New Law Allows Delivery of Alcohol to Homes

Oxford residents may soon be able to have some beer delivered with their pizza now that a new law passed by the Mississippi Legislature earlier this year went into effect today.

House Bill 1135 was signed into law in April by Gov. Tate Reeves and allows the delivery of wine, spirits and beer from a licensed retailer.

Before a business can start delivering alcohol, the owner must apply for a special service permit.

Delivery drivers can be direct employees or part of a contracted company and must be at least 21 years old and receive proper training. Those placing an order for alcohol must also be at least 21 years old.

Managers at PJ’s Wine & Liquor and Star Packaging told HottyToddy.com they are considering offering delivery but need more information from the state and to set up a delivery system if their permit is approved.

Another alcohol-related law went into effect this year.

House Bill 1087, passed in 2020, allowed all counties to be wet by default for the possession of liquor and beer and wine, including Lafayette County.

Prior to the new law, Lafayette County was wet for liquor but not beer and wine.

The city of Oxford was already wet for liquor and beer and wine.

Lafayette County Sheriff Joey East said since the county became wet for beer and wine his department has not seen an increase in alcohol-related arrests.

“But we have seen an increase in disturbances, usually noise because more people are having private events and include alcohol, and the gatherings seem to be louder and noisier and disturb the neighbors,” he said.

East said he didn’t expect the new delivery law to have much of an effect on law enforcement.

Other laws that went into effect Thursday:

(From Mississippi Today)

Senate Bill 2795: Centers on criminal justice reform. The new law expands parole eligibility and would allow as many as 3,000 of the state’s roughly 17,000 people now in prison to become eligible for parole within three to five years. Those convicted of violations deemed violent crimes committed without a weapon, such as simple robbery or burglary, would be eligible for parole after serving 20 years or 50% of their sentence, whichever is less. They currently have to serve 50%. And some convicted of possession of drugs or of selling drugs and those convicted of some other nonviolent crimes would be eligible after serving 10 years or 25%, whichever is less.

House Bill 196: The Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act provides women in prison with minor children more opportunities to see the children and provides additional rights for pregnant women, such as allowing a newborn to remain with the mother for 72 hours unless there are medical concerns and prohibiting invasive searches of pregnant women. The new law also would provide additional rights for all women, such as access to menstrual hygiene products.

Senate Bill 2569: This bill makes it a misdemeanor to tamper with urine samples used for testing. A third conviction could result in a felony conviction.

House Bill 277: Allows tribal identification cards to be used as identification cards for various activities, such as proving age to purchase liquor or cigarettes or to purchase lottery tickets. The new law also allows the card to be used to purchase hunting and fishing licenses and for other activities. A tribal identification card including a photo already can be used to vote.

Senate Bill 2253: Allows a concealed carry permit to be combined with a driver’s license or state-sponsored identification card.

Senate Bill 2313: The Mississippi Intercollegiate Athletic Compensation Act allows college athletes to contract with an agent for their names, images or likenesses to be used, for instance, to endorse a product and receive compensation for that endorsement. College athletes have been prohibited from earning income based on their athletic achievements, but the NCAA, college athletics’ governing body, is currently rewriting those rules.

Senate Bill 2606: The Mississippi Native Spirits Law allows liquor and wine produced in the state more leeway in its sales, such as allowing sales where it is produced, and allowing direct sales by bypassing the state’s liquor and wine warehouse.

House Bill 1139: This reverses a law passed in the 2000s during a budget crunch where businesses had to submit to the state early a certain percentage of sales tax collected in June.

Senate Bill 2621: This bill creates a task force to study domestic laws, including those surrounding divorce.

Senate Bill 2536: This law mandates that people identified as male at birth cannot participate in female sports activities.