Beer Can Now be Sold on Sundays in DeKalb County

The liquor referendum that passed in Smithville a few months ago has impacted beer sale times in the county, thanks to a state law.
Stores and restaurants in DeKalb County that have an ON or OFF premises beer permit may now sell or serve alcohol on Sundays and extended hours during the week.
The authorization for these businesses to extend their hours to sell or serve beer came when voters in the City of Smithville adopted a referendum permitting liquor by the drink in November.
“Since the city has passed by referendum liquor by the drink then the hours for county beer sales now conform to the hours for sale of alcoholic beverages set by the state which are 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 a.m. (the following morning) and Sundays from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 a.m.(the following morning),” County Attorney Hilton Conger told WJLE Thursday.
Previously, these county business establishments were prohibited from selling beer all day on Sundays and from midnight until 6:00 a.m. all other days of the week.
In response to questions from County Attorney Conger, Joshua Stepp, Commission Counsel for the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission said that based on his reading of state attorney general’s opinions, extended beer sales are now permitted in DeKalb County.
“One (AG opinion) basically says that when a county hasn’t passed an LBD (Liquor by the Drink) referendum, but a city in the county has, then the state LBD hours apply to the county with regards to beer. It then says that the county can extend those hours if they want, but they can only extend them, they can’t be more prohibitive then what the state hours are. The state hours are 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. except the Sunday hours are 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 a.m. except where the local jurisdiction passes an ordinance opting out of the 10:00 a.m. start time, in which case it would be noon,” said Stepp.
“Another (AG opinion) basically says that since the county beer hours of sale are tied to the state hours of sale for LBD and since the Sunday start time is typically 10:00 a.m. unless the city opts out making it noon, then the county has to follow whatever the city does, so if the city opts out, then the start time is noon, but if they don’t then it’s 10:00 a.m.,” Stepp said.
“How I read the opinions is that as soon as the referendum passed, the county became bound by the state hours, so that the hours for beer in the county are now 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. except on Sunday, it starts at 10:00 a.m. On Sunday, since the city hasn’t opted out of the 10:00 a.m. start time to make it noon, then the 10:00 a.m. start time applies (both in the city and the county) until such time as the city may so opt out,” said Stepp.
In December 2012, the City of Smithville authorized stores in the city with off premises permits to sell packaged beer twenty four hours a day, seven days a week including Sundays and to allow eligible restaurants to obtain an on-premises permit to serve beer with meals in their establishments..