As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 194
2025-2026
Representative Barhorst
To amend section 1333.82 of the Revised Code to
revise the Alcohol Franchise Law.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 1333.82 of the Revised Code be
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1333.82. As used in sections 1333.82 to 1333.87 of
the Revised Code:
(A) "Alcoholic beverages" means beer and wine as defined
in section 4301.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) "Manufacturer" means a person, whether located in this
state or elsewhere, that manufactures or supplies alcoholic
beverages to distributors in this state. "Manufacturer" does not
include any person producing less than two hundred fifty
thousand barrels of beer a year.
(C) "Distributor" means a person that sells or distributes
alcoholic beverages to retail permit holders in this state, but
does not include the state or any of its political subdivisions.
(D) "Franchise" means a contract or any other legal device
used to establish a contractual relationship between a
manufacturer and a distributor.
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19 H. B. No. 194 Page 2
As Introduced
(E) "Good faith" means the duty of any party to any
franchise, and all officers, employees, or agents of any party
to any franchise, to act in a fair and equitable manner toward
each other so as to guarantee each party freedom from coercion
or intimidation; except that recommendation, endorsement,
exposition, persuasion, urging, or argument shall not be
considered to constitute a lack of good faith or coercion.
(F) "Brand," as applied to wine, means a wine different
from any other wine in respect to type, brand, trade name, or
container size.
(G) "Sales area or territory" means an exclusive
geographic area or territory that is assigned to a particular A
or B permit holder and that either has one or more political
subdivisions as its boundaries or consists of an area of land
with readily identifiable geographic boundaries. "Sales area or
territory" does not include, however, any particular retail
location in an exclusive geographic area or territory that had
been assigned to another A or B permit holder before April 9,
2001.
Section 2. That existing section 1333.82 of the Revised
Code is hereby repealed.
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