Type law enforcement | ||
Formed 1947, consolidated as division under state attorney general. Preceding agency Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (1933–1947) Jurisdiction throughout New Jersey, to "supervise the manufacture, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages in such a manner as to fulfill...the purpose of the Alcoholic Beverage Control law." Headquarters 140 East Front Street
Trenton, New Jersey 08625 Agency executive Michael I. Halfacre (2012–present), Director | ||
The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (Division of ABC or, simply, ABC) is an agency of the government of the state of New Jersey that regulates commerce in alcoholic beverages in that state.
The 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, which ended the Prohibition, permitted the states to regulate matters related to alcohol. Immediately upon the end of Prohibition in 1933, New Jersey instituted the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, codified as "Title 33 Intoxicating Liquors" of the New Jersey Statutes, which established the state ABC. These laws are expanded through administrative regulations in Title 13, Chapter 2 of the New Jersey Administrative Code. After New Jersey's 1947 Constitution was adopted and some departments were consolidated, the department was incorporated into the Division of Law and Public Safety under the New Jersey Attorney General's office.
The Division of ABC is headed by a Director, who is appointed by the Governor of New Jersey with the advice and consent of the State Senate. Investigations of violations of the ABC law are conducted by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Enforcement Unit in the Division of State Police which, like the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, is within the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety under the state attorney general.
In February 2012, Mike Halfacre, an attorney who was then mayor of Fair Haven, New Jersey, was named by Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa to head the department.