While Just About Everybody Kicked Off The New Year With An Adult Beverage, There's Still Some Places In The Lone Star State That Are Clinging On To "Old Rules" Even In A "New Year".

Here in Tyler, its a known fact that you have to drive to the outskirts of town to acquire hard alcohol because we're a city still dominated by mostly "church" folks who apparently don't like the city making money off alcohol (yeah I said it).

Its also because Texas allows local jurisdictions to exercise a local option to decide whether it is "wet" or "dry," and does not limit how that decision shall be made. When it comes to "Counties", that's a different story.

Of Texas' 254 counties, 195 are partially dry, and 55 are entirely wet.

A bill passed in 2003 by the Texas Legislature allows for Justice of the Peace precincts to host alcohol option elections.

To date, this law has allowed many JP precincts, particularly in East Texas, to allow a vote that has resulted in many previously dry counties becoming "moist" and allowing sales of beer and wine, but not liquor.

But There's Still 4 Counties In Texas That Remain Completely "Dry".

There was a 5th county that was dry, Hemphill County in the Texas Panhadle, but in 2022, residents there voted to allow alcohol sales as a way to generate tax revenue.

As for the last 4 still clinging on, well time will tell if they will get with the times but also keep in mind that a lot of these counties have very small populations so maybe they don't need to be "wet" if nobody is around to buy drinks.

Here's the last 4 Texas Dry counties:

1. BORDEN COUNTY

Borden County is a rural county in West Texas and its county seat is Gail. As of the 2020 census, its population was 631, making it the fifth-least populous county in Texas so probably not a lot of drinking going on there.

2. KENT COUNTY

Kent County has a population of 753 according to the 2020 census, making it the sixth-least populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Jayton and once again, not a lot of drinkers there.

3, ROBERTS COUNTY

Another panhandle county, Roberts County, as of the 2020 census, holds a population of 827, making it the eighth-least populous county in Texas. Its county seat is ironically named after a city with LOTS of drinkers Miami yet they remain completely dry.

4. THROCKMORTON COUNTY

Finally the largest DRY county in Texas is Throckmorton County with a population of 1,440. Its county seat is Throckmorton and while they have enough folks there to probably get the ball rolling on alcohol sales, the county remains completely dry.