for a brew pub in which class III gaming may be legally conducted; P.A. 05-288 made a technical change in Subsec. (g), effective July 13, 2005.
See Sec. 30-10 re vote on liquor permit question by towns.
See Sec. 30-36 re druggists' permits.
Cited. 118 C. 252. Proof of alcoholic content discussed. 119 C. 439. Cited. 121 C. 445. Beer consumed at a forbidden hour given as a favor instead of being sold was held a violation. 127 C. 710. Cited. Id., 722. Town may permit Sunday sales in hotels only. 138 C. 172. Evidence concerning glass and its contents was legally obtained and therefore admissible to prove violation of section. 160 C. 1. Board of zoning appeals may not limit the hours of a liquor outlet. That power is reserved to the town. 161 C. 297. Held unconstitutional insofar as statute pertains to prohibition on sale of alcoholic liquor on Good Friday. 183 C. 552. Cited. 191 C. 528. Cited. 226 C. 418.
Legislative intent discussed. 3 CS 388. Cited. 5 CS 51. Legislature intended that the permittee assume the responsibility to see to it that no liquor is sold on the days and during the hours prescribed by statute. Id., 118. History of statute. 15 CS 290. Sale of liquor by a holder of a package store beer permit prior to 8 a.m. held not to be a violation of this statute. Id. The fact that plaintiff was acquitted on a criminal charge did not affect propriety of commission's decision to suspend his permit. 17 CS 156. See note to Sec. 30-86. Cited. 23 CS 281.
