El Cerrito does not serve margaritas on Sundays. Courtesy | Facebook

A petition to end a county ban on Sunday liquor sales failed to make this year’s ballot

A petition to repeal Hillsdale County’s prohibition on Sunday liquor sales failed to gain enough signatures to go before voters this year, but advocates say they plan to resurrect the initiative for the 2026 ballot.

Hillsdale County remains the only county in Michigan with a “blue law,” which bans in-house liquor sales on Sundays. City Councilman Robert Socha introduced the petition in April to repeal the 44-year-old law but failed to gain enough signatures by the July 30 deadline set by the Hillsdale County Clerk’s office.

“It was a lengthy explanation process to help people understand what it was all about, and then that made it harder to get the signatures,” Socha said. “To be honest, I didn’t get enough people to go door to door.”

His effort fell several hundred signatures short of the 1,492 necessary to put the issue on the ballot during the general election on Nov. 5. The law — passed in 1980 with religious support — prohibits liquor sales in restaurants and bars from 7 a.m. on Sunday until 2 a.m. on Monday.

Socha said he worked with owners and employees at local restaurants including Here’s To You Pub & Grub, Underdogs, and White Oaks Golf Club to collect signatures for the petition. A small group also went door to door asking for support, he said.

“I think we assumed it would be easier to get the signatures,” Socha said.

Brent Leininger, who was involved in circulating the petition and gathering signatures, said his final tally came to 765 signatures. Some of these would not have counted toward the total needed to place the issue on the ballot, he said, because some signers filled out their information incorrectly.

“If you live in Hillsdale City, you have to say ‘Hillsdale City.’ If you live in Hillsdale Township, it needs to be ‘Hillsdale Township.’ If you live in Osseo, and Osseo is your mailing zip, that’s ‘Jefferson Township,’” Leininger said. “A lot of those individuals who signed put their mailing zip and not their township of residence where they reside and where they vote.”

Socha said he introduced the petition because he believes restaurants in the county should be able to fully serve their clientele.

“We’re not advocating for drunkenness or disorderly conduct or that kind of licentious behavior,” Socha said. “We’re just trying to help businesses run their business. And this doesn’t force or require anyone to sell alcohol on Sunday or force or require anyone to buy it. It just provides an opportunity.”

Signature Issues

The Hillsdale County Commissioners looked into repealing the blue law in 2012, according to Chief Deputy Clerk Abe Dane. The issue was out of their hands because of the requirements for repeal in the Michigan Compiled Laws. 

Only a citizen petition initiative with enough signatures can put the proposed repeal on the ballot, according Dane. Because the language did not make it onto the ballot this year, the petition can come up again at the next general election in 2026, Dane said. 

The total number of signatures needed to put the issue on the ballot is set at 8% or more of the number of votes cast for all candidates for the office of secretary of state in the county at the last general election held for that purpose, according to state law. 

“The threshold would remain the same in 2026 but thereafter would change based on the November 2026 turnout,” Dane said. 

Socha said he plans to begin the petition effort again at the next opportunity.

“When I bring it back in 2026, I would appreciate people helping me get the signatures,” Socha said. “I’ll work more diligently to make sure it happens.”

Current Drawbacks

Kevin Conant, owner of Here’s To You Pub & Grub, previously attempted to get signatures for a petition to repeal the blue law in 2019 but fell short with 600 signatures, as The Collegian previously reported. Though his business is no longer open on Sundays and therefore unaffected by the law, Conant said he wants to see the issue through. 

“That way restaurants that want to be open on Sunday can sell liquor,” he said.

Conant said he will help support the petition again in the future.

Owner of Market House and Underdogs, Brett Boyd, said the blue law puts restaurants in the county at a competitive disadvantage because customers drive to neighboring counties. 

“On Sundays, they can go to Coldwater and watch the game and enjoy any beverage they want, but yet here in Hillsdale they can’t,” he said.

Customers at Market House and Underdogs had the opportunity to sign the petition and several hundred did so, according to Boyd.

“I’m convinced that the far majority of our county would support that ability on Sundays,” Boyd said. “But I could be wrong, obviously everyone is entitled to their vote. From a business perspective and just from feedback we’ve gotten here at Underdogs, we’d like to have seen that effort be successful.”

Owner of El Cerrito Adam Rocha said he knew about the petition and helped collect several sheets of signatures but did not turn them in because he was not informed of the deadline.

“Nobody stopped by,” Rocha said. “I didn’t know it was supposed to be done by July.”

El Cerrito has locations in Grand Rapids and Coldwater as well as Hillsdale. The Hillsdale restaurant loses between $500 and $1,000 per week because it cannot sell liquor to customers on Sunday, Rocha said.

“We have people that walk in and ask if we serve them on Sundays and we say ‘no we can’t’ and they just walk out,” Rocha said.

Everyone he asked to sign the petition did so, Rocha said.

Most people who try to order hard liquor drinks on Sunday do not realize the blue law exists, according to clubhouse attendant Emily Hill at White Oaks Golf Club.

“They get upset,” she said. “Some will have a few words to say to you, not happy about it because they want you to break rules for them.”

Hill said she had not heard of the petition but would support the repeal of the blue law.

“It would be nice to not have people get mad at you for something you can’t control,” Hill said.

Rocha said he would support the petition in the future, and he hopes businesses in the county work together next time around.

“I would get all the business owners together and make sure everyone turns in their ballots the day they’re supposed to be done as a team,” he said. “Everyone can be on the same page and get this thing off.”

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