All the provisions and requirements of the general laws of the state in regard to alcoholic liquors and beverages as contained in Sections 61-3-10 through 61-13-880 of the 1976 Code of Laws of South Carolina and amendments thereto, insofar as such provisions and amendments have application within the city, are adopted and made a part of this chapter as fully as though set out herein. It is unlawful for any person to fail or refuse to comply with the sections of the state law referred to above. (Prior code § 7-2-1)

(a) The words “alcoholic liquors,” as used in this chapter, mean any spirituous malt, vinous, fermented, brewed or other liquors or any compound or mixture thereof by whatever name called or known which contains alcohol and is used as a beverage, except any beverage declared to be nonalcoholic or nonintoxicating by state law.
(b) All beers, ales, porter and other similar malt or fermented beverages containing not in excess of five percent of alcohol by weight and all wines containing not in excess of twenty-one percent of alcohol by volume are declared to be non-alcoholic and non-intoxicating beverages. (Prior code § 7-2-2)

* Editorial Note: Opinion of the Attorney General, No. 2282, page 95 (1966-67) indicates that the state has occupied the field of offenses and enforcement of regulations involving alcoholic beverages with limited exception. State occupies field, S.C. Code 1976, Section 61-13-760.

The municipal court and judge thereof shall try and determine all cases involving any violation of South Carolina Code of Laws, 1976, Section 61-13-560, sections of article III of chapter 13 of the Alcoholic Beverages Control Act, and Sections 61-3-10 through 61-3-1040, occurring within the limits of the municipality where the penalties are in accordance with the general penalty, Section 1.12.510 of this code, and such court and judge shall have and are hereby vested with jurisdiction over such criminal cases, with the right and duty of sending such cases, occurring within the municipal limits but beyond their jurisdiction to try, to the higher courts. Any person convicted hereunder in municipal court shall be treated as a municipal prisoner. (Prior code § 7-2-3)

It is unlawful for any person to drink or have in his or her possession any open container containing beer, ale, wine, porter, or other similar malt or fermented beverage, or other alcoholic liquor or any mixture thereof by whatever name called or known which contains alcohol and is used as a beverage, while on any public street, alley, thoroughfare, or in any other public place in the city. (Prior code 7-2-4)

It is unlawful for any person to drink any alcoholic liquors in any public conveyance in the city. This section shall not apply to any railroad dining or club car or to any aircraft of a commercial airline transporting passengers for hire. (Prior code 7-2-5)

(a) Certain offenses, when alcohol-related or when committed upon the premises of taverns, bars, dram shops or other establishments for the sale or consumption of alcoholic liquors or alcoholic beverages are declared to constitute a serious threat to the peace, prosperity, security, safety and welfare of the city:
(1) Sale of any alcoholic beverage, including but not limited to beer, wine, porter, ale and other liquors to minors;
(2) Shootings, cuttings, stabbings;
(3) Gambling;
(4) Sale, use or possession of illegal or contraband drugs as the same may be classified and controlled under state and federal statutes;
(5) Assaults of any nature;
(6) Selling alcohol to an intoxicated person;
(7) Sale or possession of any weapon which state or federal law makes illegal; and
(8) Violation of any other provisions of the South Carolina criminal code for which jurisdiction resides in the circuit court.
(b) Should the management or patrons of a bar, tavern or dram shop or other establishment for the sale or consumption of alcoholic liquors or alcoholic beverages within the city limits be convicted by any court of competent jurisdiction of committing on the premises of that establishment a violation of any one of the above classes of offenses, that conviction shall constitute a warning to the establishment involved. Thereafter, should either a patron or the management of the same establishment be convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of committing on the premises of said establishment a violation of any one of the above classes of offenses within six months of the first conviction, the business license of the said establishment shall be revoked for a period of one year from the date of revocation, and during that year no business license for a bar, tavern, dram shop, or other establishment for the sale or consumption of alcoholic liquors or alcoholic beverages shall issue for that specific location.
(c) After the one year period of suspension of the business license has expired, should the same location be reopened by anyone for purposes of a bar, tavern or dram shop or other establishment for the sale or consumption of any alcoholic liquors or alcoholic beverages and should the management or patrons be convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of committing on the premises two or more violations of any of the above classes of offenses within one year of the reopening of said location for business, the business license of the establishment shall be revoked for a period of two years from the date of revocation, and during the two years no business license for a bar, tavern, dram shop, or other establishment for the sale or consumption of alcoholic liquors or alcoholic beverages shall issue for that specific location and the location shall be declared by city council to be a public nuisance. Thereafter, the city shall vigorously oppose any applications for any beer, wine or alcohol permits for said location.
(d) This section shall apply only to bars, taverns, dram shops or other establishments for the sale or consumption of alcoholic liquors or alcoholic beverages, including but not limited to, those which sell beer, wine, porter, ale and all other alcoholic and intoxicating liquors. (Prior code § 7-2-6)

