What Time Can You Buy Alcohol In Ohio?

Basic Ohio alcohol law guidelines for businesses – Ohio liquor laws prohibit businesses from selling alcohol to individuals under 21. They are also not allowed to give out free celebratory drinks. Businesses can sell alcohol between 5:30 am to 2:30 am from Mondays to Saturdays.

• Sunday sales heavily depend on the location but with a special permit, alcohol may be sold from 10 pm to 1 am.
• Ohio alcohol laws do not require individuals to obtain a bartending license in Ohio to be able to sell and serve alcohol.
• However, businesses can each set their own hiring requirements.
• Regardless, the law permits 18-year-olds to sell beer, spirits, wine and other alcoholic beverages as long as they are in sealed containers.

To be able to serve alcohol, you must at least be 19 years of age, and if you’re looking to be employed as a bartender, you must first be of drinking age (21 or older).

Can you buy alcohol in Ohio on Sunday?

Beer – Ohio Revised Code Section 4301.351(D) No D-6 liquor permit is required to sell beer on Sunday. There are two ways for a liquor permit holder to be authorized to sell beer on Sunday:

Permit holders who first applied on or before April 15, 1982, for a C or D class permit authorizing the sale of beer Monday through Saturday, can sell beer on Sunday. Permit holders who applied after April 15, 1982, for a C or D class permit authorizing the sale of beer Monday through Saturday, can sell beer on Sunday if the location is authorized by local option election to sell intoxicating liquor on Sunday, or if another location within the same precinct is authorized by a site-specific local option election to sell intoxicating liquor on Sunday.

Sunday sales of beer may begin at 5:30 a.m. and must end at the same time as you are otherwise required to do Monday through Saturday. Permit holders who are not authorized to sell beer on Sunday will have the statement “no Sunday privileges” on their permit.

What time can you buy alcohol on Sunday in Ohio?

Sunday Sales of Intoxicating Liquor: 10:00 a.m. – midnight (Form 5-E)

What time do gas stations start selling alcohol in Ohio?

Mondays To Saturdays – Those with permits mentioned in Class 1 can buy and sell alcoholic beverages in Ohio from 5:30 AM until 1:00 AM. Also, you can consume beer, wine, distilled spirits, and mixed beverages during the window hours mentioned. Those with permits mentioned in Class 2 can buy and sell alcoholic beverages in Ohio from 5:30 AM until 2:30 AM.

What time is it legal to buy beer in Ohio?

(1) From Monday to Saturday between the hours of one a.m. and five-thirty a.m (2) On Sunday between the hours of one a.m. and Sunday midnight, unless statutorily authorized otherwise.

What are the alcohol laws in Ohio?

Ohio law prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages to persons under 21 years of age. Ohio Revised Code Section 4301.22(A) (see page 7) states in part, ‘ no beer or intoxicating liquor shall be sold to any person under 21 years of age.’ The penalty for this violation is a fine up to $500 and/or 60 days in jail.

What can’t you buy on Sunday in Ohio?

Muskan Anand. There is no shortage of weird laws in the state of Ohio. One such weird law that exists is that it is illegal to sell Corn Flakes on Sunday.

Can you buy beer anytime on Sunday in Ohio?

Businesses can sell alcohol between 5:30 am to 2:30 am from Mondays to Saturdays. Sunday sales heavily depend on the location but with a special permit, alcohol may be sold from 10 pm to 1 am. Ohio alcohol laws do not require individuals to obtain a bartending license in Ohio to be able to sell and serve alcohol.

Does Walmart sell beer on Sunday in Ohio?

Does Walmart Sell Alcohol On Sundays? – Yes, Walmart sells alcohol on Sundays, but that varies on the store location. Walmart does not call the shots on when and what liquor to sell on a certain day because they follow the local state liquor laws. “No one wants to endanger the health of their constituentsyou risk everyone’s health if they’re going to the state border to buy alcohol,” – Michael Belsky, Executive Director for Municipal Finance In some states, they stop selling liquor at specific hours on Sundays.

What are the blue laws in Ohio?

Hamilton officials wrestled with Ohio’s ancient Sunday closing law in 1950s – Columns by Jim Blount Jim Blount regularly presents programs about the history of Hamilton and Butler County at the Hamilton Lane Library. His upcoming discussions include “” on Tuesday, January 10 and “” on Tuesday, February 14, These programs, which run from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m., are free and open to the public.

Reds and Dodgers moved 1889 baseball game moved to Fairfield Township to avoid Cincinnati enforcement Hamilton officials wrestled with Ohio’s ancient Sunday closing law in 1950s; legislation aimed at outlawing sin and anti-social behavior (The following is an edited version of columns written in 2008. They are from a searchable archive of Jim Blount’s history columns, dating back to 1988, and available at ) Compiled By Jim Blount

Imagine Sundays without shopping, sports events, entertainment, hunting and fishing and other amusements. That would be Ohio and other states in the era of blue laws, when, as recent as the 1960s, most retail stores were closed, and conducting business on Sunday could cause arrest and fines. Ohio’s blue laws predate statehood. In 1788 – 15 years before Ohio became a state – leaders of the Northwest Territory (eventually the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota) adopted a blue law for the vast wilderness frontier.

To “set apart the first day of the week as a day of rest from common labor and pursuits,” the territorial edict “enjoined that all servile labors, works of charity and necessity excepted, be wholly abstained from on that day.” In 1809, Ohio legislators outlawed sin and anti-social behavior on Sundays, including “sporting, gambling, rioting, quarreling, hunting, horse racing, shooting or common labors,” except necessary work.

