BOLLINGER COUNTIANS TO VOTE ON BLUE LAW

MARBLE HILL -- After a faint sound, indifference precluded any fury.

Two people in late February complained to the Marble Hill Board of Aldermen about the new Dollar General Store's alleged violation of Missouri's Blue Law, which bans the sale of all items on Sunday except articles of "immediate necessity."

So the Bollinger County Commission put the Sunday sales issue on Tuesday's primary election ballot, allowing county residents to exempt the county from the law. The Missouri Legislature allows local option on the Blue Law. All the counties surrounding Bollinger County have opted out.

Rod Jetton, a county commissioner, said he thought the proposal would be a contentious matter. Instead, "It's not been anything like what I thought it could've been," Jetton said. "I think people just don't care."

Case in point: Until informed by a reporter last week, Marble Hill Mayor Ben Ellis wasn't aware the Sunday Blue Law issue was on Tuesday's ballot. "Have the (county) commissioners put it on the ballot officially yet?" Ellis asked. "That shows you how it's not an issue."

After the two complaints, Ellis and the Marble Hill aldermen voted unanimously to ask the Bollinger County Commission to exempt the county from the Sunday sales law itself, bypassing voters. The commission elected to let voters decide the matter instead.

That occurred after a small group of Bollinger countians had tried to start a petition drive. "But they never even got any signatures," Jetton said. "Nobody even cared."

It appears no one knows any merchants who have publicly endorsed elimination of the Blue Law. And no religious leaders or others have publicly voiced any opinions.

The Marble Hill Chamber of Commerce voted unanimously to urge the county commission to put the Blue Law proposal on the ballot. While the group believed the issue should be decided by voters, it "didn't take a position" on whether the county should be exempt, said the group's president, Mark Massengill.

But Massengill said the chamber overwhelmingly urged the county commission to consider the Blue Law plan because "people were willing for it to change." He also said that by opting out of the law, new businesses might be drawn to the county.

David Jackson, a Pentecostal minister and a former Marble Hill city administrator, said although he believes people shouldn't shop on Sundays, "the Lord understands that certain things are a part of society." He said by and large other religious leaders in the county concur.

Jetton attributes the apathy concerning Sunday sales to the fact that the Blue Law currently isn't enforced in Bollinger County. He said the Bollinger County sheriff's office is "busy with meth labs," and the prosecuting attorney's office has said it has no intention of spending time or money cracking down on Blue Law violators.

Jetton said that if a majority of county residents vote to keep the Blue Law in effect, the law still won't be enforced. And he knows of no business owners who have said they will open their stores on Sunday if voters choose to exempt the county.