BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — A Benton County Quorum Court committee unanimously voted to move forward with an ordinance that would allow restaurants and bars in unincorporated parts of the county to sell alcohol by the glass.
In a 2012 election, incorporated and unincorporated residents voted to make Benton County a "wet county." Over the last 20 years, the sale and manufacture of alcoholic beverages has been permitted.
This vote did not allow restaurants and bars to obtain a liquor permit, leaving the responsibility of setting parameters for getting this kind of license up to cities. For this reason, several establishments within incorporated Benton County have the opportunity to sell alcohol to patrons.
However, restaurants in unincorporated parts of the county are required to seek approval as a private club, making the process of obtaining a permit more expensive and difficult.
"There have been private clubs in the county, but that's become a pretty antiquated practice," County Judge Barry Moehring said. "Now, none of the cities have to do that because Benton County became a wet county back in 2012, but there are still some strings attached, if you will, and one of those was unincorporated parts of the county weren't automatically included."
Moehring suggests requiring bars and restaurants to register as a private club in unincorporated parts of the county and not within cities isn't fair.
"That carries its own kinds of burdens on both the establishment and the consumer, and we'd like to have basically the same competitive advantages that our fellow restaurants in Rogers have," Moehring said. "I thought that was a good idea. They should be able to have a level competitive playing field."
The latest ordinance being discussed by the court arose after a business near Rogers reached out to County Judge Barry Moehring.
"I've only had one establishment reach out to me about, and that's the one that reached out to me a few weeks ago and said, 'We're out by Rogers. We can't sell drinks by the glass unless we're a private club,'" Moehring said.
If the county decides to vote for the ordinance, they will still have to go through the same process and apply through the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Administration (ABC) to obtain a license.
"They'll have to get their state permits, but it really puts those establishments that are in the county on the level playing field with those that are in the city when it comes to offering alcoholic beverages," Moehring said.
Moehring said he doesn't think there will be much pushback to this change.
"We have hundreds of establishments now in cities that can offer drinks by the glass, and the public is free to go there. Those restaurants are free to operate within the law, and they do so legally," he said. "The same protections ought to be afforded to establishments in the county. I really don't have a good argument why they shouldn't enjoy the same kinds of legal protections that the city establishments do."
Moehring said the ordinance will go to the full quorum court for its first reading on Thursday, Sept. 26. There will be a total of three readings for this ordinance — once in September, October, and November.
"The way we do things at Benton County is there will be three readings of this ordinance so that the public has plenty of time to come and offer their opinions and their point of view," Moehring said.
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