They were called blue laws because one or more of the regulations had been printed on blue paper. They had been adopted in American colonies, usually based on European antecedents. Provisions differed, shaped by the dominant religion in each colony and forcing smaller religious groups to obey the ideas of the majority.

Prohibitions varied from state to state, including bans on drinking, use of tobacco, singing, dancing, sports, hunting, shooting, card games, racing, gambling, playing musical instruments, musical and theatrical productions, and other “worldly activities.” Later restrictions ranged from hair cutting to vehicle transactions and most retail sales.

* * * * * The U.S. Congress resisted several attempts to enact federal blue laws. Sen. Henry William Blair of New Hampshire was responsible for two notable tries. In 1886, he introduced a National Sunday Rest Bill “to secure to the enjoyment of the first day of the week, commonly Sunday, as a day of rest, and to promote its observance as religious worship.” In 1888, Sen. Blair proposed a Lord’s Day Bill “to promote its observance as a Day of Religious Worship” that would ban “secular work, labor, or business” in interstate commerce, transportation, postal service, military drills that “interfere with or disturb the people in the enjoyment of the first day of the week,

Or its observance as a day of religious worship.” Both Blair bills, incorporating language similar to state laws, died early deaths. State blue laws were pushed and sustained by temperance and prohibition advocates in the late 1800s and early 20th century. When religious arguments continued to fail, supporters promoted bans on Sunday business and amusement as “protection of the rights of the workingman,” a labor issue.

The debate continued in local governments, state legislatures and local, state and federal courts in the mid 20th century, the focus shifting to what could be sold and what type of retail businesses could operate on Sundays. At issue was what constituted “occupations of necessity or charity.” Ohio blue laws relied on local enforcement, which varied from place to place and time to time.

Baseball teams periodically tested the law in the Hamilton area. In 1889, when a Hamilton minor league team sought a local field, it chose “grounds outside the city limits so as to play Sunday games” because the Ohio law that prohibited Sunday baseball “wasn’t enforced generally outside the cities.” The field was east of the Miami-Erie Canal (now Erie Highway), near Fair Avenue and High Street, because owners needed Sunday attendance to make a profit.

During a Sunday pre-season game, a Fairfield Township constable brought charges against the team, but a Butler County grand jury ignored the violation. Because they couldn’t play in Cincinnati, the 1889 Reds moved a Sunday, Aug.25, 1889, game to the east High Street field in Fairfield Township. More than 6,000 people overflowed the stands as the pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers took a 4-2 lead. The game was halted in the fourth inning on a complaint by a Hamilton man, a member of the Law and Order League.

• The lawyer and former state senator, who was a temperance advocate, enlisted Hamilton’s safety director and 18 policemen to arrest members of both teams.
• The players rode police wagons into Hamilton, faced the mayor and enhanced the city treasury by $159.30.
• Each culprit paid a $5 fine and $8.85 in costs.

* * * * * In 1952 two Cincinnati men opened a new business on the southern edge of Hamilton. Their enterprise on Dixie Highway, just south of Corwin Avenue, occupied a former roller skating rink. In the 1950s, Rink’s Bargain City was a popular and controversial retail attraction.

The store – whose name derived from the skating rink – also became the center of the storm surrounding interpretation of Ohio’s blue laws. When Coleman Ullner and Hyman Ullner opened Rink’s Bargain City, most supermarkets, department stores and retail operations in and around Hamilton were closed Sundays.

There were few places to spend your money here on Sundays in the early 1950s. Rink’s challenged the Sunday closing law by remaining open seven days a week. Store owners faced repeated charges that they were violating Ohio blue laws. There had been periodic debates and court cases questioning the meaning of Ohio Sunday closing laws that originated in 1809.

• Coleman Ullner was charged in March 1955 with three violations – requiring employees to work on Sunday; personally operating a business that transacted business on Sunday; and president of a corporation operating a business on Sunday.
• The warrants were signed by Richard Koehler, then a Hamilton attorney, later a judge on the court of appeals.

April 19, 1955, Hamilton Municipal Judge Frank F. Wessel found Ullner guilty of the first two charges and dismissed the third. He paid a $25 fine and court costs on each of the two charges. His request for a new trial was denied. There would be more charges against Rink’s Bargain City during the next four years.

Three additional warrants, also signed by Koehler, were pending April 19 when the judge ruled on the first three. * * * * * A flurry of legal action followed alleged Sunday sales violations Sunday, Dec.21, 1958. Coleman Ullner requested and was granted a jury trial in Hamilton Municipal Court. He faced charges of operating a building for business on Sunday and requiring persons to work on Sunday that is “not of necessity or charity.” The charges followed a visit to Rink’s by Hamilton detectives.

They testified they had been ordered to check the store by Chief Albert Osborne. Ullner’s defense argued that the charges against Rink’s were discriminatory because it was the only store in Hamilton subject to prosecution. Also part of the defense was testimony from a Hamilton doctor who said he went to the store Dec.21 to buy a drug for a patient, a sick child.

Ullner – a Navy pharmacist mate during World War II and a graduate of the Cincinnati College of Pharmacy – said drugs and medical supplies accounted for about 16% of Rink’s Sunday business. After deliberating four and a half hours, the 12-person jury found Ullner guilty on both charges. His December 1958 arrest came on the heels of the final phase of the April 1955 arrest.

Ullner had appealed, without success, through state courts to the Ohio Supreme Court. Undaunted, he appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dec.8, 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the appeal “for want of a substantial federal question.” That decision didn’t end the Sunday sales debate in Ohio. In June 1964 – with Sunday operation questioned – Rink’s was sold to the Gray Drug Store chain. In April 1981, the discount department store chain was purchased by the Cook United Corp. of Cleveland. The original Rink’s Bargain City building was abandoned in 1972 and demolished in July 1998.

