One County, One ABC Board: A Smarter System for North Carolina

It is time for practical, accountable reform. The General Assembly should have a voice in the future of our state’s ABC system.

North Carolina’s Alcoholic Beverage Control system should serve customers, communities and taxpayers—not preserve an outdated maze of overlapping bureaucracies. With 171 local ABC boards operating across 100 counties, the state has too many governing bodies performing many of the same administrative functions.

Free Our Spirits NC believes it is time for practical, accountable reform.

The General Assembly should consolidate local ABC governance to one board per county—100 boards statewide—while maintaining the State ABC Commission in Raleigh.

Countywide boards could better coordinate purchasing, staffing, technology, distribution and customer service, while preserving local accountability. That structure would be easier for citizens to understand and for state leaders to oversee.

Reform should also give the people’s elected representatives a stronger voice on the State ABC Commission. The General Assembly should receive four appointments: two selected by the North Carolina House and two by the North Carolina Senate.

Legislative appointees would broaden oversight, encourage public debate and connect statewide policy more directly to the communities affected by it.

The case for efficiency is especially clear in counties such as Brunswick, where nine local ABC boards create layers of administration and duplicate services. Multiple boards can mean separate meetings, audits, contracts, policies and management structures. Consolidating those functions would reduce overhead, improve consistency and create opportunities to save millions of dollars statewide.

Those savings should not disappear into bureaucracy. They can be directed toward core public services and stronger local priorities. A countywide model would also make it easier to measure performance, set clear customer-service standards, modernize operations and hold decision-makers responsible for results.

One ABC board per county is a straightforward reform that respects local communities while eliminating needless duplication. It would streamline governance and show North Carolinians that the ABC system can adapt, spend wisely and better serve both its customers and taxpayers. The General Assembly should act now to build a simpler, more transparent and more efficient system.