Public Media for Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Local Option Begins In Bethel On Jan. 6, 2020

Caribou Traders Liquor Store will close permanently on Saturday, Jan 4.
Greg Kim
/
KYUK

There is an official date for local option alcohol restrictions to begin in Bethel. Jan. 6 is the day that the liquor store licenses will expire. That same day, people will have to start marking alcohol in their luggage. There will be limits on how much alcohol can be imported and possessed, and the state will start tracking how much alcohol you order in a database. Bootlegging will become a felony, as will furnishing alcohol to a minor.

The state Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, AMCO, decided on the Jan. 6 date after a week of consultation with legal counsel. AMCO Director Erika McConnell said that the state’s alcohol law, Title 4, was unclear on when all the effects of local option kicked in. They made a final determination on Tuesday, Oct. 8.

Combined with the election’s certification at Tuesday night’s city council meeting, the date is set. Local option begins in Bethel on Jan. 6.

Greg Kim was a news reporter for KYUK from 2019-2022.