Sunday morning alcohol sales now permitted in Madison County

by Randy Pierce • Anyone wishing to purchase an alcoholic beverage from an authorized licensed retailer on Sunday mornings in Madison County can now do so following the passage of legislation authorizing such sales.

At its most recent meeting, the Madison County Board approved an ordinance amending previous liquor regulations which had restricted the Sunday sale of such drinks or products to a time after noon. 

Introduced by the board’s public safety committee, which had passed the ordinance unanimously in early December, the ordinance is structured so that holders of liquor sales licenses can sell, dispense or give away alcohol starting at 6 a.m. on Sundays. The previous restriction of such provision of alcohol disallowed it between 3 a.m. and noon. 

For Mondays through Saturdays, the time for no availability of liquor in this manner remains as it was previously, between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. 

As pointed out at that public safety committee meeting, bars, restaurants and even golf courses have sought for many years to be allowed to have drinks, especially mimosa cocktails, a mixture of fruit juice and champagne, available on Sunday mornings instead of having to wait until noon.

County Board Chairman Chris Slusser, as stated when the committee deliberated on this matter, had no problem with changing Sunday morning rule to where it is in basic agreement with the other days of the week. David Livingstone from the state’s attorney’s staff also could not see any reason to avoid making this change.

Other factors cited for proceeding in this direction concerned how some people who play golf early on Sundays would prefer the opportunity to get a drink then and how unlikely it would be for anyone in that situation to become drunk and disorderly as a result. 

Many brunches and Sunday morning buffets could additionally be enhanced through the selection of liquor in such settings in what was termed as the county’s intent to be “business friendly.”