Can I buy alcohol in Kentucky on Easter?

May 4, 2006 9:08 AM

What are the laws governing the sale of alcohol in Kentucky--specifically on Sundays/Easter?

I'm writing a story in which the characters get drunk on an Easter Sunday, and the story's set in Lexington and the surrounding area. I'm not a Kentucky resident, and I want to make sure it's possible to buy alcohol on Sundays/on Easter in Kentucky. I know some counties in Kentucky are dry, as well--is Lexington?

This Wikipedia article seems to indicate that there are no laws restricting the sale of alcohol in Kentucky, but there isn't much information--just a "no" in a box. Other Google searches have only led to information about blood level limits and drunk driving laws.

Thanks!

posted by fugitivefromchaingang to law & government (12 comments total)

No alcohol is sold on Sunday in Kentucky.

There are also numerous dry counties throughout the state, Fayette Co is not one of them, but nieghboring Scott Co is.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:26 AM on May 4, 2006

Lexington is in Fayette Co. Thought I wrote that but I guess not.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:27 AM on May 4, 2006

I'm not a Kentuckian, but it looks like it depends on the city/county (first Google result for 'kentucky alcohol sunday sales').

(From the article) On Sundays [in Lexington], alcohol can only be bought by the drink from 1 to 11 p.m. at establishments that seat at least 100 diners and receive at least 50 percent of gross receipts from food sales.
posted by box at 9:32 AM on May 4, 2006

The Law (PDF)
posted by smackfu at 9:37 AM on May 4, 2006

Getting fit drunk on a Sunday in Kentucky only requires a little planning. Most locals tend to carry a stash and plan well for holiday weekends. Is an alcohol purchase necessary to your story? Why not incorporate a bottle from a character's personal bar?
posted by cior at 9:50 AM on May 4, 2006

I'm going to college in Lexington, so I'm interested... contacting freinds in lexington... please hold...
posted by phrontist at 12:48 PM on May 4, 2006

Err... I should read comments before posting. T. D. Strange has it.
posted by phrontist at 12:51 PM on May 4, 2006

Box has it right. In Lexington, you can be served alcohol in a restaurant by the drink on Sunday afternoons, but you cannot purchase package alcohol of any kind.

In the KY counties just south of Cincinnati, you can buy package beer and be served in restaurants on Sunday afternoons, although I'm not sure about hard liquor.

The laws here are set up to allow cities and counties to determine their own rules regarding when/how alcohol can be sold, so T.D. is incorrect in the sense that its not a state-level decision, but he is right in pointing out that the majority of counties are completely dry. Here's a link to a map, if that helps. If you need more advice or information about Lexington, let me know--I live there.
posted by jtfowl0 at 1:30 PM on May 4, 2006

Lexington is my hometown as well.

jtfowl0 has the complete answer to your question, but one more thing I find funny -- When you go grocery shopping on Sunday, the stores always plaster the beer/alcohol section with enormous vinyl curtains or similar in order to pretend as if the alcohol doesn't exist. I suppose it's the easiest way to alert customers to the "no sale on sundays" law but it just seems funny since you can see the cases and bottles stacked in between the cracks in the coverings.
posted by superfem at 1:50 PM on May 4, 2006

Thanks all.
Fuck it. I'll just have the characters smuggle some of their own beer in.
posted by fugitivefromchaingang at 2:06 PM on May 4, 2006

This is basically right. It's called local option and it can actually be set by voting precinct. In the recent past, two precincts in Louisville have threatened to vote themselves dry to deal with specific problems.

This year, Louisville-Jefferson County finally voted to allow alcohol sales on Sunday, so there's at least one part of the state that is wet and does allow Sunday sales (by the bottle or by the drink, beer and liquor both legal, I think).
posted by dilettante at 2:20 PM on May 4, 2006

If your characters are serious drinkers, fugitivefromchaingang, they'd be able to locate a bootlegger in Lexington, pronto. Sunday is a bootlegger's best day, for obvious reasons, and most carry a pretty good selection of retail brand 1/2's and pints, in addition to 'shine and beer.

And (please, pardon my humble opinion), it'd be a helluva lot more, uh, literary, don'tcha know?
posted by paulsc at 12:42 AM on May 5, 2006