Variables: Retail Sales: Bans on Off-Premises Sunday Sales
- Jurisdiction
- The comparison tables include only States that had a Sunday sales ban at retail off-premises locations on January 1, 1998. Sunday sales are defined as sales between the Saturday night/Sunday morning closing time and the Monday opening time (see Definitions).
- Ban Repealed
- States are classified as having repealed their ban if the repeal occurred after 1/1/1998. However, a State that enacts provisions that permit any of the limited exceptions listed below is NOT classified as having repealed the ban:
- Sales of low-alcohol (up to 3.2 percent), or non-intoxicating beer (but see 3. Exceptions)
- Issuance of special permits allowing alcohol sales for a specific Sunday date or Sunday event
- Sales on Sundays if the next day (Monday) is a holiday (e.g., Christmas Day or New Year's Day)
- Sales limited to specific Sundays (e.g., Super Bowl Sunday, Sundays immediately before or after Christmas Day and New Year's Day)
- Sales by licensees who observe Saturday as the Sabbath by closing their places of business
- Sales limited to breweries, wineries, or distilleries
- States that otherwise ban off-premises Sunday sales are NOT classified as maintaining a ban if the State allows retailers to purchase a permit allowing off-premises Sunday sales without other restrictions.
- States are classified as having repealed their ban if the repeal occurred after 1/1/1998. However, a State that enacts provisions that permit any of the limited exceptions listed below is NOT classified as having repealed the ban:
- Exceptions
- For the Local Option and 3.2 Beer Sales Allowed Exceptions, a plus sign in both columns indicates that the sale of 3.2 Beer is allowed by Local Option. A check mark indicates that a given exception is not dependent on the other exception (i.e., sales of 3.2 Beer on Sunday do not depend on Local Option, and/or Local Option for Sunday Sales is not limited to 3.2 Beer).
- Local Option
- States are classified as having local option if at least some local governments have the authority to permit Sunday sales as an exception to a State ban.
- 3.2 Beer Sales allowed
- States that ban Sunday sales for all alcoholic beverages EXCEPT beer with an alcohol content of 3.2 percent or less alcohol content by weight.
- For the Local Option and 3.2 Beer Sales Allowed Exceptions, a plus sign in both columns indicates that the sale of 3.2 Beer is allowed by Local Option. A check mark indicates that a given exception is not dependent on the other exception (i.e., sales of 3.2 Beer on Sunday do not depend on Local Option, and/or Local Option for Sunday Sales is not limited to 3.2 Beer).