(1)(a) Beginning on July 27, 2025, until December 31, 2027, and subject to (d) of this subsection (1) and subsection (5) of this section, a city, town, county, or port authority may request, and the board may approve, expanded outdoor alcohol service for liquor licensees within the whole city, town, county, or port authority, or within a specific area or areas of the city, town, county, or port authority as provided in (b) and (c) of this subsection (1). If requested by a county, the approval may only be for unincorporated areas of the county.

(b) For licensees identified in (c) of this subsection (1) who have requested approval from and been authorized by the board's licensing division to conduct outdoor alcohol service, and who are located within an area of a city, town, or county that has been approved by the board for expanded outdoor alcohol service, the following authorizations and requirements apply until December 31, 2027:

(i) All outdoor alcohol service areas may be enclosed, at the licensee's discretion, by means of a permanent or movable barrier or by means of a permanent fence-free demarcation;

(ii) For an outdoor alcohol service area enclosed by means of a permanent or movable barrier of a minimum height specified by the board, the permanent or movable barrier is not required to meet minimum height requirements on sloped site conditions;

(iii) The openings into and out of an outdoor alcohol service area may be up to a maximum distance apart as determined appropriate by the applicable city, town, or county;

(iv) Licensees may share use of an outdoor alcohol service area with other licensees and licensees may share use of an outdoor alcohol service area with businesses that do not engage in the sale or service of alcohol, subject to requirements of the board. All participating licensees are jointly responsible for any violation or enforcement issues unless it can be demonstrated that the violation or enforcement issue was due to one or more licensee's specific conduct or action, in which case the violation or enforcement applies only to those identified licensees; and

(v) An employee of the licensee must be assigned to, but is not required to be in, the outdoor alcohol service area at all times that patrons are present. A direct line of sight is not required from inside the licensed premises to the outdoor alcohol service area.

(c) The authorization in this subsection (1) is available to the following liquor licensees: Beer and wine restaurants; spirits, beer, and wine restaurants; taverns; domestic wineries; domestic breweries and microbreweries; distilleries; and snack bars.

(d) A city, town, county, or port authority that requests and is approved for expanded outdoor alcohol service shall provide, and document the provision of:

(i) Adequate local resources, including law enforcement patrols in the area, to ensure safe operations of activities and the safety of the community; and

(ii) Services to keep the area of the jurisdiction in which the activities occur clean and free of litter or other remnants of the use of public spaces for expanded outdoor alcohol service.

(2)(a) A city with a population of more than 220,000 may request, and the board may approve, expanded alcohol service during events on a publicly owned civic campus in the city, as provided in (b) through (f) of this subsection (2) and subject to subsection (5) of this section. No more than 25 events per year, up to seven of which may be multiday events, may be authorized for a city under this subsection (2).

(b) Multiple licensees located on a publicly owned civic campus in a city with a population of more than 220,000 that has been approved under (a) of this subsection (2) may share an alcohol service area encompassing the entire publicly owned civic campus, or part of the publicly owned civic campus, so long as:

(i) The board approves of the event perimeter enclosing the alcohol service area;

(ii) Security and physical barriers are provided at all entry points to the event;

(iii) The campus operator notifies the board within a minimum time required by the board in rule before the event begins;

(iv) Signage is conspicuously posted during the event notifying the public that the area is in use as an expanded alcohol service area and public notice of the upcoming use of the area as an expanded alcohol service area was conspicuously posted at least seven days in advance; and

(v) All participating licensees submit a joint operating plan to the board for approval, in a format designated by the board, that describes: (A) How the licensees will prevent the sale and service of alcohol to persons under 21 years of age and those who appear to be intoxicated; (B) the ratio of alcohol service staff and security staff to the anticipated number of attendees, subject to a ratio requirement that may be set by the board; (C) training provided to staff who serve, regulate, or supervise the service of alcohol including that alcohol server training is required for all such staff; (D) the licensees' policy on the number of alcoholic beverages that will be served to an individual patron during one transaction, subject to a limit determined by the board; (E) an explanation of the alcoholic beverage containers that will be used to ensure they are significantly different from containers used from nonalcoholic beverages; (F) the barriers or demarcations to be used for an alcohol service area or event perimeter; and (G) other information required by the board in rule.

(c) At the board's discretion, violations of (b)(iii) or (iv) of this subsection can be cause for denial of approval of events conducted under this subsection and violations of (b)(iv) of this subsection can also be cause for denial of a license of the participating licensees or denial of participation in future events under this section.

(d) Multiple licensees located on a publicly owned civic campus in a city with a population of more than 220,000 that has been approved under (a) of this subsection (2) may share an indoor alcohol service area at certain times authorized by the campus operator, so long as:

(i) The campus operator notifies the board at least seven days in advance of the date licensees intend to begin operating the shared indoor alcohol service area;

(ii) The campus operator ensures security and physical barriers are provided at all entry points to the indoor alcohol service area; and

(iii) The licensees submit a joint operating plan to the board for approval meeting the requirements of (b)(v) of this subsection (2).

(e) With respect to multiple licensees sharing an alcohol service area as authorized under (b) or (d) of this subsection (2), all participating licensees are jointly responsible for any violation or enforcement issues unless it can be demonstrated that the violation or enforcement issue was due to one or more licensee's specific conduct or action, in which case the violation or enforcement applies only to those identified licensees.

(f) During the times a licensee is operating under the authorization in this subsection (2) or subsection (4) of this section, the licensee may:

(i) Operate without a permit from their local jurisdiction that may otherwise be required to allow the business to use the public space as an alcohol service area;

(ii) Share an alcohol service area with another licensee: (A) Without individually requesting approval from the board's licensing division; and (B) regardless of whether the licensees' property parcels or buildings are located in direct physical proximity to one another; and

(iii) Sell and serve alcohol to customers from an alcohol service area without offering food service menu options, except that any required food service must still be provided within the licensed premises, and in any preexisting alcohol service area operated by the licensee under the board's rules that does not rely on the authorization in this section, if the preexisting alcohol service area remains in place during an event.

