Kansas voters choose to remove antiquated liquor law

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    OLATHE, KS (KCTV/KSMO) — UPDATE: Voters in Johnson County have decided to remove the antiquated liquor law that requires establishments to make at least 30% of their money from food sales.

253,808 voters voted “yes,” repealing the rule. That’s 78% of voters.

Johnson County voters will be weighing in on a long standing rule regarding alcohol.

The law is part of Kansas’ old dry law that limits the sale of alcoholic drinks.

A majority of “yes” votes on the referendum question would remove the so-called “30% rule”. It requires that an establishment selling individual drinks of alcohol make at least 30% of its total gross sales in food.

The rule affects breweries, bars, and even places like Shawnee Mission Beach volleyball. All of whom either just want to sell alcohol, and not food or struggles to meet the requirement for the current law in place.

“Most of the general public doesn’t even know this is a thing,” said Owner of Limitless Brewing in Lenexa, KS, Emily Mobley. “When I tell people about it, they’re like what?”.

Mobley said the antiquated rule hurts their bottom line saying that they are simply a brewery, and don’t have a kitchen.

She explained they bring in food trucks and find other ways to meet the requirement but it usually ends up costing them money.

“Even if you have a kitchen, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to meet the 30%. If you think about it, for every $6 dollar beer somebody drinks, you have to sell $2 and I think 83-cents,” Mobley said.

Mobley said they tried getting this on the ballot a year ago until they found out in order to change the law, it had to be on a General Election ballot. For that to even happen, they either had to get around 20,000 signatures on a petition, or the County Commissioners had to vote in favor of it.

“It’s just time. We’re the only major metropolitan county in Kansas with this law left on the books. Everybody else has changed it. Topeka, Wichita. Even down to Fort Scott, Kansas,” Mobley said.

Johnson County Commissioners did vote unanimously to have this be on the ballot so voters could choose whether they want the law to be changed. But it didn’t come without hesitation from some.

Those who had concerns worried eliminating the rule would encourage more bars to come to the county and would change the family-friendly image of Johnson County.

“It just makes it more difficult to operate a business that you want to do. Like…let’s just focus on making the best flavored beer that we can and leave the food to somebody else,” Mobley said.

KCTV5 asked Mobely why no one tried to eliminate this law years ago.

She said not only were they the second brewery in JoCo, but it really just took someone like her to spearhead it.

Both the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce and Lenexa Chamber of Commerce have endorsed this law as needing to be changed.

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