Blount County Beer Board

County Beer Permit (unincorporated areas)

The County Clerk Responsibilities page states that the county clerk serves as secretary to the beer board, which issues 'both on-premises and off-premises permits to sell beer in unincorporated areas of the County'. Under § 3 of the Blount County Beer Ordinance of 2014, linked on the county's Local Ordinances page, the Beer Board regulates beer in the territory of the county outside the limits of any incorporated city or town. As stated by the County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS), each applicant pays an application fee of $250 to the county or city before the application is considered, no part of it refundable (T.C.A. § 57-5-104(a)), and an annual privilege tax of $100 is due each January 1, paid on a prorated basis when a new permit is issued (T.C.A. § 57-5-104(b)(5)). Ordinance § 7 adopts the state privilege taxes for the county, collected by the County Clerk, and § 9 bars a permit holder from doing business until the privilege tax is paid. Per ordinance § 4, the sworn application is filed in triplicate on the Clerk's form; no beer may be sold within 1,000 feet of a school, church or other place of public gathering, and the applicant proves the distance with either a licensed surveyor's survey or a letter from the Blount County Sheriff's Office certifying it; within 300 feet of a residence a permit is barred if the owner appears in person and objects; sales are barred from 3:00 to 6:00 a.m. Monday to Saturday and 3:00 to 10:00 a.m. on Sunday; and an establishment serving food must keep a food grade of at least 90.