Gaissert v. State
Gaissert v. State
Opinion of the Court
The accusation charged that “George Gaissert of said county, is guilty of the offense of misdemeanor, to wit, wholesale sale of beer without a license to wholesale beer in Coweta County, Georgia, for that the said accused, in said county, on the 13th day of May, 1937 . . [did?] without the limits of a municipality sell and offer to sell malt beer at wholesale to a retail beer dealer, without any permit from the county authorities and without first procuring a permit and without paying license tax required by county authorities and from a wholesale beer dealer, and without complying with regulations made by county authorities in relation to sale of beer in said county. And said accused did unlawfully without the limits of a municipality, in behalf [of?] the Griffin Wholesale Grocery Company, solicit, accept and transmit to this principal an order for beer from a retail beer dealer in said county, to be delivered and paid for in said county, knowing at the time that such beer would be delivered and collected for in Coweta County and such beer so ordered was delivered and collected for by said principal in Coweta County and thereby sold in Coweta County, the said accused had no permit or license to sell beer in Coweta County and said principal had no permit or license to sell beer in Coweta County and said accused knew at time he solicited, accepted and transmitted such order that said principal had no permit and no license to sell beer in said county.”
As a part'of the agreed statement of facts there were attached certain regulations adopted by the board of commissioners of roads and revenues of Coweta County, which were in part as follows : “Acting under the authority granted under said ‘beer-license act/ Ga. Laws, 1935, No. 267, pages 73-81, ine. Be it ordered by the board of commissioners of roads and revenue, Coweta County, Georgia, and it is hereby ordered that there be and is imposed the following annual license fee upon all persons (persons being defined as in § 4 of said act) engaged in or carrying on the business of manufacturing, distributing, selling or otherwise dealing in malt beverages (as defined in said act, § 4), outside of the incorporated cities and towns in Coweta County, Georgia: Brewers . . $1000. Wholesale Dealers . . $100. Betail Dealers . . $20, the above license fee to be paid on the filing of an application for permit as hereinafter provided, and said permit shall be good for the year 1937, beginning January 1, 1937, and ending December 31, 1937.” The defendant was found guilty and he excepts.
Section 7 of the act of 1935 (Ga. Laws, 1935, pp. 73, 76), provides: “That if any business allowed under the provisions of this act is proposed to be carried on within the corporate limits of a municipality, the applicant for license shall pay to the proper authority, to be designated by the governing body of such municipality, such annual license fee as may be fixed by the said governing body, which license shall apply to and be required for each brewery or place of manufacture and also for each place of wholesale and retail distribution; and it is further provided that when any of the above described businesses are licensed by municipal authority, that no county license fee shall be required by county authority. However, upon any of the above designated businesses located outside a municipality, the governing authority of such county, in which any of the said businesses are located, is authorized to fix an annual license fee. The license fee so fixed shall apply to and
It will be noted that before a license is granted a permit must be had. The granting and issuing of the license may of itself amount to a permission. As to license or occupation taxes “the situs of the business is the controlling factor,” and while the situs of the Griffin Wholesale Company may be in Spalding County, and the mere place of delivery is immaterial with respect to fixing a situs for taxation or license, we think a different rule applies in respect to sales of this character. It will be noted that § 7, supra, provides that a license tax may be required for each place of business. This does not affect the right of unconditional granting or refusing of permission to transact the business. Suppose, in the present case, Coweta County had refused to allow beer to be sold at retail in its borders outside municipalities, could it be contended that the transaction in the present case was not a violation of the law? See Collier v. State, 54 Ga. App. 346 (187 S. E. 843). The sale of whisky sent by express c.o.d. is not complete until the whisky is delivered and paid for, and the express company in such a case, where its sale is prohibited, is guilty if it acts knowingly in completing the sale. Crabb v. State, 88 Ga. 584 (15 S. E. 455). There is a clear distinction in a place of business which may be subject to a license or occupation tax and a single sale. Collier v. State, supra. Where an order is taken and delivery made at the same place, although not at the time of the taking of the order, and payment made therefor, such sale is completed at that place. Such a sale may not subject such person to the payment of a license tax, as explained in the decision above quoted, but where the article sold comes within the privilege class rather than as a matter of right, and a permit is required by the governing authorities before such sale may be had at all, a sale without such permit is a violation of the statute. The Griffin Grocery Company in this case contracted to sell and deliver this beer in Coweta County. They did so. Such a transaction as this was held in Cook Brewing Co. v. Lawrence, 142 Ga. 255 (82 S. E. 653), to be in the county where the beer was to be delivered. The second count of the accusation alleges that the accused for the benefit of the Griffin Grocery Company solicited this order in Coweta County and collected for it after its delivery by them in Coweta County with knowledge that
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.