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Legislature OKs allowing towns to go wet

By Jared Felkins
The Times-Journal

Published April 23, 2009

The state Legislature has given final approval for possibly seven DeKalb County towns to vote to legalize the sale of alcoholic beverages.

The Alabama House gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that will allow towns with populations as small as 1,000 residents to bring the issue up for vote. In DeKalb County, that would allow Collinsville, Crossville, Henagar, Rainsville and Sylvania that opportunity. Two more towns – Fyffe and Powell – are close to the 1,000-resident threshold at 971 and 926 respectively, according to the 2000 Census. A new Census report will be released in 2010.

The House voted 49-23 Tuesday for a revised version of the bill. The Senate voted 17-9 for the bill earlier Tuesday. The Senate amended the bill, raising the population limit from 500 to 1,000. The bill now awaits Gov. Bob Riley’s signature or veto.

State law currently allows towns with at least 7,000 people to vote to legalize liquor sales in dry counties, which includes only Fort Payne in DeKalb County. The city went wet on its own in 2004 while the rest of DeKalb County remains dry.

The bill by Democratic Rep. Jimmy Martin of Clanton will allow many smaller towns to vote wet if the voters choose.

To get a liquor referendum on the ballot, supporters will have to collect signatures equaling 30 percent of the voters in the last general election in the town.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report

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