By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspondent
Alcohol will not be allowed at Juab County fairgrounds or on any county-owned property in the future. On Monday, the county commission approved an ordinance enacting Title 11, Chapter 2, entitled offenses and miscellaneous provisions of the Juab County ordinances by enacting Section 11-2-14 regarding prohibition of alcohol at Juab County properties. “This is not an amended ordinance,” said Ryan Peters, county attorney, “it is a new ordinance and will come under offenses and misdemeanors.” Section I reads: “It shall be unlawful for any person to possess or sell any alcoholic beverage on the premises of any Juab County property. A first violation of this section is an infraction. A second or subsequent violation of this section is a class C misdemeanor. If any provision of this ordinance conflicts with Utah State Code, Utah State Code takes precedence. “Section II. This ordinance shall become effective on October 1, 2020 and upon at least one publication of the ordinance or a summary thereof in a newspaper published and having general circulation in Juab County.” A roll call vote was taken with all commissioners voting in favor of adoption of the ordinance. “For an infraction,” said Peters, “$750 is the maximum fine. For a misdemeanor, there can be 90 days jail time and a fine.” Byron Woodland, commissioner, asked fellow commissioners if they wanted the ordinance to allow commissioners to make a change upon request by any organization presented to the commission in the future or should it just be disallowed. “I thought that it should be disallowed,” said Clinton Painter, commission chairman. As worded, the ordinance would require changing the ordinance to allow alcohol to be sold at any event in the county. “We want to have good family-oriented events on county property,” said Woodland. It was not about the money but is about offering wholesome events the entire family can enjoy together. Woodland had also wanted an incremental punishment to follow the person who does not obey the ordinance. Peters said that the ordinance would take 15 days before it could become official and that was the reason that the effective date for the ordinance be set as October 1. “It has been properly noticed,” said Peters. Commissioners had considered adding the word, “consumption” to the list of prohibited activities concerning the use of alcohol on county property. “Consumption means the taking in of, in this case, alcohol,” said Peters. He said that it might be difficult for law enforcement to enforce. For example, he said, is a person smelling of the beverage because he consumed it at home before the event or did he consume alcohol at the scene. Richard Hansen, commissioner, said he agreed with the new ordinance prohibiting the use of alcohol at the county fairgrounds and on other county-owned property and offered a second to Woodland’s motion. “I have been uncomfortable with allowing alcohol to be sold at the bull riding event,” he said. A basic ordinance was presented for consideration during the discussion of the “no alcohol” ordinance listed on the county meeting agenda. Commissioners then polished the ordinance as they spoke with Peters. The resulting ordinance was then adopted and signed into effect by commissioners. “We wanted something specific for dealing with the question in the future,” said Painter. |
