Texas agency overrides judge due to outdated alcohol rules

The agency regulating the Texas alcohol industry has reversed a judge’s advisory decision that it says could’ve shuttered most of the state’s booze business.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission cast aside the ruling this month, saying that lawmakers didn’t intend large-scale disruption of the industry.

A judge issued an opinion last fall that he acknowledged could shut down the state’s alcoholic beverage industry, but follows Texas law that hasn’t been updated since the end of the Prohibition era. The rules require companies that make, distribute or retain alcohol to remain independent from each other.

The ruling meant that companies like Anheuser-Busch and Molson Coors Brewing couldn’t legally operate in the state.

The issue is the latest indication of Texas’ outdated alcoholic beverage rules.