Alcohol laws of New Jersey

Location of New Jersey

The alcohol laws of New Jersey are some of the most complex in the United States of America, and contain many peculiarities not found in other states. New Jersey law gives municipalities substantial discretion in creating alcohol laws, such that there are towns in New Jersey which are dry and towns where alcohol may be sold 24 hours per day. Likewise, there is great deal of variance between municipalities regarding the number of liquor licenses available and whether juveniles may consume alcohol while on private property.

Controlling authority

Statewide statutes and enforcement

New Jersey's laws regarding alcohol are overseen by the Department of Law and Public Safety's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), which is managed by the state's Attorney-General. As of 2013, the current director of this Alcohol Beverage Control division is Michael I. Halfacre. The 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, which ended the Prohibition in 1933, permitted the states to regulate matters related to alcohol. New Jersey did so with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, which has been codified as "Title 33" of the New Jersey Statutes under the title "Intoxicating Liquors".

New Jersey's statutes define an "alcoholic beverage" as "any fluid or solid capable of being converted into a fluid, suitable for human consumption, and having an alcohol content of more than one-half of one per centum (1/2 of 1%) by volume, including alcohol, beer, lager beer, ale, porter, naturally fermented wine, treated wine, blended wine, fortified wine, sparkling wine, distilled liquors, blended distilled liquors and any brewed, fermented or distilled liquors fit for use for beverage purposes or any mixture of the same, and fruit juices."

Municipal control

Marketing itself as a safe, "family resort" town, Ocean City, on the New Jersey shore, was founded in 1879 by four Methodist clergymen as a "dry town". To this day, Ocean City prohibits the sale of alcohol and has not issued a liquor license.

New Jersey is a state that offers considerable home rule powers to its incorporated municipalities. New Jersey's laws give considerable authority to municipalities regarding licensing and regulating of businesses serving or selling alcohol and in coordinating this with the town's planning authority and local zoning ordinances. These powers include:

• limiting the number of licenses to sell alcoholic beverages at Retail (Class C license)
• limiting the hours between which the sale of alcoholic beverages at retail may be made
• prohibiting the retail sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday
• regulating the conduct of any business licensed to sell alcoholic beverages at retail
• regulating the nature and condition of the premises upon which any such business is to be conducted
• to may make, enforce, amend and repeal such ordinances as it may deem necessary to prevent the possession, sale, distribution and transportation of alcoholic beverages within its municipality
• placing limits of no more than one retail license shall be granted to any person in said municipality
• limiting a license to cover only the specific licensed premises
• allow municipalities with populations of 15,000 or more to appoint a municipal alcoholic beverage control board of three persons with terms for three years.

Retail (for consumption or distribution) licenses are allocated in proportion to a municipality's population. Licenses permitting on-premises retail sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages (i.e. bars and restaurants) are allocated at a ratio of one license for 3,000 residents. A "package goods" license (a distribution license) is available at a ratio of one license per 7,500 residents. However, statutes permit the allocation of a minimum of one consumption and one distribution license to small towns with populations less than 1,000. Given the regulatory latitude these municipalities exercise, the actual number of licenses extant in a municipality may be more or less depending on a variety of factors, including:

• whether the municipality's existing licenses were subject to being grandfathered in by having existed before the imposition of statutory limitations or new alcohol control ordinances
• or if the town decides to offer fewer licenses
• or if a town decides by ordinance or referendum to become a "dry town"—that is, to prohibit the public consumption or distribution of alcoholic beverages within town limits

Because of the law gives significant latitude in a municipality's regulatory powers, As of 2013, 37 of the state's 565 municipalities are "dry towns" that prohibit the sale alcohol. Conversely, because of the grandfathering of licenses, several municipalities have a substantially higher ratio of licenses. For instance, South Amboy, in Middlesex County, has 22 active liquor licenses, the most per capita in the United States. In 1981, the town had 37, one for every 218 residents.

Liquor licenses

New Jersey law provides for 29 distinct liquor licenses divided into five classes, as follows: Class A for manufacturers, Class B for wholesalers, Class C for retailers, Class D for transportation licenses, and Class E for public warehouses.