• A new store was built across the street and later at 4865 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield.
• In April 1984, Cook announced it would close 41 of its 94 stores, including the Fairfield location.
• Fifteen Rink’s stores were operating in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky areas then.
• Cook also had stores in six other states.

* * * * * Hamilton City Council faced the dilemma again in the late 1950s. Should the city enforce Ohio’s Sunday closing laws being challenged by a local merchant? Or, should council, through the city manager, instruct police to ignore the blue laws that had been on the state’s law books for at least 124 years.

• While awaiting the U.S.
• Supreme Court decision on the Rink’s case, city council members were asking: Should the Hamilton enforce the blue laws, or ignore them? Were Sunday sales of drugs, groceries and gasoline legal? Was it necessary that restaurants, hotels and motels be open on Sundays? Rulings in state and federal courts on such questions had been indecisive and confusing.

Local authorities in Ohio and other states had to make independent interpretations. One local argument said as long as it was state law, Sunday closing should be enforced and violators arrested. Others said the Ohio legislature should solve the problem for Hamilton and other communities to achieve uniform statewide compliance.

A councilman said state lawmakers should clarify the ambiguous law or abolish it. Questions included what merchandise and services could be offered on Sundays. A local merchants association told council it favored enforcement of the blue laws and asked why additional arrests had not been made at Rink’s Bargain City.

Council also was asked why the law should be enforced against Rink’s, but not against other Hamilton businesses open on Sundays. Finally, council agreed to enforce the law – against Rink’s and other local retailers. Council’s problem was more complicated than what to do about private businesses “not of necessity or charity” operating within the city on Sundays.

1. Another wrinkle was what government services are “necessary” on Sundays – a vague area of the long-standing state law.
2. There was no doubt about police and fire protection.
3. But, in keeping with the spirit of the blue laws, Hamilton council ordered the municipal golf course, swimming pools and other recreation operations to be closed on Sundays.

That unpopular June 30, 1958, action didn’t last long. Council rescinded the closing order later that week before enforcement began on the next Sunday. At the July 2, 1958, meeting, Hamilton city council unanimously adopted a motion to refer the blue law questions to the Ohio General Assembly and Gov.C.

William O’Neill. Assistance was sought from three local legislators, State Sen. William Beckett and State Representatives Charles Jones and James Sexton. Council also asked other organizations to become involved – including chambers of commerce and bar associations – in urging state action. A newspaper report said councilmen had described the blue laws as “vague, outmoded, archaic, outdated and antiquated.” Council faced the problem again in January 1959 after the U.S.

Supreme Court decision and another arrest at Rink’s Bargain City. At the Jan.6, 1959, meeting of city council, City Manager Howard F. (Hack) Wilson submitted a list of more than 200 businesses and industries in Hamilton that were operating on Sunday in apparent violation of Ohio law.

Council reacted by ordering that the city suspend enforcement of confusing Sunday sales limitations. But it would be several years before Ohio leaders resolved the problem. * * * * * By the early 1970s, Ohio’s Sunday closing law were being ignored. Some supermarkets, furniture and hardware stores, department stores and other retail operations – formerly closed on Sundays – were operating seven days a week in Butler County and surrounding counties.

Ohio voters indicated support of the closing law in 1962. The Nov.6 ballot that year included a proposed state constitutional amendment regarding “the sale, processing or rendition of certain commodities, products and services on Sunday.” Backers of the amendment said: “This issue is as simple as this – if you want the convenience of having these items available on Sundays, vote YES.

• If you believe, for religious, moral or any other reasons, that they should not be available, vote NO.
• Neither the present 131-year-old blue law, nor any subsequent court decision, has ever made any of these items clearly legal for Sunday sale.
• All of them can be taken away from you at the discretion of any local enforcement official under pressure from any special interest group.” Items clarified in the amendment included “gas, electricity, telephone, telegraph, public means of transportation or any other public utility service or product; newspapers, other news publications, radio, television or other public communications service; household fuels; motor fuels and lubrications for automotive vehicles; prescriptions and proprietary drugs and household medical supplies; products used for personal hygiene and sanitation; milk, milk products, any food item or food product for human or animal consumption.” In Butler County, only 36.6% favored the amendment: 21,612 for and 37,376 against.

Statewide, 1.27 million voted yes and 1.69 million no. The blue laws remained in force. But that vote didn’t end the matter. Personal habits and preferences regarding the Sabbath changed. Sunday operations meant more jobs, more personal income and more tax revenue for local and state governments.

During the next decade, blue laws became a low priority for law enforcement. Local communities – responsible for enforcing Ohio’s Sunday closure laws – said checking stores diverted police officers from other vital duties. Defending arrests in court consumed time and created additional government expense.

* * * * * Repeal of the Ohio laws came quietly in 1973 in the General Assembly. Rep. John A. Galbraith, a Republican from Maumee, was the prime sponsor of House Bill 59, aimed at ending the state’s Sunday blue laws. “There was virtually no opposition to Galbraith’s bill in the Agriculture, Conservation and Labor Committee,” said the Associated Press.

1. Similar proposals have been rejected at several past sessions of the legislature.
2. However, the development of big city discount houses, which attracted Sunday shoppers in droves over the past 10 years, helped soften opposition to Sunday transactions.
3. In the same period,” the AP added, “court decisions made the laws virtually unenforceable.” June 20, 1973, the Ohio House of Representatives voted 62-32 in favor of HB59 to remove Sunday retail sales prohibitions.

