Alcohol laws of Kentucky

Of the 120 counties in Kentucky, 53 are completely dry, 37 are considered partially dry or "moist", 29 are entirely wet, and one is classified as wet but is actually closer to "moist".cite web|url=http://abc.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/C0A941B4-ADC6-4340-A2D8-61762E532683/0/Wetdrylist112607.pdf |title=Wet & Dry Counties in Kentucky |publisher=Kentucky Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control |date=2007-11-26 |accessdate=2008-03-08 |format=PDF] A county can be "moist" in several different ways:

* Under Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) [http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/242-00/123.PDF 242.123] , an individual precinct within any dry territory—which can be a dry county, or a dry portion of an otherwise wet county—that contains a USGA-regulation golf course may vote to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages by the drink on that specific course. As of the last officially published update on Kentucky wet and dry counties by the Kentucky Office of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) in November 2007, 16 golf courses in 12 different counties were approved for such sales.
* KRS [http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/243-00/155.PDF 243.155] allows individual precincts within dry territory to vote to allow a "small farm winery" to operate within the precinct. Once approved, a winery not only can produce and sell wine on its premises but also can apply for a license to sell wine and beer by the drink in a restaurant located on its premises. As of November 2007, 15 wineries were operating in 10 counties under this statute. KRS [http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/243-00/154.PDF 243.154] allows a wholesale distributor of wine produced in small farm wineries to operate in dry territory.
* Two different statutes authorize local option elections for sales of alcohol by the drink in restaurants:
** KRS [http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/242-00/185.PDF 242.185(6)] requires that restaurants seat at least 100 patrons "and" derive at least 70% of their total sales from food to be allowed to serve alcohol by the drink. (For the purpose of determining whether a restaurant meets the 70% requirement, sales of non-alcoholic beverages are classified as "food".) The Kentucky ABC listed 20 cities and three counties that had voted to approve such sales as of November 2007. The most recent areas to authorize such sales were the city of Whitesburg in April 2007,cite web|url=http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/7074287.html |first=Heather |last=Haley |title=Whitesburg Goes "Wet" |publisher=WKYT-TV |date=2007-04-18 |accessdate=2007-06-24] Boyd County outside of the wet city of Ashland the following month,cite web|url=http://www.dailyindependent.com/local/local_story_143000419.html?keyword=topstory |title=All precincts but one vote yes |publisher="The Daily Independent" (Ashland, KY) |date=May 23, 2007 |accessmonthday=June 24 |accessyear=2007] and the city of Glasgow in November 2007.cite news|url=http://www.glasgowdailytimes.com/archivesearch/local_story_311011251.html |title= Liquor by the drink passes |author=Dickerson, Brad |coauthors=Neitzel, Stacy L. |publisher=Glasgow (KY) Daily Times |date=2007-11-07 |accessdate=2008-02-07] The other counties that have authorized restaurant sales countywide under this statute are Oldham County and Shelby County outside of the wet city of Shelbyville.
** KRS [http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/242-00/1244.PDF 242.1244] , enacted into law in June 2007, also requires that restaurants derive at least 70% of their total sales from food, but lowers the seating limit to 50 patrons. Restaurants licensed under this statute are not allowed to have separate bars, and can only serve alcohol to customers who purchase a meal, and only during a time frame that starts with the serving of the meal and ends 30 minutes after the customer finishes his or her meal. No Kentucky jurisdiction has yet held a local option election to authorize alcohol sales under this statute.
* In addition to Shelbyville and Ashland, fourteen other cities are wet cities located in dry counties. An otherwise dry county for general retail sales that contains a wet city is also known as a moist county.
* KRS [http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/242-00/1242.PDF 242.1242] , enacted into law in June 2007, allows precincts in dry territory that also house a "qualified historic site"—defined in KRS 241.010(34) as either a site listed on the National Register of Historic Places or a National Historic Landmark, which also includes dining facilities for at least 50 patrons plus lodging—to hold a local option election to allow sales of alcohol by the drink at qualified sites in that precinct. The first such election was held in the North Burgin precinct of Mercer County on November 6 2007, in which voters approved such sales at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, the largest restored Shaker settlement in the U.S.cite news|url=http://kentucky.com/635/story/223335.html |first=Greg |last=Kocher |title=Voters allow Shaker Village to serve alcohol |publisher="Lexington Herald-Leader" |date=2007-11-06 |accessdate=2007-11-06]
*Finally, McCracken County, although officially classified as "wet", is actually closer to "moist". The county as a whole is dry; however, its county seat of Paducah is wet, as are five county precincts outside of Paducah.

The ABC uses specific terminology to classify counties:
* Dry — Prohibits all sale of alcoholic beverages, with no exceptions.
* Wet — A county that allows sale of alcoholic beverages for on-site or off-site consumption in areas outside of an incorporated city. Most "wet" counties, with the notable exception of McCracken County, allow such sales countywide. Kentucky's two consolidated city-county governments, Louisville and Lexington, are both wet.
* Moist — A county in which alcohol sales for off-premises consumption are allowed only in a specific city.
* Limited — A county in which at least some otherwise dry territory has approved the sale of alcohol by the drink at qualifying restaurants.
* Golf Course — A county in which at least some otherwise dry territory has approved the sale of alcohol by the drink at a qualifying golf course.
* Winery — A county in which at least some otherwise dry territory has approved the operation of a winery.
* Qualified Historic Site — A county in which at least some otherwise dry territory has approved the sale of alcohol by the drink at a qualifying historic site.

A study of about 39,000 alcohol-related traffic accidents in Kentucky found that residents of dry counties are more likely to be involved in such crashes, possibly because they have to drive farther from their homes to consume alcohol, thus increasing impaired driving exposure. The study concludes that county-level prohibition is not necessarily effective in improving highway safety. [ Schulte, G., "et al". Consideration of driver home county prohibition and alcohol-related vehicle crashes. "Accident Analysis & Prevention", 1993, "35(5)", 641-648. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12850064?dopt=Abstract] ]

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