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February 22, 2023
Governor To Select Next Liquor Director
Liquor Official
Resigns Amid
Accusations of
Bourbon Hoarding
AP-The executive director of Oregon’s
liquor regulatory agency announced his
resignation Monday amid a criminal in-
vestigation into allegations that he and
other senior officials used their positions
to divert rare, sought-after bourbons for
personal use.
Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Com-
mission Executive Director Steve
Marks noted in his resignation letter
that Gov. Tina Kotek asked him to step
down. He said his resignation is effec-
tive at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The resigna-
tion letter to the OLCC’s board of com-
missioners was first reported by The
Oregonian/OregonLive.
The liquor officials told an internal
investigator they were paying for the
whiskey, which can cost thousands of
dollars a bottle, but they are accused of
using their knowledge and connections
at the commission to obtain the products.
Marks and the other officials denied they
resold the whiskeys they obtained.
Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum on
Friday announced a criminal investiga-
tion into the allegations that senior offi-
cials in the state’s alcohol and marijuana
Gov. Tina Kotek of Oregon received a letter of resignation from Steve Marks, the executive director of the state’s liquor control
agency. (Claire Rush/Associated Press)
regulatory agency, which is the state’s
third-largest revenue generator, violated
ethics laws.
The funneling of the top-end whiskey
to leaders of the state agency deprived
well-heeled whiskey aficionados of the
bourbons and violated several Oregon
statutes, including one that prohibits
public officials from using confidential
information for personal gain, according
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to the commission’s investigation.
The officials purportedly had very lim-
ited bottles of top-shelf bourbon routed
to a liquor store, often in the Portland
suburb of Milwaukie where the commis-
sion headquarters is located, and would
reserve them for pickup later. They said
they used the whiskey for personal con-
sumption or as gifts.
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Marks denied that he had violated Ore-
gon ethics laws and state policy. Howev-
er, he acknowledged that he had received
preferential treatment “to some extent”
in obtaining the whiskey as a commis-
sion employee.
The board of commissioners is ap-
pointed by the governor and in turn se-
lects the executive director, according to
a commission spokesman.