HOUSE BILL 482

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Rod Montoya

AN ACT

RELATING TO LIQUOR LICENSES; CHANGING THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF LICENSES THAT CAN BE ISSUED PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 60-6A-2 AND 60-6A-3 NMSA 1978 (BEING LAWS 1981, CHAPTER 39, SECTIONS 19 AND 20).

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 60-6A-18 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981, Chapter 39, Section 35, as amended) is amended to read:

     "60-6A-18. LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF LICENSES--EXCEPTIONS.--

          A. The maximum number of licenses to be issued under the provisions of Sections 60-6A-2 and 60-6A-3 NMSA 1978 shall be as follows:

                (1) in incorporated municipalities, not more than one dispenser's or one retailer's license, including canopy licenses [which] that are replaced by dispenser's licenses as provided in Section 60-6B-16 NMSA 1978, for each [two] one thousand inhabitants or major fraction thereof; and

                (2) in unincorporated areas of each county, not more than one dispenser's or one retailer's license, including canopy licenses [which] that are replaced by dispenser's licenses as provided in Section 60-6B-16 NMSA 1978, for each [two] one thousand inhabitants or major fraction thereof, excluding the population of incorporated municipalities within the county.

          B. For the purpose of this section, the number of inhabitants of a local option district shall be determined by annual population estimates published by the economic development department.

          C. Subsection A of this section shall not be construed to prevent [any] a licensee holding a valid license issued under the Liquor Control Act, or [his] the licensee's transferee, from continuing the licensed business or from renewing [his] the license, subject to compliance with the Liquor Control Act and department regulations, notwithstanding that the continuance or renewal may result in an excess over the maximum number of licenses permitted in Subsection A of this section."

     SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2019.