Distance Requirements Between Alcohol Businesses and Schools, Churches, and Hospitals
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Whether an alcohol location in Texas has to keep its distance from a school turns first on a question that has nothing to do with the school itself: did the city or county adopt a distance rule at all? The Code does not draw a 300-foot line around every school in the state. It hands cities and counties a tool they may use, and the distance rules apply only where the local government has actually enacted them. Until you know whether a local ordinance exists, you do not know whether any distance requirement applies to the address.
What the Code authorizes
Under Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 109.33, a commissioners court (for areas outside an incorporated city) or a city’s governing body may adopt an ordinance prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages by a business located within:
| Protected institution | Distance the local government may set |
|---|---|
| Church | 300 feet |
| Public or private school | 300 feet |
| Public hospital | 300 feet |
| Public school (on request from the school district's board of trustees under Education Code Section 38.007) | up to 1,000 feet |
| Private school (on request from the private school's governing body) | up to 1,000 feet |
A separate provision, Section 109.331, lets cities and counties adopt a 300-foot rule between certain permits and day-care centers or child-care facilities, generally aimed at on-premise retailers that do not hold a food and beverage certificate.
The word that changes everything: permissive
TABC is explicit on this point. Local governments are not required to adopt these ordinances; the statute is merely permissive, and they are free to grant variances as they see fit. If the city or county where a location sits has not adopted a distance ordinance, then there is no requirement that an alcohol business be any particular distance from a church, school, public hospital, day-care center, or child-care facility. The 300-foot figure is a ceiling the local government may use, not a line drawn automatically around every school in the state.
That is why two locations the same distance from a school can be treated completely differently depending on which side of a city or county line they fall on. The institution is not what triggers the rule; the local ordinance is.
Built-in exceptions
Even where an ordinance exists, the Code carves out exceptions. The expanded school distances (the 1,000-foot rules) generally do not apply to certain retailers whose alcohol sales are a minority of gross receipts, and a holder of a food and beverage certificate is treated differently for the private-school distance. There is also a notice wrinkle worth knowing: an applicant for a new permit at a location within 1,000 feet of a public or private school must give written notice of the application to the school before filing, regardless of whether a distance prohibition applies.
These exceptions are specific and fact-dependent, so confirm how they apply to a particular permit and location rather than assuming the headline distance is the whole rule.
What to do
Before assuming a location is fine or is disqualified, confirm two things with the specific city and county: whether a distance ordinance has been adopted at all, and if so, at what distance and from which institutions. The distances above are what the law permits; only the local government’s choice tells you what actually applies at a given address. How the distance is measured is its own question, covered separately, because the measurement method differs by institution.
Disclaimer: This page is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Texas alcoholic beverage law changes, and distance rules are adopted locally and vary by city and county. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. For guidance on a specific location, consult a licensed Texas attorney, and confirm the current statute and the specific local ordinance against their primary sources before relying on them.