Clinton County residents will once again have the choice as to whether the legal sale of alcoholic beverages will be allowed here, if enough signatures are obtained on a petition that will be circulated to the public.
Clinton County Clerk Nathan Collins told the Clinton County News last week that a notice to circulate a wet/dry petition had been filed in his office last Wednesday, February 14.
“On Wednesday, an intent to circulate a wet/dry petition was filed in my office. The petition can circulate for six months, so they have until August 13 to turn the petition in to me,” Collins said.
Collins explained that the number of qualified signatures needed to have the wet/dry question placed on the ballot in Clinton County is determined by the number of voters who cast ballots in the last General Election, which was held November 7, 2023.
Kentucky’s election laws regarding the number of qualified signatures needed in order to have the wet/dry question placed on a ballot states:
A petition for an election shall be signed by a number of constitutionally qualified voters of the territory to be affected, equal to twenty-five percent (25%) of the votes cast in the territory at the last preceding general election. The petition may consist of one (1) or more separate units, and shall be filed with the county clerk in accordance with this section.
With 2,521 voters casting ballots in the November 7, 2023 general election, the petition would have to collect 631 certified signatures in order for the question to be placed on the next general election ballot slated for November 5, 2024.
The petition was filed in the Clinton County Clerk’s office by Junior Cecil, one of the principal owners of Southern Kentucky Distillery, located in Cumberland County on Ky. 90, just across the Clinton County boundary.
In a brief telephone interview Monday morning, Cecil told the Clinton County News that he had filed the petition to have the local option question placed on the ballot mainly for the economic benefits that he feels legal alcohol sales will bring to Clinton County.
“I’ve done this for the economic impact that it could bring to Albany and Clinton County, both in added business opportunities and especially in regards to the tax benefits it could bring to Clinton County,” Cecil said.
Cecil noted that all of the surrounding counties that border Clinton County, both in Kentucky and Tennessee, have now passed similar measures for legal alcohol sales.
Currently, legal alcohol sales are available in one form or another is Cumberland, Adair, Russell, and Wayne counties in Kentucky, and Pickett County in Tennessee.
“I think it’s time to push Clinton County forward on this issue,” Cecil said.  “I don’t see any reason why we can’t benefit with the tax revenues alcohol sales would bring, especially in terms of helping to fund our law enforcement, fire department and other services in our  county that could benefit from the additional tax revenues.
Cecil said he was open to discussing the local option petition and his hopes to have the question placed on the ballot, and invited residents to contact him anytime if they had questions or concerns.
Clinton County voters have had multiple chances to vote on the legal sale of alcohol here in recent years, all of which have been rejected, either by vote totals or by the fact that enough valid signatures weren’t collected to have the question placed on the ballot here.