While it has been true for decades that a person must be 21 years of age or older to drink alcoholic beverages legally in Georgia, Henry County has been one of the few jurisdictions in the state still requiring all servers of those beverages to be at least 21. That is changing.

  The Henry County Board of Commissioners voted at its January 8 regular meeting to approve an ordinance that will allow people 18 and older to dispense, serve, sell or take orders for alcoholic beverages in licensed establishments.

  County attorney Patrick Jaugstetter said this will bring the county in line with Georgia law. All four of the county’s cities already have the age minimum set at 18, as do all adjoining counties.

  “I have yet to find another jurisdiction in the state that requires you to be 21,” he said. “They all allow 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds to serve alcohol.”

  The fact that unincorporated Henry County has a different standard poses a problem for businesses, as Commissioner Dee Clemmons pointed out when she referenced calls she has received from restaurants along the Jonesboro Road corridor.

  “They’ve told me that they didn’t know they couldn’t hire 18- or 19-year-olds who are home from college for the summer and let them bring margaritas or martinis to the table,” she said. “If we are going to attract those businesses and keep them licensed here, we need to have the same ordinances. The cities have these in place, and we should be leading instead of following them.”

  Clemmons also cited the fact that small business owners who live in the county and have invested in the community can be hurt by the disadvantage of a more restrictive ordinance. During the discussion, officials noted that a business such as a pizza restaurant, with few employees and often operated by family members, can be hampered when required to hire only older employees who will insist on higher pay.

  Patrick McHugh, owner of 15th Street Pizza & Pub on Jodeco Road for more than a decade, spoke to the board about how the county ordinance impacted him when he moved from his old location on Hudson Bridge Road in the city limits of Stockbridge. Being initially unaware of the restrictions in unincorporated Henry County, he eventually was forced to let go some employees who had been working for him quite some time.

  With the restaurant industry having a very high turnover rate anyway, McHugh said he is affected even more by the fact that his employees can find work just a few miles away in McDonough or Stockbridge for more money.

  “If we could just level the playing field, it would be so much better for us,” he said.

  The passage of the ordinance came after Jaugstetter gave a presentation about the county’s alcohol ordinance in general, which he said needs to be studied by the board in the wake of overwhelming changes in the industry over the years.

  Henry County’s code dealing with alcoholic beverages was written in the 1980s when the population was much smaller and there were likely very few establishments affected by it at all compared to today.

  “The industry is changing rapidly,” said Jaugstetter. “There are things coming that we need to address in our ordinance.”

  He cited recent legislation known commonly as the “brunch bill” which was passed last year and allows communities to adjust by referendum the times alcohol can be sold every Sunday. Jaugstetter said there will likely be a discussion with the commissioners about that issue in the near future. He added that other items such as growler sales, farm wineries, distilleries, wholesalers, curbside alcohol delivery and brew pubs are legal in Georgia but not addressed at all in the county’s ordinance.

  The ordinance also does not require any training for servers or minimum level of insurance for establishments that could have legal issues from over-serving, Jaugstetter said.

  Future discussions about alcoholic beverage sales and possible changes to the ordinance should involve the county’s public safety leaders, he added.