LJWorld.com

• Email
• iPod-friendly
• Print

Topeka — More than two years after a court ruling allowed local governments to defy state law's long-standing ban on Sunday liquor sales, lawmakers passed a bill to remove the prohibition from the books.

It was a symbolic milestone. The Kansas Constitution prohibited the sale, manufacturing and consumption of alcohol, except for medicinal purposes, until 1948, and the Sunday sales ban enacted afterward had been among the most politically durable features of state law.

The bill preserves the right of cities and counties to allow liquor stores to open on Sunday, except on Easter and Christmas when it falls on that day. Also, local governments gained the right to allow the Sunday sale of low-alcohol beer in groceries and convenience stores.

But cities or county governments would have to act to allow such sales, and residents could petition to put the issue on the ballot if they opposed the decision of their elected officials.

The new bill does not overturn the results of any previous public votes to allow Sunday liquor sales, but communities that now allow such sales would be required to re-enact their policies.

"The default position is, ‘No Sunday sales unless you opt in,"' said Sen. John Vratil, R-Leawood.

The House approved the bill, drafted by negotiators, on an 87-34 vote early Sunday. The Senate vote was 21-17, sending the measure to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who has supported Sunday sales.

The Sunday sales ban came under attack in 2002, when a Wyandotte County district judge ruled that the state's Liquor Control Act, which contained the ban, didn't apply uniformly to all sizes of cities.

For example, the act made it harder in a small city than a large one to force elections on allowing retail liquor sales, a holdover from the days when lawmakers assumed some communities wouldn't want any alcohol sales.

The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the decision last year, but even before then, local governments began approving Sunday sales. Two counties and 23 cities, including Lawrence, adopted ordinances, most near Missouri, where Sunday sales have been allowed for decades.

Supporters of Sunday sales argued that Kansas stores lose business and the state, tax dollars, with the state adhering to an archaic policy. Opponents said expanding liquor sales will lead to greater alcohol-related problems.

The bill also makes the Liquor Control Act uniform after Nov. 15. That eliminates a threat that local governments could opt out of other provisions, including those dealing with taxes.

In addition, the measure permits Kansas farm wineries to double production to 100,000 gallons per year and operate three retail outlets instead of two. They also could conduct samplings at various trade shows.

Finally, the bill makes illegal the sale of alcohol without liquid -- or AWOL. It's a new way to dispense liquor, pouring it into a vaporizer and mixing it with oxygen to produce an inhaled mist.