Butler County’s two representatives split on the issue, William Donham of Middletown voting for repeal and Thomas Kindness of Hamilton opposing it. July 24 HB59 won support in the Ohio Senate, 25-6, with Donald E. (Buz) Lukens, representing Butler County, among the opponents.

Gov. John Gilligan signed the measure Aug.22 and it became effective Nov.21, 1973. Unlike the debate in earlier decades, the demise of Ohio blue laws came without fanfare. Dominating the news in November 1973 were reports of worsening fuel shortages, revelations in the Watergate scandal and President Richard Nixon’s denial of those charges.

Nov.25, 1973, wasn’t memorable as the first Sunday without legal prohibitions on Sunday sales. Ironically, that night President Nixon, while addressing the nation, asked service stations, effective Dec.1, to stop selling gas between 9 p.m. Saturdays and 12:01 a.m. Jim Blount’s local history books are available in Hamilton at the Butler County Historical Society, 327 N. Second Street, and the Ross Avenue Barber Shop, 907 Ross Avenue. His history columns are posted periodically on the Lane Libraries web site and are also available via email subscription.

Can you buy alcohol in grocery stores in Ohio?

In some control states, alcohol is only sold at designated package stores that are operated by government agencies. In Ohio, you can purchase beer, wine and liquor at grocery stores and other retail locations, but the state regulates the number of alcohol permits.

Does Walmart sell beer in Ohio?

Do All Walmarts Sell Drinking Alcohol? (State List) This might seem like an obvious question, but there are a lot of complexities when it comes to the sale of alcohol at Walmart. In fact, all grocery stores are subject to state and regional laws governing the sale of beer, wine, and liquor. So, to find out all the ins and outs of alcohol sales at your local Walmart, keep reading.

• As one of the largest retailers of food and beverages in the world, it probably comes as no surprise that Walmart sells alcohol.
• But there are a few caveats to note here due to the fact that different states have different laws and regulations governing the sale of alcohol.
• While Walmart as a company is a massive retail distributor of alcohol, including beer, wine, and liquor, not all Walmart stores are legally allowed to supply alcohol to customers.

For example, Walmart stores in Utah are infamous for not selling alcohol because it is illegal for any grocery stores to sell alcohol in that state. Several other states have similar laws, which Walmart abides by. To give a simpler answer to the question, Walmart sells alcohol in every state, except for:

• Alaska
• Delaware
• Rhode Island
• New Jersey
• Utah

These states firmly disallow the sale of alcoholic beverages in grocery stores or non-state liquor stores. In some other states, such as North Dakota, Walmart has resorted to opening separate retail locations called Walmart Liquor Stores where they can legally supply alcohol to customers.

Are there dry counties in Ohio?

Ohio –

• The city of Westerville, Ohio, was dry for more than a century. Once the home of the Anti-Saloon League and called the “dry capital of the world”, the first legal drink in recent times was served in 2006.
• The village of Bethel in Clermont County has been dry since the repeal of prohibition. Recently, through use of the single precinct vote system, precincts A and C can now sell (but not serve) alcohol. The business must first be put onto the ballot and voted to allow alcohol to be sold.
• Cortland was a dry town until 2002.
• Lawrence County is dry but individual towns can choose to allow sales of alcohol.
• Hartville, was a dry village, but is no longer dry as of 2013.
• Albany is a dry town.
• Adams County besides Manchester and Green Township are dry. Recently, through use of the single precinct vote system, a precinct in Seaman and Peebles can now sell (but not serve) alcohol.
• Although Scioto County and Portsmouth are not completely dry; Green Township, including Franklin Furnace, are dry.

What is the new liquor law in Ohio?

Bars and restaurants Lowers the age from 19 to 18 years old to handle, serve, or sell beer or intoxicating liquor, but not across a bar. See R.C.4301.22(A)(3).

Can you drink a beer while driving in Ohio?

Can You Get a DUI For Drinking Non-Alcoholic Beer While Driving? – Beer is frequently linked to drunk driving and alcohol use. It’s crucial to keep in mind that not all beers contain alcohol. Since true non-alcoholic beers don’t contain any alcohol (0.0%), consuming them won’t result in a DUI.

You can only be charged with a DUI for consuming non-alcoholic beer if the police officer thinks you’re drunk. This is so that if the police officer believes you to be intoxicated, they have the option to arrest you. It’s improbable that you’ll ever be breathalyzed after consuming a glass of non-alcoholic merlot.

It’s crucial to keep in mind, nevertheless, that you cannot be detained for just holding a non-alcoholic drink. Before making an arrest, a police officer must have reason to think that you are intoxicated. However, it’s probably not a good idea to drive around with a bottle of Beck’s by your side, mainly because it can be considered a breach of the open container laws, which forbid any open containers of alcoholic beverages (even those which have just a half a percent of alcohol by volume).

Can you drink beer in public in Ohio?

Ohio Revised Code 4301.62 states that no person shall have in their possession an open container of beer or intoxicating liquor in a liquor store, motor vehicle, or in any public space. If you are charged with an Ohio open container, you should contact to our Columbus alcohol crime attorneys at (614) 500-3836 as soon as possible.

Is it legal to drink in the car in Ohio?

Open Container in Vehicle Charges in Ohio Consuming alcohol in a vehicle is a fourth-degree misdemeanor punishable a fine of up to $250 and a maximum of 30 days in jail.

Can you carry alcohol in Ohio?

Illegal Transportation of Alcohol Across Ohio State Lines | LHA Most people think it is no big deal to buy alcohol in another state and bring it to Ohio. After all, you can save some money, and if you are over 21, it’s legal to have, With the cost of a keg lower in other states, people are willing to drive from Columbus to other states in order to save some money.

