---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 4 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS."
description: "This bill creates a new type of liquor license for beer gardens. Beer gardens are outdoor venues that operate at least 5 months, of each year and are independent of any other licensed establishment. The licensing and operation of beer gardens provides new business creation opportunities and a chance to enhance retail areas in Delaware. However, the General Assembly is also mindful of concerns that by creating a license for outdoor space, existing businesses could be affected. For this reason, the definition of a beer garden includes stringent requirements that will limit the number of establishments that could be eligible for a license issued pursuant to this Act. The biennial fee for a beer garden license is set at $2,000."
jurisdiction: "us/states/de"
legislature: "Delaware General Assembly"
session: "149"
identifier: "HB 158"
citation: "Delaware HB 158 (149)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Helene M. Keeley", "Margaret Rose Henry", "Stephanie T. Bolden"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 11
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-05-04"
last_action: "2017-07-17"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2b6ace59-98cc-4a4c-8dd9-d29fc7522937"
source_url: "https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=25726"
source_hash: "27ab10a20b3d91ccfdcc834838a116db7d61d55079359313d8459f5874486f98"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-de"]
---

# Delaware HB 158 (149) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 4 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS.

This bill creates a new type of liquor license for beer gardens. Beer gardens are outdoor venues that operate at least 5 months, of each year and are independent of any other licensed establishment. The licensing and operation of beer gardens provides new business creation opportunities and a chance to enhance retail areas in Delaware. However, the General Assembly is also mindful of concerns that by creating a license for outdoor space, existing businesses could be affected. For this reason, the definition of a beer garden includes stringent requirements that will limit the number of establishments that could be eligible for a license issued pursuant to this Act. The biennial fee for a beer garden license is set at $2,000.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Bill Text** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GenerateHtmlDocument?legislationId=25726&legislationTypeId=1&docTypeId=2&legislationName=HB158)

## Votes

- 3/5 — **39–0** (pass) · lower
- SM — **20–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Helene M. Keeley — primary (person)
- Margaret Rose Henry — primary (person)
- Stephanie T. Bolden — primary (person)
- Gerald L. Brady — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-05-04** Introduced and Assigned to Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee in House `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2017-05-10** Amendment HA 1 to HB 158 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
- **2017-05-10** Reported Out of Committee (Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce) in House with 9 On Its Merits `committee-passage`
- **2017-06-13** Amendment HA 2 to HB 158 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
- **2017-06-13** Amendment HA 1 to HB 158 - Passed In House by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2017-06-13** Amendment HA 2 to HB 158 - Passed In House by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2017-06-13** Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 2 ABSENT `passage`
- **2017-06-13** Assigned to Banking, Business & Insurance Committee in Senate `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2017-06-21** Reported Out of Committee (Banking, Business & Insurance) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits, 1 Unfavorable `committee-passage, committee-passage-unfavorable`
- **2017-06-29** Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 NO `passage`
- **2017-07-17** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2b6ace59-98cc-4a4c-8dd9-d29fc7522937`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).