Yellowstone Club liquor dispute dropped

Town Crier “Briefs from the Region” (2) – 1/28/21

Correction: An earlier version of this article indicated that legal proceedings against the Yellowstone Club began last year. The article has been corrected to indicate that the proceedings began in June of 2019 and that the club was accused of storing liquor illegally, not found guilty of the charge.

In a prohibition-type narrative, in the summer of 2019, the Yellowstone Club was accused of storing large quantities of liquor at a Belgrade address associated with the Yellowstone Jetcenter. Montana law states that it is illegal to store liquor off-site from the bar at which it is being served. This past November, Yellowstone Club’s attorney, Shane Reely, sent a letter to the Montana Department of Revenue, resulting in the club allowing the state to dispose of the liquor, because “a significant amount of the inventory” had “spoilt.” Because the hearing would cost more than the inventory of liquor, which no longer held value, a few days later, the Department of Revenue decided to dismiss the matter entirely. The stash included 429 bottles of liquor, 70 bottles of wine and 319 bottles or cans of beer.