It is now legal to leave restaurants and bars with a mixed drink and consume it while within the city limits of Jackson.

The temporary citywide Leisure and Recreation District status was approved by Jackson City Council and goes into effect immediately.

Patrons will be able to purchase mixed drink liquor, beer, wines, and alcohol curbside or drive-thru at restaurants with a minimum $10 food purchase (per container of alcohol). That container, labeled with the insignia from where it came, will be served covered with no straw.

Alternately, a walk-up customer can purchase a cocktail at a restaurant and leave there, sipping their beverage on a walk home. Language in the ordinance makes clear that possessing and drinking from an open container while operating a motor vehicle is still against the law.

The objective of the ordinance, the City Council notes, is primarily to allow pedestrians to carry uncovered containers of alcoholic beverages.

Approved hours are Monday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. until 9:59 p.m.

The ordinance specifies that it is only a temporary change, “to remain in place until such time as the State of Mississippi and the City of Jackson remove the COVID-19 related in-house dining restrictions and seating capacity limitations on restaurants and bars, at which time this Ordinance stands repealed.”

The state’s Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) relaxed regulations earlier this year in response to COVID-19 to allow both package retailer permittees (liquor stores) and on-premise retail alcoholic beverage permittees (such as restaurants) to sell alcohol.

The City Council noted in bringing the ordinance to vote that restaurants and bars in the city are “vital contributors to the city’s economic and financial success, generating sales and tourism taxes.”

See the full documentation on the ordinance at jacksonms.gov/tempgocup.