RECORD GROUP 14: LIQUOR CONTROL

1952-1981

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

The Montgomery County Department of Liquor Control functions as a department of the County government and exercises monopoly control over the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the County. In this sense it shares the rights and privileges the "control" states, having been granted the authority to purchase all wines and liquors directly from the manufacturers by the Maryland Courts in 1955. The Liquor Control Board was established in December 1933, following the end of nationwide Prohibition and a fifty-three year period of prohibition in the County. The Board controlled the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages and served as the Board of License Commissioners. In 1951 the Annotated Code of Maryland assigned the powers of the Liquor Control Board to the newly established Department of Liquor Control, and retained the Board of License Commissioners as a separate entity with the authority to issue licenses for the sale of alcoholic beverages and to carry out inspection and enforcement activities. Initially the Department operated seven stores and generated total net sales of about $5.6 million. Today the Department provides wholesale distribution of alcoholic beverages to twenty-one retail stores.

PROCESSING PROCEDURES

General processing procedures consisted of discarding duplicates, unnecessary binders, and routine transmittals. Oversized documents and photographs were removed from the original location in their assigned series and placed in separate containers. Separation sheets were inserted in the original location within the folder to indicate the new location of any records placed elsewhere.

PROVENANCE

The collection was culled from various accessions of printed material.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection comprises 0.66 cubic feet of material dating from 1952 to 1981. It includes a brochure offering a historical perspective on the Department of Liquor Control, a report on the system used by the Department to control operations, and some versions of the County alcoholic beverage laws from 1952 to 1960.

Records are arranged in chronological order and alphabetically within each year.

BOX INVENTORY

Box 1

Alcoholic Beverages Laws, Montgomery County, Maryland, 1952

Alcoholic Beverages Laws, Montgomery County, Maryland, 1958

Alcoholic Beverages Laws, Montgomery County, Maryland, 1961

Financial Statements and Supplementary Information Year Ended June 30, 1969, 1961

Laws on Alcoholic Beverages, [1972]

FY 80 Budget Request, 1978

FY 1981 Operating Budget, 1979

29 Years of Responsible Service to Montgomery County, Maryland, 1980

Audit Committee Report on the Operations Review of the Montgomery County Department

of Liquor Control, 1981

Cost Comparison of DLC (Department Liquor Control) With Those of Other Jurisdictions

That Control Sales of Alcoholic Beverages, 1981

Department of Liquor Control System Requirements, Volume I (2 folders), 1981

Box 2

Department of Liquor Control System Requirements, Volume II (3 folders), 1981

Report on Findings Related to a Review of the Special Consultant's Study of Department of

Liquor Control Practices, 1981