Class A manufacturer's licenses

Number	Type of License	Activity permitted	Fee for license
1a	Plenary Brewery License	to brew any malt alcoholic beverage to sell and distribute to wholesalers and retailers in the state to sell and distribute out of state to maintain a warehouse	$10,625
1b	Limited Brewery License	to brew any malt beverage, not in excess of 300,000 barrels (31-gallon barrels) per year to sell and distribute to wholesalers and retailers in the state to sell and distribute out of state to maintain a warehouse	$1,250 for up to 50,000 barrels $2,500 for 50,000-100,000 barrels $5,000 for 100,000-200,000 barrels $7,500 for 200,000-300,000 barrels
1c	Restrcted Brewery License	to brew no more than 3,000 barrels per year only for persons with a Plenary Retail Consumption License for an adjoining facility entitled only to sell to adjoining restaurant premises	$1,000 for first 1,000 barrels $625 for each additional 1,000 barrels.
2a	Plenary Winery License	3 acres minimum required to produce any fermented wines, blend, fortify or treat wines to sell or distribute to wholesalers, directly to retailers, or to churches within New Jersey for religious purposes to sell and distribute outside the state to maintain a warehouse offer samples for sampling or promotional purposes to sell at retail to consumers on the winery premises to operate 15 off-premises sales rooms to direct ship up to 12 cases per year to consumers in or out of state	$938 annual fee $250 for each offsite salesroom to sell to retailers: $100 for up to 50,000 per year $250 between 50,000 and 100,000 gallons $500 between 100,000-150,000 gallons $1,000 up to 250,000 gallons.
2b	Farm Winery License	to produce up to 50,000 gallons of wine per year requires that products contain minimum 51% of grapes or fruit grown in New Jersey to sell or distribute to wholesalers, or to churches for religious purposes within New Jersey to sell and distribute outside the state to maintain a warehouse offer samples for sampling or promotional purposes to sell at retail to consumers on the winery premises 3 acres minimum required to operate 15 off-premises sales rooms right to sell direct to retailers to direct ship up to 12 cases per year to consumers in or out of state	$375 for 30,000-50,000 gallons per year $250 for 2,500 to 30,000 gallons $125 for 1,000-2,500 gallons $63 for less than 1,000 gallons $100 fee for right to sell to retailers $250 fee per offsite salesroom
2c	Wine Blending License	to blend, treat, mix, or bottle wines to sell or distribute to wholesalers or retailers to maintain a warehouse	$625
2d	Instructional Winemaking Facility License	to instruct consumers in winemaking with the opportunity to participate directly in winemaking to maintain a warehouse	$1,000
2e	Out-of-State Winery License	requires a valid winery license in another U.S. state requires that winery no more than 250,000 gallons produced per year right to sell and distribute in New Jersey to operate up to 16 off-site salesrooms right to ship up to 12 cases per year to consumers in or out of state right to sell directly to New Jersey retailers	$938 annual fee $250 for each offsite salesroom to sell to retailers: $100 for up to 50,000 per year $250 between 50,000 and 100,000 gallons $500 between 100,000-150,000 gallons $1,000 up to 250,000 gallons.
3a	Plenary Distillery License	to manufacture any distilled alcoholic beverages to rectify, blent, treat, or mix distilled alcoholic beverages to sell or distribute products to maintain a warehouse	$12,500
3b	Limited Distillery License	manufacture alcoholic beverages made from fruit juices to blend, treat, mix, compound with wine, and add sweetenings and flavors to make cordials and liqueurs to sell or distribute products to maintain a warehouse	$3,750
3c	Supplementary Limited Distillery License	to bottle and rebottle alcoholic beverages distilled from fruit juices to sell or distribute products to maintain a warehouse	$313 per year for up to 5,000 gallons $625 per year for 5,000-10,000 gallons $1,250 without capacity limit.
4	Rectifier and Blender License	to rectify, blend, treat, and mix distilled alcoholic beverages to fortify, blend, and treat fermented alcoholic beverages	$7,500
5	Bonded Warehouse Bottling License	to maintain a bonded warehouse pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code	$625

