How does a business confirm a specific address is wet for its intended permit type before signing a lease?

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Ask the local clerks, in writing, before signing. TABC states that only the city or county clerk’s office can officially declare a location wet or dry. For each permit, the county clerk and, inside city limits, the city secretary or clerk certify whether the address is in a wet area and whether the specific sales sought are prohibited by a commissioners court order or by the city charter or an ordinance. TABC’s map and spreadsheet help narrow a search; the clerks’ certifications answer the question for the address.

Use TABC’s tools to screen, not to decide

TABC publishes a downloadable wet/dry spreadsheet on its local option elections page and announced an interactive wet/dry map on March 28, 2025. Both are good for ruling out a town or a county early. Neither is the determination for a particular address, and the same TABC page says so: the city or county clerk’s office is the one that can officially declare a location wet or dry.

Three situations make an address easy to misread from a statewide tool:

  • Overlapping elections. A city, a justice precinct, and a county can each have voted, and Section 251.73 decides which result controls, so the county’s status is not necessarily the address’s status.
  • Redrawn precincts. When justice precinct lines change, an earlier precinct vote stays attached to the territory it covered, and a later election changes status only in the territory inside the precinct on election day (Section 251.80). A current precinct map can point to the wrong status.
  • Recent or pending elections. A status lasts until a later local option election changes it, and TABC’s page lists local governments that have reported an issued local option petition.

What to ask, and whom

Under Section 11.37 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code, and Section 61.37 for licenses, the county clerk and, for an address inside a city, the city secretary or clerk are the offices that certify whether the address is wet for the sale sought.

The request should name the exact address and the exact permit or license, with the beverage types and whether they will be consumed on or off the premises. “Is this address wet?” invites an answer that fits a beer store and not a cocktail bar. The question that matches the lease is whether the address is wet for the sales that permit authorizes.

What an issued permit locks in

Section 11.37(c) protects the business once a permit is issued: the certification that the address is in a wet area may not be changed until after a later local option election to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages. Before issuance, nothing is locked. A petition circulating in the precinct or city while the lease is being negotiated is a live risk, which is why the pending-petition list on TABC’s page and a direct question to the clerk belong in the same check.

If the answer is no

A clerk may certify that the address is not in a wet area, or refuse to certify. Section 11.37(d) lets the prospective applicant contest either result before the county judge, but a contested certification adds time before any permit can issue, which matters to a lease that has not been signed yet.

Fitting the check into the lease

The certifications, or at least the clerks’ answers for the exact permit type, should be in hand before the lease is signed. Where signing cannot wait, a contingency tied to the certification is a lease term the business can raise with the landlord and its own lawyer. Wet status is also only one of the location tests: local distance rules and zoning apply to the same address and are confirmed separately.

This article is general information about Texas alcoholic beverage law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes and TABC rules change; confirm current requirements with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the relevant city or county, or a licensed Texas attorney before acting.

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