Unfortunately, these actions can get you in trouble. In Ohio, it is against the law to transport alcohol across state lines for sale or personal consumption without a proper permit. If you are caught transporting beer, intoxicating liquor, and wine into the state of Ohio from Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, or Pennsylvania without an H permit, it is considered unlawfully acquired.

If you are caught, you can be issued a citation, have the alcohol confiscated, and face other penalties.

Can you drink at 18 with a parent in Ohio?

What If I Give My Child Permission to Drink Under My Supervision? – There are important exceptions to the laws discussed above. Under Ohio law, children under the age of 21 may drink alcoholic beverages while under the supervision of their parents. This means one parent (or legal guardian) must give consent and be physically present while the child consumes alcohol.

Therefore, in addition to permitting supervised drinking in a private residence, Ohio law also allows parents to order alcoholic beverages for children at restaurants or bars – as long as the parents remain with the children while the drinks are consumed. Though it is legal for businesses to sell alcohol to parents (knowing the parents will give the drinks to their children), many restaurants choose to limit their liability by refusing to sell alcohol intended for underage children or limiting the hours that minors may be present on the premises.

Note that your physical presence as a parent or guardian is a strict requirement. You cannot “send” your child to a bar or private party with written or oral permission to drink. It is also not enough that other parents supervise your child while he or she drinks – you, as your child’s parent, must actually be there while alcohol is consumed.

What are the stupidest laws in Ohio?

According to Ohio law, it’s against the law to kill a housefly within 160 feet of a church without a license. Bay Village: It is illegal to walk a cow down Lake Road. Cleveland: It’s illegal to catch mice without a hunting license! Clinton County: Any person who leans against a public building will be subject to fines.

What are NYC blue laws?

Blue Laws Updates – News Legislation Events There is no news associated to this issue Relates to the hours during which liquor and/or wine stores may be open on Sunday by allowing liquor and/or wine stores to open at 10:00 a.m. rather than noon on Sunday.

Introduced In Committee On Floor Calendar

Passed Senate Passed Assembly

Delivered to Governor Signed/Vetoed by Governor

Relates to the hours during which liquor and/or wine stores may be open on Sunday by allowing liquor and/or wine stores to open at 10:00 a.m. rather than noon on Sunday.

Introduced In Committee On Floor Calendar

Passed Senate Passed Assembly

Delivered to Governor Signed/Vetoed by Governor

Extends the effectiveness of provisions of law relating to temporary retail permits issued by the state liquor authority; extends provisions from 2019 to 2020.

Introduced In Committee On Floor Calendar

Passed Senate Passed Assembly

Delivered to Governor Signed by Governor

There are no upcoming meetings or public hearings scheduled at this time

What is the blue law in New Jersey?

A law from the 1600s will keep retail shops closed on Sundays at the nation’s newest shopping mall The American Dream complex stands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Thursday, Aug.29, 2019. It’s quite ironic. A massive entertainment and retail complex is opening in the where commercial shopping is still prohibited on Sundays.

The first phase of the project opens Friday, featuring a Nickelodeon-themed park and ice skating rink. Other parts of the complex will open in phases, including a water park, an indoor ski hill, and retail stores. All told, 55% of the American Dream center will be dedicated to entertainment and dining, but 45% will be retail stores, which will open in March.

When the stores do open, it will only be for six days every week. So-called blue laws are still in place in Bergen County, New Jersey, where is situated. It’s the same county where Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield operates Garden State Plaza, one of the nation’s top-performing malls.

Also nearby are the Outlets at Bergen Town Center, and Paramus Park Mall. Yep, all closed on Sunday. The history of the blue laws dates back nearly 2,000 years, when Roman Emperor Constantine in A.D.321 wanted to set aside Sunday as a day for rest. Until the 1990s, blue laws prohibiting the sale of clothes, home goods, appliances and other goods were much more common nationwide.

The name “blue laws,”, comes from the fact that the Puritans tended to write their laws on blue paper. New Jersey’s blue laws, prohibiting work on Sundays, have been on the books since the 1600s. That wouldn’t really start to reverse course until the 1950s, when each New Jersey county was granted the right to decide on blue laws.

Hudson County was the last one, outside of Bergen County, to repeal its blue laws, in the 1980s. The decline in commercial blue laws nationwide can be partly attributed to the fact that big-box retailers like and were on the rise, and these chains didn’t want to be closed on Sundays, according to Vicki Howard, author of “From Main Street to Mall: The Rise and Fall of the American Department Store.” ” were popping up, and they broke the blue laws because they could,” she said.

“The small businesses couldn’t do this.” Today, there are still various blue laws in place across the country today, but they’re much more narrow. For example, some prohibit the sale of alcohol, sex toys and cars on Sundays, and also hunting certain animals.

In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for example, you can’t buy packaged liquor on a Sunday, and restaurants there can only serve alcoholic beverages after noon. In North Dakota, you can’t buy a motor vehicle on a Sunday. Some have argued that the reason Bergen County has kept the blue laws for so long is because the area has long been one of the biggest shopping meccas in the U.S., with, not including American Dream.

Residents have said, among other reasons, they need a reprieve from so much traffic on the roads on the weekend. Numerous votes have been put to the ballot to remove the laws, as other counties across the country have done, but all have failed. “Retail is losing out,” said John Holub, president of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, which represents shopping center owners and other retailers.

