No taverns in unincorporated parts of Sangamon County would be able to stay open and serve alcohol until 3 a.m. under a proposal scheduled for a Sangamon County Board vote on April 8.
A proposed resolution to eliminate 3 a.m. liquor licenses from the Sangamon County code's alcoholic beverages section was approved March 20 by the County Board's Liquor Committee.
If approved by the 29-member, Republican-controlled County Board, the latest that bars under county government's jurisdiction could remain open would be 1 a.m. under renewed licenses set to take effect July 1.
County Board member Sam Cahnman, a Springfield Democrat representing District 18, said he opposes the plan for now but is willing to hear arguments presented by the plan's proponents.
Cahnman said he would like to see a vote postponed to give the 3 a.m. bar license holders and the public more time to air opinions.
Liquor Committee Chairperson Cathy Scaife, a Republican from rural Springfield near New Berlin and representing District 29, said the liquor committee had been discussing the possibility of restricting closing hours for bars to 1 a.m. for six to eight months.
The committee is concerned about violent incidents at or near the four 3 a.m. bars in the board's jurisdiction, she said.
"Over the years, the seriousness of the incidents has increased," Scaife told Illinois Times.
The 3 a.m. closing time has been associated with risks to public safety, she said. It is time-consuming and potentially risky for county deputies who are called to the scene of fights and other incidents in and near the bars, Scaife said.
She pointed to a Feb. 4 shooting at about 2 a.m. outside Third Base Sports Bar – also known as Amber's Place, at 410 W. Maple Ave. and next to Jerome and Springfield – in which Devonte Childs, 31, was injured and hospitalized with what police described as life-threatening injuries. Childs survived.
The alleged shooter, Phillip M. Smith, 26, of Springfield, was arrested Feb. 13 and charged with aggravated battery, aggravated discharge of a firearm and mob action. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held at Sangamon County Jail while his case proceeds in court.
The County Board hasn't issued any new 3 a.m. liquor licenses for 20 years or more, Scaife said. Bars with the late-night licenses lose the right to stay open until 3 a.m. if they change ownership.
Of the 22 bars in the county's unincorporated areas – meaning they are not in Springfield or other municipalities – 18 have licenses that allow them to be open until 1 a.m., and only four can stay open until 3 a.m.
Scaife said she expects the resolution to pass if it is called for a vote when the County Board convenes its meeting at 6 p.m. April 8 in Room B11 of the BOS Center.
The board generally goes along with recommendations from its committees, she said.
"We are very pro-business, but we have to be cautious," Scaife said.
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell, a Republican, said he is happy that the County Board may eliminate 3 a.m. licenses.
The later that bars are open, the more alcohol is consumed by patrons, increasing the potential for altercations and illegal activities, he said.
Not all patrons abuse the option to drink until 3 a.m., but those who do are the ones who cause public-safety issues, he said. Every hour that bars are not open "would make life safer for the public and our deputies," Campbell said.
Campbell noted that Brian McMillen, the Illinois state trooper who was killed in a three-car crash at 2:50 a.m. Oct. 28, 2007, was responding to a call for backup to quell a disturbance at the now-closed JD's Lounge in an unincorporated area near Illiopolis.
The two cars that struck McMillen's squad car were driven by people who had been at JD's.
However, Cahnman, a member of the Liquor Committee who abstained from the March 20 vote, said he isn't convinced that closing bars at 1 a.m. instead of 3 a.m. would decrease violence. In addition, he said those who are drinking might go to "pop-up parties" that can be even harder for police to monitor.
Owners of the bars weren't notified that the committee was considering eliminating 3 a.m. licenses, he said.
Illinois Times was unable to reach owners or managers of the current 3 a.m. bars. In addition to Third Base, they are: The Cove, 1616 N. Dirksen Parkway; Mama Lee's Sandbar, 6111 Mechanicsburg Road; and Parkway Pub, 309 N. Dirksen Parkway.
The city of Springfield has 10 or more 3 a.m. bars, and city officials have talked with Sangamon County officials about the county's potential elimination of 3 a.m. liquor licenses, according to Springfield Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan.
He said he would be "receptive" to discussing the elimination of 3 a.m. bar licenses in Springfield to reduce burdens on Springfield police and protect public safety. But he said there's no imminent proposal to make such a change.
Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer at Illinois Times. He can be reached at 217-679-7810, [email protected] or twitter.com/DeanOlsenIT.