Class B wholesaler's licenses

Number	Type of License	Activity permitted	Fee for license
1	Plenary Wholesale License.	to sell and distribute alcoholic beverages to retailers and wholesalers in NJ to sell and distribute out of state to maintain a warehouse and salesroom	$8,750
2a	Limited Wholesale License.	to sell and distribute brewed malt alcoholic beverages and naturally fermented wines to retailers and wholesalers in NJ to sell and distribute out of state to maintain a warehouse and salesroom	$1,875
2b	Wine Wholesale License	to sell and distribute any naturally fermented, treated, blended, fortified and sparkling wines to retailers and wholesalers in the state to sell and distribute out of state to maintain a warehouse and salesroom	$3,750
2c	State Beverage Distributor's License.	to sell and distribute unchilled, brewed, malt alcoholic beverages in original containers only, in quantities of not less than 144 fluid ounces and chilled draught malt alcoholic beverages in kegs, barrels or other similar containers of at least one fluid gallon in capacity, to retailers to sell and distribute out of State to maintain a warehouse and salesroom maximum of 72 may be issued in the state	$1,031

Class C retailer's licenses

Number	Type of License	Activity permitted	Fee for license
1a	Plenary Retail Consumption License	to sell alcoholic beverages by glass, or open receptacle, by original containers. premises cannot be a grocery, delicatessen, drug store or mercantile business licensee permitted to hold tasting events and samplings licensee can obtain up to two Restricted Brewery Licenses (Class A, 1c) package goods may only be displayed for sale on the premises’ perimeter walls or behind the bar number of licenses per municipality is restricted	fee set by municipality: $250–$2500
1b	Plenary Retail Consumption License with Broad Package Privilege (Broad C License)	same as a Plenary Retail Consumption License, except the sale of package goods is not restricted license is no longer being issued but an existing one may be renewed or transferred number of licenses per municipality is restricted	fee set by municipality: $250–$2500
1c	Hotel/Motel License	for hotels or motels containing at least 100 guest sleeping rooms number of licenses per municipality is not restricted	fee set by municipality: $250–$2500
1d	Plenary Retail Consumption License (Theater Exception)	for non-profit musical or theatrical performances must have seating capacity of 1,000 persons or more alcoholic beverages must be sold in open containers consumption of alcoholic beverages only during performance, and 2 hours before and after number of licenses per municipality is not restricted	fee set by municipality: $250–$2500
2	Seasonal Retail Consumption License	to sell alcoholic beverages from either 1 May to 14 November or from 15 November to 30 April number of licenses per municipality is restricted	fee set by municipality: 75% of the fees for a Plenary Retail Consumption License
3a	Plenary Retail Distribution License	to sell off the licensed premises but only in original containers to conduct tasting and samplings number of licenses per municipality is restricted	fee set by municipality: $125–$2,500
3b	Limited Retail Distribution License	to sell any unchilled, brewed malt alcoholic beverage, only in original containers, as a grocery store, meat market, delicatessen, of food store license is no longer being issued but an existing one may be renewed or transferred number of licenses per municipality is not restricted	fees set by municipality: $31–$63
4	Plenary Retail Transit License	to sell any alcoholic beverage for consumption only on trains, airplanes, limousines and boats while in transit number of licenses per municipality is not restricted	$375 for train or air transport $31 for vehicle for limousines $63 for boats up to 65 feet in length $125 for boats 65–110 feet in length $375 on boats more than 110 feet in length
5	Club License	issued only to such corporations, associations and organizations as are operated for benevolent, charitable, fraternal, social, religious, recreational, athletic, or similar purposes, and not for private gain only for sale of alcoholic beverages to be consumed on premises to bona fide club members and their guests number of licenses per municipality is not restricted	fee set by municipality: $63–$188

Class D transportation licenses

Number	Type of License	Activity permitted	Fee for license
N/A	Transportation License	to transport alcoholic beverages into, out of, through and within the State of New Jersey to maintain a warehouse	$625.

Class E public warehouse licenses

Number	Type of License	Activity permitted	Fee for license
1	Public Warehouse License	to receive, store and warehouse, alcoholic beverages in a licensed public warehouse does not authorize any transportation of said beverages	$500.
2	Broker's License	to act as a broker (for a fee or commission) in the purchase and sale of alcoholic beverages, on behalf of manufacturers and wholesalers in or out of the state. cannot warehouse or purchse in his own name or account cannot sell to wholesaler or retailer in NJ.	$500

Municipal issues

Availability of retail liquor licenses

Because the number of Class C retail licenses for bars, restaurants, and liquor stores is limited by population and often by municipal ordinances, licenses are typically obtained from existing licenseholders who choose to sell, or when a new license is offered as a town's population grows. As a result, the price for a retail license is quite expensive and often prohibitively so. The sale of a new license is usually conducted by public auction and through the intense competition a town can reap the benefit of several hundred thousand dollars of revenue through the sale of the license to the highest bidder. A 2006 license auction in Cherry Hill, New Jersey set the state record at $1.5 million.