• We are really behind the eight ball.
• Bergen County needs to enter the 21st century.” Within Bergen County, Holub said Paramus is the “epicenter of the opposition.” “The policymakers up there don’t realize the world is changing,” he said.
• We have old policymakers up there thinking they might lose an election if the laws are repealed.” Holub said repealing Bergen’s blue laws remains one of his association’s “top priorities.” He said 1993 was the last time a handful of municipalities in the county voted to repeal the laws.

But they lost. Gov. Chris Christie had later included a line item on his budget in 2010, for $65 million, in an attempt to show how much sales taxes could be collected if the blue laws were stepped back. But it didn’t make the cut. In 2012, the blue laws were lifted temporarily following Hurricane Sandy, so that Bergen residents could get to a or other stores for supplies on a Sunday.

1. But they were soon after reinstated.
2. It’s a tremendous undertaking to get this back on the ballot,” Holub said.
3. We think there are other legislative options we continue to explore.” While the retail shops like, Zara and Saks Fifth Avenue aren’t slated to open at American Dream until early next year, Triple Five Group has said they will adhere to the blue laws of Bergen County, so a little less than half of the property will be dark on Sundays.

Some people don’t think policymakers will be budging anytime soon, even with the grand opening looming. “Now Bergen County is proud of it. They are saying, ‘We held out,'” said retail consultant Jan Rogers Kniffen, who spent two decades as a senior executive at May Department Stores before founding his own consulting agency.

1. We wanted changed the whole time I was in business.
2. We took them to vote and they wouldn’t.
3. I don’t think they will ever get shopping on Sunday there.” But Kniffen also doesn’t think of American Dream as a “mall.” “It’s an amusement park,” he said.
4. I would rather be boiled in oil than go shopping there.

I wouldn’t go to Disney World to shop.” : A law from the 1600s will keep retail shops closed on Sundays at the nation’s newest shopping mall

Can you buy alcohol at Walmart on Sunday Ohio?

Does Walmart Sell Alcohol On Sundays? – Yes, Walmart sells alcohol on Sundays, but that varies on the store location. Walmart does not call the shots on when and what liquor to sell on a certain day because they follow the local state liquor laws. “No one wants to endanger the health of their constituentsyou risk everyone’s health if they’re going to the state border to buy alcohol,” – Michael Belsky, Executive Director for Municipal Finance In some states, they stop selling liquor at specific hours on Sundays.

Does CVS sell alcohol on Sunday in Ohio?

Does CVS Sell Drinking Alcohol? (See by State) CVS sells different types of wines, spirits, beers, and more. However, not all CVS stores sell alcoholic beverages. Those that do have to follow their local state guidelines on the permitted sale times, days, and more.

Does Ohio sell beer in grocery stores?

In some control states, alcohol is only sold at designated package stores that are operated by government agencies. In Ohio, you can purchase beer, wine and liquor at grocery stores and other retail locations, but the state regulates the number of alcohol permits.

What are the blue laws in Ohio?

Hamilton officials wrestled with Ohio’s ancient Sunday closing law in 1950s – Columns by Jim Blount Jim Blount regularly presents programs about the history of Hamilton and Butler County at the Hamilton Lane Library. His upcoming discussions include “” on Tuesday, January 10 and “” on Tuesday, February 14, These programs, which run from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m., are free and open to the public.

Reds and Dodgers moved 1889 baseball game moved to Fairfield Township to avoid Cincinnati enforcement Hamilton officials wrestled with Ohio’s ancient Sunday closing law in 1950s; legislation aimed at outlawing sin and anti-social behavior (The following is an edited version of columns written in 2008. They are from a searchable archive of Jim Blount’s history columns, dating back to 1988, and available at ) Compiled By Jim Blount

Imagine Sundays without shopping, sports events, entertainment, hunting and fishing and other amusements. That would be Ohio and other states in the era of blue laws, when, as recent as the 1960s, most retail stores were closed, and conducting business on Sunday could cause arrest and fines. Ohio’s blue laws predate statehood. In 1788 – 15 years before Ohio became a state – leaders of the Northwest Territory (eventually the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota) adopted a blue law for the vast wilderness frontier.

To “set apart the first day of the week as a day of rest from common labor and pursuits,” the territorial edict “enjoined that all servile labors, works of charity and necessity excepted, be wholly abstained from on that day.” In 1809, Ohio legislators outlawed sin and anti-social behavior on Sundays, including “sporting, gambling, rioting, quarreling, hunting, horse racing, shooting or common labors,” except necessary work.

They were called blue laws because one or more of the regulations had been printed on blue paper. They had been adopted in American colonies, usually based on European antecedents. Provisions differed, shaped by the dominant religion in each colony and forcing smaller religious groups to obey the ideas of the majority.

Prohibitions varied from state to state, including bans on drinking, use of tobacco, singing, dancing, sports, hunting, shooting, card games, racing, gambling, playing musical instruments, musical and theatrical productions, and other “worldly activities.” Later restrictions ranged from hair cutting to vehicle transactions and most retail sales.

* * * * * The U.S. Congress resisted several attempts to enact federal blue laws. Sen. Henry William Blair of New Hampshire was responsible for two notable tries. In 1886, he introduced a National Sunday Rest Bill “to secure to the enjoyment of the first day of the week, commonly Sunday, as a day of rest, and to promote its observance as religious worship.” In 1888, Sen. Blair proposed a Lord’s Day Bill “to promote its observance as a Day of Religious Worship” that would ban “secular work, labor, or business” in interstate commerce, transportation, postal service, military drills that “interfere with or disturb the people in the enjoyment of the first day of the week,

1. Or its observance as a day of religious worship.” Both Blair bills, incorporating language similar to state laws, died early deaths.
2. State blue laws were pushed and sustained by temperance and prohibition advocates in the late 1800s and early 20th century.
3. When religious arguments continued to fail, supporters promoted bans on Sunday business and amusement as “protection of the rights of the workingman,” a labor issue.

