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Kentucky · Snapshot 09/05/2026

KRS 244.604: Definitions for KRS 244.602 to 244.606.

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  1. KRS Chapter 244

As used in KRS 244.602 to 244.606, unless the context requires otherwise:

(1) "Distributor" means any person who distributes or sells at wholesale malt beverages

for the purpose of being sold at retail.

(2) "Existing distributor" means a distributor who di stributes a particular brand or

brands of malt beverage at the time a successor brewer or importer acquires rights

to manufacture or import the particular brand or brands of malt beverage.

(3) "Good cause" means failure by a distributor to comply with the provisions of an

agreement as delineated therein, which provisions are not unconscionable. Good

cause shall not include:

(a) The failure or refusal of the distributor to engage in any trade practice or

activity which would violate federal or state law;

(b) The failure or refusal of the distributor to take any action which would be

contrary to these provisions;

(c) The sale or purchase of a brewer or importer, except as provided under KRS

244.606(2); and

(d) The implementation by a brewer or importer of a national or regional policy of

consolidation unless the policy:

1. Is reasonable, nondiscriminatory, and essential;

2. Results in a contemporaneous reduction in the number of a brewer's or

importer's distributors not only for a brand in this state, but also for that

brand in contiguous states or in a majority of the state in which the

brewer or importer sells that brand; and

3. Was previously disclosed in writing and in reasonable detail by the

brewer or importer implementing the policy to all affected distributors at

least one hundred eighty (180) days prior to the implementation of the

policy.

The term "affected distributor" means distributors who may reasonably be expected

to experience a loss or diminishment of a right to distribute a brand, in whole or i n

part as a consequence of a proposed consolidation policy.

(4) "Good faith" means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial

standard of fair dealing in the trade, as defined under KRS Chapter 355.

(5) "Malt beverage" means any fermented undistilled alcoholic beverage of any name or

description, manufactured from malt wholly or in part, or from any substitute for

malt, exceeding five-tenths of one percent (0.5%) alcohol by volume.

(6) "Successor" means a brewer or importer that acquires the right to manufacture or

import a particular brand or brands of malt beverage.

(7) "Successor's designee" means one (1) or more distributors designated by a successor

to replace the existing distributor, for all or part of the existing distributor's territory,

in the distribution of a particular brand or brands of malt beverage.

Collected 2026-09-05T20:52:55Z. Source file · JSON

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