During the most recent meeting of the Wyoming Legislature, the Wyoming Senate undertook the task of drafting legislation that ultimately changed how liquor licenses are dealt with in the State of Wyoming.  Combined, these revisions provided six (6) fundamental changes to Wyoming law:  (1) altered the licensing process through the State; (2) amended how the State could revoke a liquor license; (3) effectively stopped the "parking" of liquor licenses not being used; (4) materially increased the role of the local licensing authority in regulating liquor licenses and establishments; (5) removed the long standing concept of "dispensing rooms" associated with retail liquor licenses; and (6) removed certain conditions previously used to control the type of activities associated with a license (standards for issuance, who may hold a license, hours of operation, etc.)  These changes to the Wyoming Statutes become effective July 1, 2017.

Staff has effectively re-written Chapter 3 of the Gillette City Code to incorporate prior Wyoming Statutes, and to update the existing City Code.  This has been a combined effort of the Clerk's Office, the Police Department, and the City Attorney's Office.  In addition, on May 12, 2017, a Public Meeting was held to discuss proposed changes to Chapter 3.  In preparation of the Public Meeting, a letter was sent to every liquor license holder in the City of Gillette, and a proposed draft of Chapter 3 was made available.  Additionally, the proposed draft was also made available on the City's webpage. Based on public input from license holders the draft Chapter 3 has been further amended.

On May 23, 2017 this proposed draft was presented to Council.  Based on the discussions held during that meeting, the proposed fee schedule was amended to set Bar and Grill Licenses at $3,000 per year, and drive-up/drive-thru window rates at $500 per year.  The provision regarding the granting of security interest - or more specifically, Council's obligation to recognize a security interest - remains unchanged.  Under the current version of the proposed draft, the Council is not required to recognize a security interest in a liquor license.