The debate continued in local governments, state legislatures and local, state and federal courts in the mid 20th century, the focus shifting to what could be sold and what type of retail businesses could operate on Sundays. At issue was what constituted “occupations of necessity or charity.” Ohio blue laws relied on local enforcement, which varied from place to place and time to time.

* * * * * Baseball teams periodically tested the law in the Hamilton area. In 1889, when a Hamilton minor league team sought a local field, it chose “grounds outside the city limits so as to play Sunday games” because the Ohio law that prohibited Sunday baseball “wasn’t enforced generally outside the cities.” The field was east of the Miami-Erie Canal (now Erie Highway), near Fair Avenue and High Street, because owners needed Sunday attendance to make a profit.

During a Sunday pre-season game, a Fairfield Township constable brought charges against the team, but a Butler County grand jury ignored the violation. Because they couldn’t play in Cincinnati, the 1889 Reds moved a Sunday, Aug.25, 1889, game to the east High Street field in Fairfield Township. More than 6,000 people overflowed the stands as the pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers took a 4-2 lead. The game was halted in the fourth inning on a complaint by a Hamilton man, a member of the Law and Order League.

The lawyer and former state senator, who was a temperance advocate, enlisted Hamilton’s safety director and 18 policemen to arrest members of both teams. The players rode police wagons into Hamilton, faced the mayor and enhanced the city treasury by $159.30. Each culprit paid a $5 fine and $8.85 in costs.

* * * * * In 1952 two Cincinnati men opened a new business on the southern edge of Hamilton. Their enterprise on Dixie Highway, just south of Corwin Avenue, occupied a former roller skating rink. In the 1950s, Rink’s Bargain City was a popular and controversial retail attraction.

The store – whose name derived from the skating rink – also became the center of the storm surrounding interpretation of Ohio’s blue laws. When Coleman Ullner and Hyman Ullner opened Rink’s Bargain City, most supermarkets, department stores and retail operations in and around Hamilton were closed Sundays.

There were few places to spend your money here on Sundays in the early 1950s. Rink’s challenged the Sunday closing law by remaining open seven days a week. Store owners faced repeated charges that they were violating Ohio blue laws. There had been periodic debates and court cases questioning the meaning of Ohio Sunday closing laws that originated in 1809.

• Coleman Ullner was charged in March 1955 with three violations – requiring employees to work on Sunday; personally operating a business that transacted business on Sunday; and president of a corporation operating a business on Sunday.
• The warrants were signed by Richard Koehler, then a Hamilton attorney, later a judge on the court of appeals.

April 19, 1955, Hamilton Municipal Judge Frank F. Wessel found Ullner guilty of the first two charges and dismissed the third. He paid a $25 fine and court costs on each of the two charges. His request for a new trial was denied. There would be more charges against Rink’s Bargain City during the next four years.

1. Three additional warrants, also signed by Koehler, were pending April 19 when the judge ruled on the first three.
2. A flurry of legal action followed alleged Sunday sales violations Sunday, Dec.21, 1958.
3. Coleman Ullner requested and was granted a jury trial in Hamilton Municipal Court.
4. He faced charges of operating a building for business on Sunday and requiring persons to work on Sunday that is “not of necessity or charity.” The charges followed a visit to Rink’s by Hamilton detectives.

They testified they had been ordered to check the store by Chief Albert Osborne. Ullner’s defense argued that the charges against Rink’s were discriminatory because it was the only store in Hamilton subject to prosecution. Also part of the defense was testimony from a Hamilton doctor who said he went to the store Dec.21 to buy a drug for a patient, a sick child.

Ullner – a Navy pharmacist mate during World War II and a graduate of the Cincinnati College of Pharmacy – said drugs and medical supplies accounted for about 16% of Rink’s Sunday business. After deliberating four and a half hours, the 12-person jury found Ullner guilty on both charges. His December 1958 arrest came on the heels of the final phase of the April 1955 arrest.

Ullner had appealed, without success, through state courts to the Ohio Supreme Court. Undaunted, he appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dec.8, 1958, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the appeal “for want of a substantial federal question.” That decision didn’t end the Sunday sales debate in Ohio. In June 1964 – with Sunday operation questioned – Rink’s was sold to the Gray Drug Store chain. In April 1981, the discount department store chain was purchased by the Cook United Corp. of Cleveland. The original Rink’s Bargain City building was abandoned in 1972 and demolished in July 1998.

• A new store was built across the street and later at 4865 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield.
• In April 1984, Cook announced it would close 41 of its 94 stores, including the Fairfield location.
• Fifteen Rink’s stores were operating in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky areas then.
• Cook also had stores in six other states.

* * * * * Hamilton City Council faced the dilemma again in the late 1950s. Should the city enforce Ohio’s Sunday closing laws being challenged by a local merchant? Or, should council, through the city manager, instruct police to ignore the blue laws that had been on the state’s law books for at least 124 years.

While awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Rink’s case, city council members were asking: Should the Hamilton enforce the blue laws, or ignore them? Were Sunday sales of drugs, groceries and gasoline legal? Was it necessary that restaurants, hotels and motels be open on Sundays? Rulings in state and federal courts on such questions had been indecisive and confusing.

Local authorities in Ohio and other states had to make independent interpretations. One local argument said as long as it was state law, Sunday closing should be enforced and violators arrested. Others said the Ohio legislature should solve the problem for Hamilton and other communities to achieve uniform statewide compliance.