Unlike in many other states, supermarkets, convenience stores, and gas stations in New Jersey rarely sell alcoholic beverages. This is largely because New Jersey limits any person or corporation to obtaining only two "package goods" licenses. While licenses for bars, restaurants and liquor stores are limited, other retail and consumption licenses are not. Class C licenses can be granted without limit for private clubs with a minimum of 60 members, hotels with at least one-hundred rooms, and theatres with at least 1,000 seats.

Dry towns

Some municipalities, particularly in South Jersey are dry towns, where no alcohol is served or sold. Several of these towns are dry because of their origins as religious communities, usually associated with the Quaker, Methodist or other Protestant denominations. For example, the seaside resort town of Ocean City has historically been dry since it was founded in 1879 by four Methodist clergymen. Local ordinances in Ocean City prohibits restaurant patrons from bringing their own wine or beer, unlike other towns that permit "bring your own bottle" (BYOB) at unlicensed establishments. In recent years, several New Jersey municipalities have questioned whether they ought to remain dry towns or permit the sale of alcohol within town limits. Citing the need to attract new businesses and development to the town and increase the town's tax ratable base, municipal leaders frequently have placed this question before the voters in public referenda. As of 2013, only 37 municipalities in New Jersey remain completely dry towns.

Hours of operation and other licensing regulations

Atlantic City, a gambling resort along the Jersey Shore is one of the few municipalities in New Jersey that allow the sale of alcohol 24-hours a day at casinos and bars.

The hours of sale for on-premises consumption are regulated by local ordinance, and closing times vary by town. Atlantic City does not have closing hours, and alcohol can be purchased at its casinos and local bars 24 hours per day. However, state law provides that except in Newark and Jersey City, no hard liquor package goods may be sold before 9 am and after 10 pm any day of the week, and this can be restricted further through local ordinance. However, liquor stores are specifically given the right to sell package beer and wine at any time on-premises sales are allowed. New Jersey regulations for liquor stores and bars are fairly strict. Besides prohibiting nudity and gambling in an establishment with liquor license, it is illegal to give away free drinks, sell liquor below cost, sell liquor at a drive-through window, or have a 'ladies' night' or any pricing which is regarded as discriminatory.

BYOB: Bring Your Own Bottle

Because several restaurants are unable or choose not to get an on-premises retail and consumption license (Class C), the practice of "Bring Your Own Bottle" (BYOB) is prevalent in establishments statewide. Patrons are permitted to bring their own beer or wine to a restaurant that does not possess a liquor license—insofar as there is no municipal prohibition against it. Although, some towns have municipal ordinances prohibiting BYOB.

Pursuant to state law, establishments offering BYOB are not allowed to charge "any admission fee or cover, corkage or service charge or advertise inside or outside of such premises that patrons may bring and consume their own wine or malt alcoholic beverages"

A restaurant in New Jersey without a liquor license can sell wine from a New Jersey winery with the permission of the winery and municipality.

New Jersey law prohibits strip clubs (or "Gentlemen's Clubs")—adult entertainment venues or "sexually oriented business" where stripteases and erotic or exotic dances are regularly performed—from offering both full nudity and alcohol sales. Establishments that possess a retail license and serve alcohol can only offer partially clothed services such as Go-go dancing (typically in bikinis or lingerie). Clubs that are not licensed to serve alcohol will work around the restriction by implementing a bring your own bottle (BYOB) policy and operating as a "juice bar." Juice bars have the appointments of full bars but only serve non-alcoholic beverages such as water, fruit juice, and flavored carbonated beverages. Such a bar could double as a service counter for the storage of BYOB material and offer ice and mixing services to create mixed drinks using the customer-purchased ingredients. Recent court decisions have stated that municipalities that allow BYOB policies for restaurants must allow the same practices for strip clubs.

