LITTLE ROCK, Ark — Alcohol can continue to be delivered after the end of the public health emergency after Governor Asa Hutchinson signed Senate Bill 32 on Monday.
Now called Act 158, delivery of alcohol will continue, but it's not as simple as it sounds. There are rules and regulations to follow to stay compliant.
Alcohol can only be delivered from a retail liquor store, a micro-brewery restaurant, or a small brewery. Customers need to be 21, at a private residence, and in a wet county during normal store operating times to have alcohol delivered.
On top of those requirements, alcohol can only be delivered by an employee of one of those three places. No third party delivery is allowed.
"We were very interested in supporting and getting it through the legislature, and then having the governor sign it," Clark Trim, President of Colonial Wine and Spirits in Little Rock said.
Trim and his staff have offered delivery since last March. It's a luxury not all places can afford.
"We're fortunate, we're able to go out and make the investment that we need to make in order to deliver, according to all the regulations and laws," Trim said.
It's an expensive and difficult workload to manage. Employees need to be trained, and then there's the question of how employees will get to their destination — in their own car, or with a designated work vehicle?
"I would say there are two sides to the coin," Trim said. "We will have to see if the cost involved is worth what business we're doing."
For other store owners, like John Crow of 107 Liquor in Sherwood, it's worth continuing.
"It will definitely come with increased operational costs, but I'm confident it will be worth the investment," he said in an email to THV11. "Customers like convenience, and you don't get much more convenient than delivery to your doorstep."
To read the full text of Act 158, click here.