Opinion No. 61-69

Topics:

INTOXICATING LIQUOR.
LAKES.
LIQUOR.
RESORT.

Summary conclusion

Because part of the Lake of the Cherokees is located in McDonald County, Missouri, the said county qualifies as a county in which a "resort" as defined in Section 311.095, RSMo Cum. Supp. 1967, maybe located.

May 27, 1969
WITHDRAWN

Honorable James L. Paul, Esq.
Prosecuting Attorney
McDonald County
Pineville, Missouri 64856

Dear Mr. Paul:

This is in answer to your request for an opinion whether or not McDonald County, Missouri, qualifies as a county within which a "resort" as defined in Section 311.095, RSMo Cum. Supp. 1967 may be located.

Section 311.095 was enacted by the Missouri Legislature in 1967 in order to provide certain exceptions to the general rule contained in Section 311.090 that licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquor by the drink may be issued only for establishments within incorporated cities. Section 311.095 provides that the Supervisor of Liquor Control may issue a license for the sale of intoxicating liquor by the drink "...for consumption on the premises of any resort." (Emphasis added.) Section 311.095(1) describes three alternative types of establishments which qualify as a "resort" and states that all such establishments must be "...located in a county bordering on a lake having at least two hundred fifty miles of shoreline."

There is no question that a lake named bake of the Cherokees or Grand Lake (hereafter referred to as "Lake of the Cherokees") is partially situated in McDonald County, Missouri. The records of the Recorder's Office of McDonald County, Missouri, show that approximately one hundred nine (109) acres of land in McDonald County, Missouri were taken by the United States as part of the Grand River Dam (Pensacola) Project, by virtue of a condemnation award entered July 5, 1944, by the District Court for the Western District of Missouri in a case entitled United States vs. Certain Parcels of Land in McDonald County. Missouri, Civil No. 270. The lake of the Cherokees formed as a result of the Grand River Data. The condemned land referred to above was inundated, and became part of the Lake of the Cherokees. On a chart attached to a letter directed to this Office, dated February 24, 1969, Clifford L. Summers, Executive Director, Water Resources Board of Missouri indicated that a part of the Lake of the Cherokees lies within McDonald County, Missouri.

Furthermore, it is clear that the Lake of the Cherokees has a shoreline far in excess of two hundred fifty miles in length. Most of the lake's shoreline (over one thousand miles) is in the State of Oklahoma, but approximately six miles of shoreline are located in McDonald County, Missouri.

The only remaining question is whether Section 311.095 requires that the "two hundred fifty miles of shoreline" must be located within the State of Missouri or within the county of reference. The existence of either of the aforementioned requirements is entirely unsupported by the plain meaning of the words in Section 311.095. Nothing contained therein expressly requires that the two hundred fifty miles of shoreline be located in any particular place. Thus, any lake which has two hundred fifty miles of shoreline qualifies under Section 311.095, so long as some part of the shoreline borders on or is in Missouri. Any Missouri county in which such a lake lies, either in whole or in part or which borders on any part of the lake, likewise qualifies under Section 311.095.

CONCLUSION

It is the opinion of this office that because part of the Lake of the Cherokees is located in McDonald County, Missouri, such county qualifies as a county in which a "resort" as defined in Section 311.095, PSMo Cum. Supp. 1967, may be located. The Supervisor of Liquor Control may issue such resort a license to sell intoxicating liquor by the drink at retail for consumption on the premises.

The foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve, was prepared by my Assistant, Thomas D. Vaughn.

Very truly yours,

John C. Danforth
Attorney General