Smith County Commissioners Court unanimously agreed to call a local option election for the legal sale of alcohol in Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 during a regular meeting, Monday, Feb. 23, 2009. The local option election will place two alcoholrelated items on the ballot for the May 9 election.

The two potential ballot items are for "the legal sale of mixed beverages in restaurants by food and beverage certificate holders only," and "the legal sale of beer and wine for offpremise consumption only." The items will only be voted on by the residents of J.P. Precinct 4.

The Smith County Citizens for Economic Growth submitted the 1,509 signatures required to call for an election to Smith County Elections Administrator Karen Cheney in early February. Ms. Cheney verified the authenticity of each signature as a registered voter in the J.P. Precinct 4 boundary.

Commissioners must call the election by law. The decision to allow alcohol sales in Smith County will be determined by those living in the affected area.

"The outcome of this election is entirely in the hands of the voters J.P. Precinct 4," County Judge Joel Baker said.

Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 includes parts of Tyler, Winona, New Chapel Hill and Overton, and spans the north-east corner of Smith County.

As of this date, no opposition group has filed.