The residents of Great Bend will be able to buy liquor and all alcoholic beverages from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. instead of from noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays starting in 61 days, maybe. This follows action by the City Council Tuesday night which approved an ordinance bringing the city in  line with recently revised State of Kansas statutes that allowed the change.

Why maybe? That is because now the electorate has 60 days from the date the ordinance is published in the Great Bend Tribune (by the end of the week) to file a petition to require a referendum, City Attorney Allen Glendenning said. 

If no proper petition is filed , the ordinance becomes effective on the 61st day. If one is filed , the ordinance will be put to a vote to will decide the issue.

The ordinance would amend the two relevant sections of the city code to incorporate the latest version of the statutes, Glendenning said.

First, it changes the hours of Sunday sales. 

Also, right now in the city, one can sell alcoholic liquors, which are defined as anything above 3.2% alcohol on Sundays. But technically it’s illegal to sell cereal malt beverages which are 3.2% and below at anytime on Sunday, and the ordinance corrects this as well.

Under the ordinance, such beverages can’t be sold: Before 9 a.m. or after 8 p.m. on Sundays; on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day; and before 6 a.m. or after midnight on Monday through Saturday.

This issue arose as a discussion item when the City Council met Aug. 21, and the council directed Glendenning to draft an ordinance that would bring the city in line with the new state guidelines. While not unanimously supported, it was the consensus of the council to consider the matter.

“I did look into drafting an ordinance phrased in an attempt to automatically incorporate any future changes in the state law without the requirement that the code be amended each time the legislature amends the statutes,” he said. This was a suggestion of the council Aug. 21. 

“However, there are multiple statutes in the state statutory scheme that separate ‘cereal malt beverages,’ ‘beer’,’ ‘domestic beer’ and ‘alcoholic liquor,’ that sometimes treat them differently in terms of how and where they are being sold, and the dates, hours and conditions of sale,” he said.

Therefore, it’s difficult to guess what statutes might be changed and how, he said. In addition, such an ordinance would be awkward and could cause issues should a petition be filed seeking a referendum on the issue.

It was noted at the Aug. 21 meeting that certain businesses in town were selling at 9 a.m. on Sundays and others are not. And that is part of why this matter came to light.

In addition, Barton County has taken action to be in line with the state. 

The council in August 2016 approved allowing Sunday sales from noon to 8 p.m. That went into effect in October of that year.