Icon (Close Menu)

Logout

State Supreme Court Remands Alcohol Question

1 min read

LITTLE ROCK — A sharply divided Arkansas Supreme Court has sent a proposal to legalize alcohol sales in Saline County back to circuit court to determine if there are enough valid signatures to put the question on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Circuit Judge Grisham Phillips ruled last month that the petition fell nearly 90 signatures short after more than 150 signatures were disqualified. The group Our Community, Our Dollars argued there are enough valid signatures because 720 were not certified after the county clerk believed enough valid signatures had been counted and the judge declined to allow those additional signatures to be added to the petition.

The opinion written by Associate Justice Courtney Hudson Goodson orders circuit court to consider the validity of the 720 signatures and determine whether the petition is sufficient.

“This vote is very important to Saline County residents because it is an opportunity for them to keep tax dollars from alcohol sales in their own county and not fund surrounding counties’ coffers,” Jay Allen, president of Our Community, Our Dollars said in a news release following the Supreme Court’s ruling. “The more tax revenue Saline County ultimately receives, the better equipped it is to fund key services and amenities, such as police, fire, EMS, roads and parks.”

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Send this to a friend