26 U.S.C. § 5179
Section 5179 · Registration of stills
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 56 court decisions — leading case Surrett v. United States (1970)
Most recently applied in 456 F. App'x 200 - United States v. Jody Smith, Sr. (December 2011)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Every person having in his possession or custody, or under his control, any still or distilling apparatus set up, shall register such still or apparatus with the Secretary immediately on its being set up, by subscribing and filing with the Secretary a statement, in writing, setting forth the particular place where such still or distilling apparatus is set up, the kind of still and its capacity, the owner thereof, his place of residence, and the purpose for which said still or distilling apparatus has been or is intended to be used (except that stills or distilling apparatus not used or intended to be used for the distillation, redistillation, or recovery of distilled spirits are not required to be registered under this section).
(1) For penalty and forfeiture provisions relating to unregistered stills, see sections 5601(a)(1) and 5615(1).
(2) For provisions requiring notification to set up a still, boiler, or other vessel for distilling, see section 5101(a)(2).
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 5179, act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 631, related to “survey of distillery”, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 85–859.
Provisions similar to those comprising this section were contained in prior sections 5174 and 5275(2), act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 630, 651, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 85–859.
Amendments
1984—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 98–369 substituted “notification to set up a still, boiler, or other vessel for distilling, see section 5101(a)(2)” for “permit to set up a still, boiler or other vessel for distilling, see section 5105”.
1976—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 94–455, §1906(b)(13)(A), struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary”.
Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 94–455, §1905(b)(6)(C), struck out “, 5601(b)(1),” after “5601(a)(1)”.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98–369 effective on first day of first calendar month which begins more than 90 days after July 18, 1984, see section 456(a) of Pub. L. 98–369, set out as an Effective Date note under section 5101 of this title.
Effective Date of 1976 Amendment
Amendment by section 1905(b)(6)(C) of Pub. L. 94–455 effective on first day of first month which begins more than 90 days after Oct. 4, 1976, see section 1905(d) of Pub. L. 94–455, set out as a note under section 5005 of this title.