Bill
AB 78
Shifts licensing and enforcement for alcohol distributors from local governments to the state Department of Taxation, which can investigate and suspend/revoke licenses.
Status / timeline
- Introduced: December 18, 2024.
- Enacted: Approved by the Governor July 14, 2025; Chapter 28, Statutes of 2025.
- Fiscal notes in the bill: no effect on State or local government finances.
Purpose and intent
- To revise how the State reviews, approves, monitors and enforces licenses for persons and businesses involved in the distribution of alcoholic beverages (importers, wholesalers, wineries, breweries, distilleries, brew pubs, instructional winemaking facilities, etc.), by expanding the Department of Taxation’s role and clarifying the relationship between state licensing and local licensing.
Key provisions (by topic)
- Application process (NRS 369.190)
- Applicants continue to file with the county board of commissioners or the city governing body, but those local bodies must now provide a recommendation (approve/disapprove) to the Department rather than final approval.
- Local bodies must forward the application, their recommendation, and all documents they reviewed to the Department.
- Local bodies must continue to require satisfactory evidence (now explicitly including that an applicant is not an importer/wholesaler improperly applying for another type of license) before recommending approval.
- Department authority to investigate, hold hearings, and take enforcement action (NRS 369.230–369.290; 369.260)
- The Department of Taxation is authorized to investigate complaints, conduct hearings, and make recommendations in the same manner previously available to county/city bodies.
- The Department may suspend or revoke licenses without first receiving a local recommendation (i.e., it may act independently on enforcement).
- Time extensions for licensees to answer complaints are authorized under specified circumstances; corresponding deadlines for Department decisions are adjusted if extended.
- Summary suspension/revocation (NRS 369.280)
- The Department is granted the same authority as local bodies to summarily suspend or revoke a license when an “aggravated and flagrant” violation appears, subject to notice and public hearing requirements.
- Preemption of local licensing (NRS 244.350, 268.090; §§ 9–10)
- Counties and incorporated cities are prohibited from issuing local licenses to persons who are required to hold a Department license, unless the Department has issued that state license and it is in good standing.
Who is affected
- Businesses and individuals that must obtain state distribution-related alcoholic beverage licenses (importers, beer/wine/liquor wholesalers, wineries, breweries, craft/estate distilleries, brew pubs, instructional winemaking facilities).
- Local governments (counties and cities) that currently review/approve such applications and issue local licenses.
- Department of Taxation (expanded investigatory and enforcement role).
- Licensees facing complaint, suspension, or revocation proceedings.
Fiscal and procedural impact
- Bill reports no fiscal effect on State or local governments.
- Shifts some decision-making and enforcement authority from local governing bodies to the Department of Taxation, and creates a clearer state-level enforcement pathway.
Note on attached documents
- Materials provided with this request also included unrelated draft text amending Civil Code section 1717.5 (raising statutory caps on attorney’s fees for “book accounts”). That text appears to be a separate matter and is not part of the alcoholic‑beverage licensing changes described above. If you want a summary of the attorney‑fees draft as well, I can prepare one.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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