The “local option” allows US counties and municipalities to decide certain issues themselves by popular vote, such as the sale of alcohol and local taxation. This option has its roots before the Constitution and was used by the Anti-Saloon League to campaign county after county to ban the sale of alcohol locally. All states have legislation regulating the sale of alcohol within their borders, and 33 also allow their localities to more strictly regulate it. The local option is still a significant issue in Southern politics.
“Local option” is a term used to describe the practice of letting the counties and municipalities of US states decide certain issues themselves by popular vote. Most frequently associated with the sale of alcohol, many states also use the process to make decisions about other issues, such as local taxation for local purposes. Countless municipalities and counties, mostly in the South but also as far north as Alaska, are completely or partially “dry”—that is, the sale of alcohol is prohibited or restricted—due to citizens exercising their rights under to local option laws.
If a state uses the local option, that doesn’t mean that the state is trying to avoid its responsibilities on controversial or sensitive issues. In fact, the two issues most commonly decided by the local option, the sale of alcohol and local taxes, are already heavily regulated by all states. This option gives localities the authority to refine these regulations for enforcement in their own counties.
The local option in the United States has its roots long before the signing of the Constitution, when the city assembly was the predominant form of government and many cities and counties voted dry or dry as a simple matter of city government. He became a tool for the Anti-Saloon League in the two decades before the passage of the 18th amendment to the Constitution, which prohibited alcohol nationwide. Instead of campaigning for a nationwide ban, the league campaigned county after county to ban the sale of alcohol locally. The league argued that the more localities dried up for local option, the greater the pressure would be on Congress to pass the amendment and on the states to ratify it.
The 21st Amendment, ratified in 1933, repealed the 18th amendment, but confirmed that states still had the authority to ban alcohol in whole or in part. All states have legislation regulating the sale of alcohol within their borders, and 33 also allow their localities to more strictly regulate it, by local option. There are dozens of combinations of regulations a county or city could enact; some, for example, might allow the sale of beer and wine, but not spirits, while others forbid the sale of any alcoholic beverages altogether. Some local regulations specify the types of outlets that can sell different forms of alcohol, in some cases allowing supermarkets and grocery stores to sell beer and wine. Many locations allow the sale of alcohol for on-site consumption, such as at a tavern or restaurant, but prohibit the sale of alcohol for off-premise consumption.
The local option is still a significant issue in Southern politics. In the spring of 2011, the Georgia legislature considered a motion to overturn the state’s decade-long ban on Sunday alcohol sales, giving counties the right to decide the issue locally. A short-lived but heated campaign ensued before the measure died in committee. Even in Georgia, county-level sales taxes with proceeds dedicated to specific local projects or purposes are often on county ballots for consideration by their citizens; campaigns promoting and opposing these taxes are usually very lively.
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