Alcohol laws of Kentucky

The location of Kentucky within the United States.

The alcohol laws of Kentucky, which govern the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages in that state, lead to a confusing patchwork of counties that are dry, prohibiting all sale of alcoholic beverages; wet, permitting full retail sales under state license; and "moist", occupying a middle ground between the two. A justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court wrote in 1985 that the state's alcohol laws were a "maze of obscure statutory language" and "confusing at best." The general counsel of the Kentucky Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) noted in 2012, "That's still the case."[1] This led Kentucky governor Steve Beshear to appoint a task force in summer 2012 to attempt to streamline the state's alcohol laws.[1]

Quirks

Apart from the laws governing local option elections by which communities can determine whether alcoholic beverages can be sold at all, many aspects of the state's alcohol laws were called "perplexing" in a 2012 story in one of Kentucky's largest newspapers, the Lexington Herald-Leader. The confusion starts with licensing itself—the state issues more than 70 different types of licenses for alcohol sales.[1]

One significant quirk is that wine can be purchased in a pharmacy, but not in a supermarket. The sale of wine and distilled spirits at pharmacies and grocery stores is regulated by laws that date to Prohibition. At the time, prescriptions for alcohol could be obtained at pharmacies (sometimes referred to as spirits of frumenti). After the end of national Prohibition, sales were prohibited in grocery stores because it was thought that minors were more likely to be in those businesses than in pharmacies. Today, while grocery stores can hold wine and distilled spirits licenses, they can only sell such beverages if they provide a separate entrance to that part of the store and not allow minors to work there. By contrast, grocery stores can sell beer in the main shopping area.[1]

Another inconsistency involves the difference between legal ages for buying and selling alcoholic beverages. The legal age for purchase is 21,[2] as in all U.S. states. However, the legal age for selling or serving alcoholic beverages in a licensed establishment is 20.[3] In the case of packaged beer, the legal selling age is 18, as long as the person is supervised by someone who is at least 20.[4]

Wet and dry status

The ABC uses very specific terminology to classify the state's 120 counties as "wet", "dry", "moist", or dry with special provisions.[5]

In popular usage, "moist" has a much broader meaning than the ABC's specific usage. In addition to the ABC definition, "moist" can also refer to a county where alcohol sales have been approved under any of the special provisions allowed by Kentucky law—in other words, any status other than "dry" or "wet". More often, the term is used to refer to otherwise dry cities or counties that have approved restaurant sales by the drink, as evidenced by a July 2012 editorial by The Independent of Ashland where the term "moist" is repeatedly used to describe several such locations.[6]

According to the last official ABC update of counties on January 3, 2013, 38 counties are dry, 32 are wet, and the remaining 50 are either "moist" or dry with special circumstances.[5][1]

Possible definitions of "moist"

A county can be "moist", by popular definition, in several different ways:

Safety issues

A study of about 39,000 alcohol-related traffic accidents in Kentucky found that residents of dry counties are more likely to be involved in such crashes, possibly because they have to drive farther from their homes to consume alcohol, thus increasing impaired driving exposure. The study concludes that county-level prohibition is not necessarily effective in improving highway safety.[15]


References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Brammer, Jack (August 10, 2012). "Want to buy or sell an alcoholic drink in Kentucky? That'll depend on where you are". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  2. Kentucky Revised Statutes § 244.080, where "minor" is defined in § 241.010 as an individual under 21.
  3. KRS § 244.090
  4. KRS § 244.087
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Wet & Dry Counties in Kentucky as of 01/03/13" (PDF). Kentucky Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Getting wetter". The Independent. Ashland, KY. June 21, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  7. Teague, Hawkins (July 24, 2012). "City to begin its alcohol governance discussion". Murray Ledger & Times. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  8. 1 2 Associated Press (July 25, 2012). "La Grange voters approve expanded alcohol sales". WDRB. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  9. "Georgetown Now A 'Wet' City". Lexington, KY: WTVQ-DT. July 31, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  10. 1 2 Krzton-Presson, Rose (August 7, 2012). "Princeton & Sturgis Vote to Allow Alcohol Sales". Murray, KY: WKMS-FM. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  11. 1 2 Ramsey, Austin (May 18, 2012). "Packaged sales, restaurant sales separate statutes". Murray Ledger & Times. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  12. Noble, Jeff (February 15, 2012). "Corbin says 'Yes'". The Times-Tribune. Corbin, KY. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  13. Kocher, Greg (2007-11-06). "Voters allow Shaker Village to serve alcohol". Lexington Herald-Leader. Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
  14. Kocher, Greg (April 7, 2012). "Alcohol approval creates dilemma for Berea College". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
  15. Schulte, G., et al.. Consideration of driver home county prohibition and alcohol-related vehicle crashes. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2003, 35(5), 641-648.
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