By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The City of Great Bend is matching the state allowance when it comes to liquor sales on Sunday. The city council voted 6-1 Tuesday night to expand the hours of sale for cereal malt beverages and alcoholic liquors within city limits from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays. The previous city ordinance allowed for liquor sales from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays, but a recent change in state statute has allowed cities to expand those operational hours.
Great Bend City Attorney Allen Glendenning said there was thought just to automatically mirror what the State of Kansas puts into law.
"I did look at trying to draft an ordinance that would just automatically catch any new changes," said Glendenning. "They treat cereal malt beverages differently, alcoholic liquors differently and different statutes. It's hard to anticipate what they might do. We'll just have to keep an eye on that and make changes if we want to."
After not allowing liquor sales at all on Sundays, the city council voted in 2016 to provide Sunday liquor sales. Sales in Great Bend are allowed from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
"This will bring us in line with the maximum allowed sales on Sundays that the state will allow," said Glendenning.