Alcohol production and distribution

Wineries, breweries, and distilleries

See also: New Jersey wine and List of wineries, breweries, and distilleries in New Jersey

Anheuser-Busch's brewery facility located on Routes 1 & 9 in Newark, New Jersey

New Jersey currently has 46 wineries, 26 breweries and brewpubs, and 1 distillery. New Jersey growers began to produce wines during the colonial period, when two landowners received recognition for their successful efforts from the Royal Society of Arts in London. The Society had challenged colonists in Britain's North American colonies to cultivate grapes and produce "those Sorts of Wines now consumed in Great Britain."

While the cultivation of grapes and fruit trees supported a flourishing wine industry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the effects of Prohibition (1919-1933) and a legacy of restrictive laws constraining the industry's recovery subsequent to the its repeal, practically devastated the industry. For fifty years after the repeal of Prohibition, New Jersey was limited by law to a ratio of one winery license for every 1,000,000 state residents, which by 1980 effectively allowed for only seven wineries. The growth of the state's winery industry has been bolstered by the repeal, starting in 1981, with the New Jersey Farm Winery Act, of many Prohibition-era laws and allowed many small growers to open new wineries.

As of 2013, New Jersey has 46 currently licensed and operating wineries with several more prospective wineries in various stages of development. These wineries are growing Vitis vinifera, Vitis labrusca, or French hybrid wine grapes, and producing or offering for sale over forty types of wines. In 2010, 1.72 million gallons (approximately 716,000 cases) of wine were produced by New Jersey wineries; making it the seventh largest wine-producing state in the United States. A considerable portion of New Jersey wine sales are non-grape fruit wine, particularly apple, blueberry, raspberry, and cranberry wines. These fruits are associated with New Jersey and can be purchased from many nearby farms throughout the Garden State. New Jersey’s 46 wineries generate between US$30,000,000-$40,000,000 of revenue annually.

The first brewery in New Jersey was established in a fledgling Dutch settlement in what is now Hoboken when the state was part the Dutch New Netherlands colony. It was short-lived and destroyed by a band of Lenape in 1643 during Governor Kieft's War (1643-1645). Large German immigrant populations in Newark and Jersey City led to the establishment of a healthy brewing industry in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.. Brewing beer became the fourth-largest industry in Newark, and names like Kruger, Hensler, Feigenspan among the leading industrial families in Newark.

Later, regional (and later national) brands Ballantine, and Rheingold, and Pabst, among others operated large breweries in Newark and surrounding towns. With accusations of German propaganda and persecution of German-Americans during World War I, many of the state's brewers relocated to the American midwest. Prohibition closed many of the remaining breweries in the state. For instance, of Newark's 27 breweries before Prohibition, none of them exist today. As the industry reorganized and consolidated in the 1970s and 1980s to compete nationally, the larger producers like Ballantine (in the 1960s) Rheingold (in 1977), Pabst (in 1985) closed their doors.

Presently, the state is home to one large-production brewery, Anheuser-Busch in Newark, which opened in 1951 and is used for brewing Budweiser and Rolling Rock. New Jersey offers a limited brewery licenses for microbreweries and a restricted brewery license for brewpubs that has allowed the industry to grow in recent years. In 1995, the Ship Inn Restaurant and Brewery in Milford became the first brewpub in New Jersey, since then the industry has expanded to 26 breweries, most of which are microbreweries or brewpubs. In 2010, New Jersey craft brewers produced 32,000 barrels (992,000 gallons) of craft brew.

New Jersey does not presently have any active distillery production facilities, although one is licensed and new producers are seeking licensing and regulatory approval. Several prospective distillers have cited the excessive cost of the license ($12,500 per year) and the ambiguity of lower-level licenses as obstacles for opening businesses in the state. These craft distillers have pressured lawmakers to propose for legislation opening the way for craft distilleries to be established. New Jersey is one of five states in the country without a licensed craft distillery. Currently, one prospective distiller, Cooper River Distillers in Camden is on the path to being the state's second licensed distillery, and the first to open in the state since the beginning of Prohibition in 1919.

Presently, the state is home to one licensed distillery: Laird & Company in Scobeyville (Colts Neck). Founded by Robert Laird, it is the oldest licensed distillery in the United States and received License No. 1 from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 1780. It is the nation's only remaining producer of applejack. However, it is worth noting that presently none of the company's distilling takes place in New Jersey. Laird's obtains all its apples from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and distills its products in Virginia. Distilling at its New Jersey facilities ceased in 1972 and Laird's only blends, ages and bottles its products in Scobeyville.

