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Pennington County adopts updated alcohol licensing ordinance, repeals older ordinance
Summary
The Pennington County Commission approved second reading of Ordinance 795 to replace prior local rules on alcoholic beverage licensing and voted to repeal Ordinance 142; deputy state’s attorney and commissioners discussed the legal changes used to calculate license counts.
The Pennington County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 18 approved second reading of Ordinance No. 795, an updated ordinance establishing requirements for alcoholic beverage licensing and sales in Pennington County, and voted to repeal Ordinance No. 142 effective 20 days after publication.
Deputy State’s Attorney Alexa Moller told the commission the county’s ordinance was largely rewritten to reflect recent changes in state law and that the office provided a memorandum comparing the new draft to existing examples such as Minnehaha County’s ordinance. “At this point I would ask the board for approval, per our recommendation, and repeal the old ordinance,” Moller said during the meeting.
The ordinance rewrite changes how the county calculates the number of licenses and consolidates licensing requirements, Moller said; Commissioner Durer asked for explanatory memoranda and redline comparisons for future ordinance rewrites and said the memorandum supplied was helpful. The commission then made and passed a motion approving second reading of Ordinance No. 795. A subsequent motion approved repeal of Ordinance No. 142 establishing fees and requirements related to alcoholic beverages; the repeal will take effect on the twentieth day after Ordinance No. 795 completes publication.
Why it matters: The rewrite updates local licensing procedures to align with changes in state law and replaces older local rules that the county said no longer reflected current statutory calculations for licenses. The change affects businesses that seek on-sale, off-sale and special event alcohol permits in Pennington County.
What happened next: Commissioners voted without recorded opposition. The commission packet includes the memorandum comparing the draft ordinance to prior language and example ordinances; commissioners requested that future ordinance items come with explicit redlines or memos showing what changed.
The county clerk will publish Ordinance No. 795 and the repeal of Ordinance No. 142 will take effect as stated following publication.
