AG King joins fight over alcohol sales in Cedar Bluff

By Scott Wright

CENTRE — Attorney General Troy King has joined the fight against alcohol sales in Cedar Bluff, claiming in a three-page filing that if the case is decided in favor of the town the ruling would impair his ability to “ensure strict adherence to the constitutional process for lawmaking” in Alabama.

King's request to intervene in the case was filed March 3 in the office of Cherokee County Circuit Clerk Dwayne Amos. King's request, if granted, would withdraw an “acceptance and waiver” filed by his office when the complaint was initially served.

Waivers are a tool used regularly by the attorney general's office to reduce the state's legal workload. By withdrawing the waiver, King effectively seeks to become the lead plaintiff in the case against Cedar Bluff.

“The attorney general just took all of the financial burden off the plaintiff and changed the whole situation for Cedar Bluff,” said a member of the Alabama Legislature who spoke with The Post on condition of anonymity.

Eric Johnston, a Birmingham attorney who represents the current plaintiff in the case, William Geral Greene, told The Post he believes King wants to get involved because Cedar Bluff isn't the only small town in a dry county where alcohol sales have recently become legal.

“The towns of Monroeville, Jackson and Thomasville have all done the same thing Cedar as Bluff,” Johnston said. “I think the attorney general became concerned that the votes allowing alcohol sales in those towns didn't meet the population requirement spelled out in the Alabama Constitution. And it's his job to uphold the Constitution.”

A spokeswoman told The Post that King was on vacation with his family last week and unavailable for comment.

At issue is whether or not a vote held in Cedar Bluff in August 2003 should have ever taken place. In October 2003, after 72 percent of 888 voters approved the sale of alcohol, a local anti-alcohol group filed suit to stop the sale of alcohol and won the case in Cherokee County Circuit Court. Judge David Rains issued a judgment against Cedar Bluff, declaring the vote unconstitutional and enjoining the town from issuing alcohol licenses.

According to the ruling by Rains, despite a bill passed by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Bob Riley which allowed Cedar Bluff to hold the election, the vote was unconstitutional because an older law, passed by the Legislature in 1984, required towns in dry counties to have a population of at least 7,000 before they could hold a wet-dry vote.

The 2003 law was written very specifically, allowing a town in Cherokee County with a population between 1,300 and 1,500 to hold a vote on alcohol. With a population of around 1,450, Cedar Bluff was the only town that fit the parameters of the law.

Attorneys for Cedar Bluff appealed the local court's decision, and the Alabama Supreme Court eventually ruled the plaintiffs had no legal standing to file suit. As a result, alcohol sales began in the town in April 2005. Currently, about a half-dozen restaurants and convenience stores offer beer, wine and liquor products to customers.

A separate lawsuit, filed in December 2005 by Greene, has been slowly working its way through the court system. The Alabama Supreme Court denied a request by Cedar Bluff's lead attorney, Dagnal Rowe, to have Greene's case dismissed on a technicality and returned the case to Rains for a decision in April 2007.

But there has been little action on the lawsuit in the past year. Several motions before Rains have been pending since last May.

“I am a little surprised that the attorney general would decide to intervene in the case at this late stage,” Rowe said Friday. “He was given notice of the case when it was first filed and declined to participate.”

Rowe said he found King's sudden interest peculiar.

“I'm anxious to see if his participation is motivated by politics,” he said. “I hope the attorney general will take advantage of the opportunity he has and play a positive role by reaching a settlement that all the parties can agree with.”

Centre attorney Chad Hopper, who represents two of the business owners in Cedar Bluff who sell alcoholic beverages, said all eyes will now turn to Judge Rains.
“We're still waiting on the judge to decide on our motion to become a party in the lawsuit,” Hopper said.

He said if Judge Rains grants King's motion to intervene, “I suspect the attorney general will not have to worry about the standing issue, so the case can be decided on its merits.”

Also last week, a state House committee approved a bill that would eliminate the population restriction for a wet-dry vote. The bill would allow any municipality in Alabama to hold a wet-dry vote as long as 25 percent of the population signs a petition requesting a vote.

Another legislator, who also spoke with The Post on condition of anonymity, said he believes that bill faces an uncertain future in the Legislature unless it contains some type of population restriction.