Direct shipping to consumers

Before 2004, New Jersey permitted in-state wineries to directly ship products to in-state customers. However, the state did not allow out-of-state producers to ship to New Jersey residents or permit New Jersey wineries to ship to out-of-state customers. This practice was declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 2005 in a case from Michigan and subsequently New Jersey's statute was struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 2010 because such limitations were found to violate the Interstate Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.

On 17 January 2012, New Jersey governor Chris Christie signed into law a bill that legalised direct shipping from wineries to consumers, and permits state wineries to open as many as 18 offsite retail tasting rooms in the state. The law allows wineries that make less than 250,000 gallons of wine annually, which includes all of the New Jersey's wineries, to ship wine to state residents. Because this prohibits 90% of wine made in the United States, but does not effect New Jersey's small wineries, proponents of the law fear that this section of the law will be struck down as unconstitutional. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit had struck down a similar limit in Massachusetts in 2008 in light of Supreme Court of the United States decision addressing direct shipping laws a few years earlier.

New Jersey prohibits breweries and distilleries from directly shipping beer or spirits to customers. Although uncommon, it is legal for a liquor store to deliver alcoholic beverages to a person's home.

Alcohol-related legal issues

Legal drinking age and underage drinking

A person must be 21 years of age in New Jersey to purchase alcoholic beverages, or consume alcoholic beverages in an establishment with a liquor license, or in an area of public accommodation (e.g., restaurant, campground). A person can sell alcoholic beverages at age 18 if they work in a restaurant, bar, or liquor store. There is no state law prohibiting consumption of alcohol by minors while on private property, but many municipalities prohibit underage consumption unless parents or adult relatives are present.

Violation of the state underage drinking statute is a disorderly persons offense (misdemeanor), which can be punished by up to 6 months in jail, up to a $1000 fine, and suspension of a driver's license. Violation of a municipal underage drinking statutes is a non-criminal offense, which can be punished by fines up to $2000 and suspension of a driver's license, but usually results in just a fine without a court appearance being required. There is a "good samaritan" defense to an underage drinking charge where if an underage drinker calls for medical help for another underage drinker who is ill, and cooperates with law enforcement and medical responders, neither may be prosecuted. It is common for a state underage drinking charge to be downgraded to a municipal charge in order for the defendant to avoid a criminal record and a suspended license.

Drunk driving and DUI/DWI laws

See also: Drunk driving in the United States

Like all other US states, New Jersey sets a 0.08 blood alcohol content (BAC) as the threshold for intoxication when operating a motor vehicle (e.g., automobile, airplane, boat). It is possible to be charged with DUI with an BAC level below 0.08, but under 0.08, there is a presumption that the driver is not intoxicated. State law prohibits individuals under the age of 21 from driving if their BAC of 0.01 or more, and mandates that drivers submit a breath sample if requested by a police officer. Drivers are not legally required to take field sobriety tests, but these tests are admissible in court. The Alcotest has replaced the Breathalyzer as the standard device for determining blood alcohol level. To be convicted of DUI in New Jersey, a person must be operating or attempting to operate a motorized vehicle; thus activities as sleeping in a car while intoxicated or bicycling while drunk are not illegal.

New Jersey differs from all other states (except Wisconsin) in that it considers driving under the influence (DUI) as a traffic violation, and not a criminal offense, except in cases of serious injury or death. Because it is not a criminal offense, individuals charged in New Jersey with DUI and other related offenses are not fingerprinted, do not have the right to a jury trial, DUI arrests and convictions are not submitted to the FBI's NCIC criminal database, and DUI arrests and convictions cannot be expunged. Statutory criminal defenses (e.g., necessity, entrapment) are not available for DUI, but the New Jersey Supreme Court did reverse the conviction of a person who drove while intoxicated in order to escape assailants. New Jersey does not have administrative license revocation, and thus a suspected drunk driver's license is not suspended until they are convicted.