(3)(a) The authorization in subsections (2) and (4) of this section is available to: Beer and wine restaurants; spirits, beer, and wine restaurants; taverns; domestic wineries; domestic breweries and microbreweries; distilleries; snack bars; and special occasion licensees under RCW 66.24.380.

(b) A caterer's license shall be issued to an eligible applicant under RCW 66.24.690 for an event open to the public and held on a publicly owned civic campus in a city with a population of more than 220,000 under subsection (2) of this section or in an area or areas of a jurisdiction approved under subsection (4) of this section, even if the sponsor of the event for which catering services are being provided is not a society or organization as defined in RCW 66.24.375, if license and regulatory requirements are otherwise met.

(4)(a) A city, town, county, or port authority that has been designated as a fan zone or host city from an international self-regulatory governing body of a sports association, or a nonprofit organization authorized by such an entity, may request, and the board may approve, expanded outdoor and indoor alcohol service for liquor licensees within an area or areas of the jurisdiction. The authorization in this subsection (4) may be used to allow expanded alcohol sales and service only during a single multiday event in each approved jurisdiction in either of the months of June or July of 2026.

(b) Multiple licensees located within an area of a city, town, county, or port authority approved under this subsection for expanded alcohol service may share an alcohol service area encompassing the entire approved area or areas, during the event, so long as:

(i) The board approves of the event perimeter enclosing the alcohol service area;

(ii) Security and physical barriers are provided at all entry points to the event;

(iii) The applicable city, town, county, or port authority through a designated official notifies the board within a minimum time required by the board in rule before the event begins;

(iv) Signage is conspicuously posted during the event notifying the public that the area is in use as an expanded alcohol service area and public notice of the upcoming use of the area as an expanded alcohol service area was conspicuously posted at least seven days in advance; and

(v) All participating licensees submit a joint operating plan to the board for approval, in a format designated by the board, that meets the requirements of subsection (2)(b)(v) of this section.

(c) Licensees operating under this subsection (4) may share use of an alcohol service area with other licensees and licensees may share use of an alcohol service area with businesses that do not engage in the sale or service of alcohol, subject to requirements of the board. All participating licensees are jointly responsible for any violation or enforcement issues unless it can be demonstrated that the violation or enforcement issue was due to one or more licensee's specific conduct or action, in which case the violation or enforcement applies only to those identified licensees.

(d) During the times a licensee is operating under the authorization in this subsection (4), the licensee may operate as provided in subsection (2)(f) of this section.

(5) The board must impose a fee on any or all of the following licensees and local governments in order to cover but not exceed the board's administrative and enforcement costs related to activities authorized under this section:

(a) A licensee seeking to operate under the authorization in this section, as a condition to exercising privileges in this section;

(b) A city, town, county, or port authority applying for expanded outdoor alcohol service privileges for licensees under subsection (1) of this section;

(c) A city with a population of more than 220,000 applying for expanded alcohol service privileges for licensees during events on a publicly owned civic campus under subsection (2) of this section; and

(d) A city, town, county, or port authority designated as a fan zone or host city applying for expanded alcohol service privileges for licensees during an event in June or July of 2026 in an approved area or areas of the jurisdiction.

(6) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(a) "Alcohol service area" means an area in which liquor may be sold, served, and consumed as authorized under this title and rules of the board.

(b) "Board" means the liquor and cannabis board.

(c) "Campus operator" means the person who has primary responsibility for making managerial or executive decisions relating to operations and activities at a publicly owned civic campus or the person's designee.

(d) "Publicly owned civic campus" means the buildings, facilities, grounds, lands, and spaces owned by a city and designated as a city center, and used for civic, arts, cultural, sports, and other community and family events and activities, being not more than 100 acres in size on July 27, 2025.

Finding—Intent—2025 c 361: "(1) The legislature finds that updating and modernizing the regulation of alcohol service in public spaces by building upon the regulatory framework established in agency rules governing this activity will benefit the citizens of Washington, the restaurant and hospitality industry, nonprofit organizations, as well as local and state government in Washington, and will help prepare Washington to successfully host a major international sports event in 2026.

(2) The legislature intends that passage and implementation of this act will allow for event environments that emphasize safe crowd management of high volumes of people, a pleasant event experience that maximizes mobility for event guests, especially families, and maintains safe operations that ensure alcohol is not accessed or consumed by persons under age 21, overservice is prevented, and alcohol does not leave the premises.

(3) Therefore, subject to the requirements in this section:

(a) From July 27, 2025, until December 31, 2027, the legislature intends to authorize local governments to request from the liquor and cannabis board, and for the board to reasonably approve, that expanded outdoor alcohol service in public spaces be allowed for liquor licensees in their jurisdictions;

(b) From July 27, 2025, until December 31, 2027, the legislature intends to authorize certain cities to request from the liquor and cannabis board, and for the board to reasonably approve, that expanded outdoor and indoor alcohol service in public spaces be allowed for liquor licensees operating during events on publicly owned civic campuses; and

(c) During the months of June and July of 2026, the legislature intends to authorize certain local governments to request from the liquor and cannabis board, and for the board to reasonably approve, that expanded outdoor and indoor alcohol service in public spaces be allowed for certain liquor licensees operating during a single multiday event in an approved area or areas of a city, town, county, or port authority that is a designated fan zone or host city." [ 2025 c 361 s 1.]

Expiration date—2025 c 361: "This act expires December 31, 2027." [ 2025 c 361 s 10.]