Appellate court ruling threatens local control

One of Minnesota Join Together's top three policy priorities is to "maintain local control." This refers to the ability of local authorities to set their own local alcohol policies as long as they are at least as strong as state law. There have been many attacks on this authority over the years. Most of these efforts have come at the state legislature where bills have been introduced that would "preempt" this authority. Minnesota Join Together stands ready to defend local control from these legislative attempts at weakening or eliminating this authority. This most recent threat however, comes not from the legislature, but from the courts.

On November 4, 1997 the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed a Rice County District Court Decision that had originally upheld the city of Faribault's ordinance that prohibited off-premise liquor sales on New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. The Court of Appeals ruled that while Minnesota statutes authorize a municipality to further restrict the hours of sale for alcohol, it does not authorize further restrictions on the days of sale (MN Stat. 340A.504, subd.6). The Court of Appeals said that if the legislature had intended to grant authority for municipalities to regulate the days of sale, it would have specified this. The Court ruled that Faribault exceeded its authority under state law and cannot prevent off-premise liquor sales on these holidays.

Faribault defended its ordinance by saying it did have this authority because a day is made up of hours. It further argued that it is granted this authority under the local control clause of the law (MN Stat. 340A.509) which states that, "a local authority may impose further restrictions and regulations on the sale and possession of alcoholic beverages within its limits." While this argument about whether a day is a day or a day is made up of hours is troubling enough, the Court of Appeals went even further in its interpretation of local control. The Court ruled that "This grant (or recognition) of authority applies only when no state regulations govern the sale and possession of alcoholic beverages." This narrow interpretation of local control puts hundreds of local ordinances in jeopardy. City and County Attorneys across the state are researching their ordinances to determine how many of them are potentially "unenforceable" due to this ruling.

In early January, the Minnesota Supreme Court refused to review the Appellate Court decision thereby letting the ruling stand. Whether the issue will ultimately be decided through court battles or legislative action is not yet known.

Our action teams are meeting to decide a course of action.

Minnesota Join Together announces 1997 mini-grant awards