Gaylon Reagor v. Dyer County and Dyer

DROWOTA, J. The Plaintiff, Gaylon Reagor, d/b/a Hilltop Stop-N-Shop, petitioned the circuit court of Dyer County for a writ of certiorari to compel the Dyer County Beer Board to issue a beer permit for his establishment. The petition alleged the board denied the Plaintiff's application for a permit on the ground that his place of business was within two thousand feet of a church. The petition further alleged that at least three other businesses in the county were within two thousand feet of a church and that those businesses hold and operate under beer permits issued by the Defendants in this cause. The petition concluded the board applied the 2,000 feet rule in an unlawfully discriminatory manner and, therefore, the rule was invalid. The court issued the writ, and the Defendants answered, denying the rule was applied discriminatorily.