Challange filed against law prohibiting alcohol votes in three Alabama counties

A judge in Blount County will make a decision on a 2009 state law which led to alcohol sales in several dozen Alabama towns. In 1984, the state enacted a law that allowed cities with more than 7,000 people within dry counties to hold votes on whether alcohol sales could be allowed. In 2009, lawmakers changed the population conditions to 1,000, but the law excluded cities within Blount, Clay and Randolph counties.  Last fall, voters in Oneonta approved allowing alcohol sales. Resident Brandon Neal filed a lawsuit to block the city from spending money on a wet-dry referendum, which was already illegal. Oneonta filed a counterclaim and asked Judge Steven King to strike down the portion of the 2009 law that excludes cities in the three counties as unconstitutional. Blountsville, Hayden, Cleveland, and Locust Fork - have all joined in with Oneonta in its counterclaim.