Penalties for DUI vary by level of intoxication and number of previous convictions. A first offense DUI with a BAC level of less than 0.10 faces a fine of $250 to $400, an automobile insurance surcharge of $1000 per year for 3 years, 12 hours of alcohol education, a 3-month license, and imprisonment for up to 30 days (rarely imposed). If the driver's BAC level is 0.10 or greater, the fine increases to $300 to $500, and the license suspension increase to 7 to 12 months. If the driver's BAC level is 0.15 or greater, the driver will be required to have an ignition interlock device installed in their car for 6 to 12 months after they have their license retored.

A person under 21 years of age who is convicted of driving with a BAC level of at least 0.01, but less than 0.08 will have their driver's license suspended for 1 to 3 months, be required to perform 15–30 hours of community service, and take part in an alcohol education program. Penalties for refusal to submit a breath sample are the same as driving with a BAC over 0.15. More severe penalties may be imposed if the DUI took place within 1000 feet of a school, or if there was a juvenile in the vehicle. DUI accidents resulting in severe injury or death are considered indictable crimes. New Jersey prohibits plea bargaining in DUI cases unless the prosecutor believes there is insufficient evidence to prove the case, and New Jersey does not offer hardship (work) licenses for people convicted of DUI.

For a second DUI conviction in a 10-year period, irrespective of BAC level, there is a fine of $500–$1,000, 2–90 days imprisonment, a 2-year license suspension, an automobile insurance surcharge of $1,000 a year for 3 years, and installation of an ignition interlock device for a 1 to 3 years after license restoration. A person who has 3 or more DUI convictions and a gap of less than 10 years years since the last conviction incurs a fine of $1,000, 6 months imprisonment, a 10-year license suspension, an automobile insurance surcharge of $1,500 a year for 3 years, and installation of an ignition interlock device for 1 to 3 years after license restoration. Jail sentences issued in New Jersey for DUI are often served through work release programs (e.g., weekends in jail).

New Jersey first established drunk driving laws in 1909, making it a disorderly persons offense (misdemeanor). In 1921, DUI was converted to a traffic violation with a 1-year license suspension for the first violation, and 5-year suspension for repeat violations. Penalties were increased in 1926 to a 2-year suspension, and a lifetime suspension and a mandatory 3 months in jail for repeat offenses. In 1951, because of concerns about the evidence needed to prove "intoxication", the New Jersey Legislature amended the DUI statute to state that a driver with a BAC of 0.15 or greater was presumed to be intoxicated. A driver with a BAC of 0.15 or greater could be acquitted if they could should that they were not physically intoxicated.

Because of new ideas about the treatment of alcoholism, the lifetime suspension was downgraded to a 10-year suspension in 1952. In 1977, the BAC limit was reduced to 0.10, but the law was modified to differentiate between second and third offenses. In 1983, the state established a "per se" rule wherein a person over the limit was considered drunk in all cases (i.e., not just a presumption). In 1992, the 0.01 BAC limit for individuals under the age of 21 was instituted, and in 2003, the 0.10 BAC limit was reduced to 0.08 to comply with federal highway funding requirements.

Dramshop liability and social host liability

Bars and restaurants are considered strictly liable for their patrons behavior, and liquor licenses can be suspended or revoked if a customer engages in illegal activity (e.g., fighting, public urination) after drinking. New Jersey law recognizes both dramshop liability and social host liability, wherein the server of alcohol to visibly-intoxicated persons or minors, is liable if that person then causes death or injury to a third-party in an alcohol-related automobile collision or other accident. Although most alcohol-related lawsuits involve parties injured by drunk drivers, there have been cases in New Jersey where drunk drivers were able to successfully sue the establishment that served them. While the courts in New Jersey allow the cause of actions based on dramshop liability or social host liability, the court will instruct a jury to consider the intoxicated person's negligence.

Open container and public consumption laws

It is illegal in New Jersey to have an open container of alcohol in the passenger portion of an automobile, but open bottles of alcohol may be transported in the trunk of a car, and consumption of alcohol on a bus, limousine, or boat is permitted. There is no state law against public consumption of alcohol, but most municipalities have open container laws prohibiting or restricting public consumption. Public intoxication without accompanying disorderly behavior is not a crime, and New Jersey law prohibits municipalities from making ordinances against public intoxication.

See also

• New Jersey wine
• List of wineries, breweries, and distilleries in New Jersey

External links

• New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control