Fort Smith Group to Petition for Sunday Off-Premises Alcohol Sales Ballot Initiative
A local group in Fort Smith, Arkansas, is planning to gather signatures to place a measure on a future ballot that would allow for the Sunday sale of alcohol for off-premises consumption. This initiative follows recent discussions during a Fort Smith Board of Directors study session, where City Administrator Jeff Dingman confirmed that state law mandates a citizen-petitioned measure for such a change. The petition requires signatures from 15% of qualified electors in the city who voted in the last gubernatorial election. Currently, this number is 3,120 signatures, though it will change after the upcoming November election. City staff have indicated that it is too late for this measure to be included in the general election this November. Rhyan Besco, founder of The Riverboy Foundation, stated his group has already collected over 1,000 signatures during a St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl in March, kick-starting the conversation.