1. A councilman said state lawmakers should clarify the ambiguous law or abolish it.
2. Questions included what merchandise and services could be offered on Sundays.
3. A local merchants association told council it favored enforcement of the blue laws and asked why additional arrests had not been made at Rink’s Bargain City.

Council also was asked why the law should be enforced against Rink’s, but not against other Hamilton businesses open on Sundays. Finally, council agreed to enforce the law – against Rink’s and other local retailers. Council’s problem was more complicated than what to do about private businesses “not of necessity or charity” operating within the city on Sundays.

1. Another wrinkle was what government services are “necessary” on Sundays – a vague area of the long-standing state law.
2. There was no doubt about police and fire protection.
3. But, in keeping with the spirit of the blue laws, Hamilton council ordered the municipal golf course, swimming pools and other recreation operations to be closed on Sundays.

That unpopular June 30, 1958, action didn’t last long. Council rescinded the closing order later that week before enforcement began on the next Sunday. At the July 2, 1958, meeting, Hamilton city council unanimously adopted a motion to refer the blue law questions to the Ohio General Assembly and Gov.C.

William O’Neill. Assistance was sought from three local legislators, State Sen. William Beckett and State Representatives Charles Jones and James Sexton. Council also asked other organizations to become involved – including chambers of commerce and bar associations – in urging state action. A newspaper report said councilmen had described the blue laws as “vague, outmoded, archaic, outdated and antiquated.” Council faced the problem again in January 1959 after the U.S.

Supreme Court decision and another arrest at Rink’s Bargain City. At the Jan.6, 1959, meeting of city council, City Manager Howard F. (Hack) Wilson submitted a list of more than 200 businesses and industries in Hamilton that were operating on Sunday in apparent violation of Ohio law.

Council reacted by ordering that the city suspend enforcement of confusing Sunday sales limitations. But it would be several years before Ohio leaders resolved the problem. * * * * * By the early 1970s, Ohio’s Sunday closing law were being ignored. Some supermarkets, furniture and hardware stores, department stores and other retail operations – formerly closed on Sundays – were operating seven days a week in Butler County and surrounding counties.

Ohio voters indicated support of the closing law in 1962. The Nov.6 ballot that year included a proposed state constitutional amendment regarding “the sale, processing or rendition of certain commodities, products and services on Sunday.” Backers of the amendment said: “This issue is as simple as this – if you want the convenience of having these items available on Sundays, vote YES.

• If you believe, for religious, moral or any other reasons, that they should not be available, vote NO.
• Neither the present 131-year-old blue law, nor any subsequent court decision, has ever made any of these items clearly legal for Sunday sale.
• All of them can be taken away from you at the discretion of any local enforcement official under pressure from any special interest group.” Items clarified in the amendment included “gas, electricity, telephone, telegraph, public means of transportation or any other public utility service or product; newspapers, other news publications, radio, television or other public communications service; household fuels; motor fuels and lubrications for automotive vehicles; prescriptions and proprietary drugs and household medical supplies; products used for personal hygiene and sanitation; milk, milk products, any food item or food product for human or animal consumption.” In Butler County, only 36.6% favored the amendment: 21,612 for and 37,376 against.

Statewide, 1.27 million voted yes and 1.69 million no. The blue laws remained in force. But that vote didn’t end the matter. Personal habits and preferences regarding the Sabbath changed. Sunday operations meant more jobs, more personal income and more tax revenue for local and state governments.

During the next decade, blue laws became a low priority for law enforcement. Local communities – responsible for enforcing Ohio’s Sunday closure laws – said checking stores diverted police officers from other vital duties. Defending arrests in court consumed time and created additional government expense.

* * * * * Repeal of the Ohio laws came quietly in 1973 in the General Assembly. Rep. John A. Galbraith, a Republican from Maumee, was the prime sponsor of House Bill 59, aimed at ending the state’s Sunday blue laws. “There was virtually no opposition to Galbraith’s bill in the Agriculture, Conservation and Labor Committee,” said the Associated Press.

“Similar proposals have been rejected at several past sessions of the legislature. However, the development of big city discount houses, which attracted Sunday shoppers in droves over the past 10 years, helped soften opposition to Sunday transactions. In the same period,” the AP added, “court decisions made the laws virtually unenforceable.” June 20, 1973, the Ohio House of Representatives voted 62-32 in favor of HB59 to remove Sunday retail sales prohibitions.

Why We Drank a Shocking Amount in 1830

Butler County’s two representatives split on the issue, William Donham of Middletown voting for repeal and Thomas Kindness of Hamilton opposing it. July 24 HB59 won support in the Ohio Senate, 25-6, with Donald E. (Buz) Lukens, representing Butler County, among the opponents.

• Gov. John Gilligan signed the measure Aug.22 and it became effective Nov.21, 1973.
• Unlike the debate in earlier decades, the demise of Ohio blue laws came without fanfare.
• Dominating the news in November 1973 were reports of worsening fuel shortages, revelations in the Watergate scandal and President Richard Nixon’s denial of those charges.

Nov.25, 1973, wasn’t memorable as the first Sunday without legal prohibitions on Sunday sales. Ironically, that night President Nixon, while addressing the nation, asked service stations, effective Dec.1, to stop selling gas between 9 p.m. Saturdays and 12:01 a.m. Jim Blount’s local history books are available in Hamilton at the Butler County Historical Society, 327 N. Second Street, and the Ross Avenue Barber Shop, 907 Ross Avenue. His history columns are posted periodically on the Lane Libraries web site and are also available via email subscription.