It is unlawful for any person to sell any beer, ale, port or wine within the city limits between twelve midnight Saturday and sunrise Monday morning. (Prior code § 7-2-11)

Any place of business violating Section 7.08.080 shall have all beer, ale, port and wine found upon those premises declared contraband and seized as contraband liquor; provided, that the person owning or claiming such beer, ale, port or wine may retain possession by delivering a cash bond in an amount equal to the cost price charged for a like quantity by a licensed wholesaler. The officer who receives the bond shall deliver a written receipt to the person posting the bond. The cash bond shall be deposited in the treasury of the city. (Prior code § 7-2-12)

It is unlawful for any licensee, or holder of a license, to sell beer, ale, port, or wine at wholesale or retail, to sell or offer to sell such beverages after such license shall have been revoked or cancelled or during the period of a suspension of such license. (Prior code § 7-2-13)

(a) It is unlawful for any person not licensed to sell beer, ale, port and wine to permit the drinking of such beverages on the premises of any place of business under his control which is open to the public.
(b) It is unlawful for any person to drink beer, ale, port, or wine in or around any place of business open to the public which is not licensed to sell such beverages. (Prior code § 7-2-14)

It is unlawful for any person to sell or permit to be sold any beer, ale, port, wine, malt or other beverage authorized to be sold under state statutes regulating the same, on which the tax levied is not paid. (Prior code § 7-2-15)

It is unlawful for any person to sell beer, ale, port, wine or other malt or fermented beverage to a minor under the age of twenty-one years. (Prior code § 7-2-16)

It is unlawful for any minor under the age of twenty-one years to purchase, or knowingly have in his possession any beer, ale, port, wine, or any other similar malt or fermented beverage. Any such possession shall be prima facie evidence that it was knowingly possessed. This section shall not apply to any employee lawfully engaged in the sale or delivery of any such beverage in an unopened container. (Prior code § 7-2-17)

It is unlawful for any owner, operator, or agent thereof to allow any person under the age of sixteen years to loiter or frequent any establishment selling beer, ale, port, or other similar malt or fermented beverage for on premise consumption, after the hour of ten p.m. (Prior code § 7-2-18)

It is unlawful for any person to purchase beer, ale, port, or wine while on licensed premises and to give such beverage to a person to whom beer, ale, port, or wine cannot lawfully be sold, for consumption on such premises. (Prior code § 7-2-19)

(a) No holder of a permit authorizing the sale of beer or wine or any servant, agent or employee of the permittee shall knowingly do any of the following acts upon the licensed premises covered by such holder’s permit:
(1) Sell beer, ale, port, or wine to a person under twenty-one years of age;
(2) Sell beer, ale, port, or wine to any person while such person is in an intoxicated condition;
(3) Permit gambling or games of chance;
(4) Permit any lewd, immoral or improper entertainment, conduct or practices;
(5) Permit any act, the commission of which tends to create a public nuisance or which constitutes a crime under the ordinances of the city or the laws of the state; or
(6) Sell, offer for sale or possess any beverage or alcoholic liquor, the sale or possession of which is prohibited on the licensed premises under the laws of the state.
(b) A violation of any of the foregoing provisions shall be a ground for the revocation or suspension of such holder’s permit by the state. (Prior code § 7-2-20)