| The alcohol laws of Kansas are among the strictest in the United States, in sharp contrast to its neighboring state of Missouri (see Alcohol laws of Missouri), but much like (though still stricter than) its other neighboring state of Oklahoma (see Alcohol laws of Oklahoma). Legislation is enforced by the Kansas Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Kansas had statewide prohibition from 1881 to 1948, longer than any other state, and continued to prohibit on-premises liquor sales until 1987. Kansas's strict and heavily regulated approach to alcohol stems largely from lingering vestiges of Kansas's long era of prohibition.
Even today, 29 dry counties continue to prohibit all on-premises liquor sales.
In 1880, Kansas voters narrowly approved an amendment to the Kansas Constitution prohibiting all manufacture and sale of "intoxicating liquors" throughout the state effective January 1, 1881, making Kansas the first state in the United States to enact a statewide prohibition on alcohol, and heralding Kansas's long era of statewide prohibition. Kansas was a national center of activity of the temperance movement. Carrie A. Nation came from Kansas, beginning her efforts in 1888 by advocating enforcement of Kansas's new prohibition.
Nationwide prohibition went into effect with ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in 1919, lasting until repeal by the 21st Amendment in 1933. During this period, alcohol was prohibited in Kansas by both state and federal law. In 1934, shortly after the end of nationwide prohibition, a proposal was put to referendum that Kansas end its statewide prohibition, and regulate and tax liquor instead. Voters rejected it by a sizeable margin.
Kansas's statewide prohibition amendment allowed the Kansas Legislature to define what constituted an "intoxicating liquor." So, in 1937, the legislature passed a law defining beer with an alcohol content of 3.2% or less by weight as cereal malt beverage, or "CMB," thereby excluding CMB from the definition of "intoxicating liquor." The new law also authorized sale of CMB for both on- and off-premise consumption throughout the state.
Finally, in 1948, voters narrowly approved an amendment to the Kansas Constitution authorizing the legislature to "regulate, license and tax the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor ... regulate the possession and transportation of intoxicating liquor." The amendment also deemed the open saloon "forever prohibited. This meant that package (off-premises) liquor sales could be authorized and regulated, but that the prohibition of sale by the drink in public places (on-premises) continued. |
After the 1948 Amendment, the Legislature enacted the Liquor Control Act, which authorized off-premises sale in counties which had approved the 1948 Amendment, subject to a system of regulating, licensing, and taxing those sales. The Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, or ABC, was created to enforce the Act.
In 1965, the Legislature enacted laws permitting the sale of liquor in private clubs. Clubs were exempt from the constitutional prohibition because they were not open to the public. In 1970, voters rejected by a slim margin of 10,000 a proposal to repeal the constitutional prohibition on open saloons. In 1979, the Legislature permitted on-premises sales of liquor by the drink in private clubs, leading many existing CMB saloons to start selling liquor but charge the consumer a one-time "membership fee."
In the 1970s, Kansas Attorney General Aaron Peterson, who served from 1971 to 1975, brought a new bout of enforcement of Kansas's prohibition, even raiding Amtrak trains traveling through Kansas to stop illegal liquor sales. He also forced airlines to stop serving liquor while traveling through Kansas airspace. Today, it is likely that these restrictions would be found unconstitutional under the Supreme Court's decision in Granholm v. Heald, 544 U.S. 460 (2005).
Finally, in 1986, the electorate voted to repeal the prohibition on open saloons in Kansas, effective January 1, 1987. The Legislature thereafter amended the Liquor Control Act to regulate and license sales of alcohol in bars in any county which had approved the 1986 Amendment or did so subsequently and only in towns with a population of 11,000 (lowered to 5,000 in 2000). Sunday sale of liquor was prohibited, but Sunday sale of CMB was permitted in restaurants deriving more than 30% of their profits from food. All of these new establishments and allowances were subject to a 10% "drink tax." Grocery stores were prohibited from selling anything besides 3.2% beer.
[edit] Recent developments
In 2003, the District Court of Wyandotte County ruled that the ban on Sunday liquor sales was unconstitutional because it did not apply uniformly to all communities. The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the ruling." By then, two counties and 23 cities had adopted laws permitting Sunday liquor sales. Eventually, effective November 15, 2005, the Legislature amended the Liquor Control Act to permit cities and counties to allow Sunday liquor sales, except on Easter Sunday and Christmas when it falls on a Sunday.
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