STATEWIDE — An Orange County judge issued a ruling Wednesday night, saying the state’s order to ban on-site alcohol consumption at bars and nightclubs could stand, meaning the ban on selling alcohol on site continues.

A group of Orlando bars and nightclubs owners hoped to fight Florida’s ban by seeking an injunction against the state that would allow their businesses to reopen again. However, the ruling was in the state’s favor.

Circuit Court Judge Kevin Weiss also ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis properly utilized his executive emergency powers to mitigate the effect of the virus on the State. So the bars owners’ injunction to be able to re-opened was denied.

The ruling says, “The global pandemic has placed us in unchartered territory. It is not this Court’s role to second guess or otherwise micromanage the current policy.” 

Since the ban on alcohol sales at bars all over the state, there has been a lot of backlash from those business owners as some of them filed an injunction against the state.

The initial state ban prohibited alcohol sales at businesses that make at least 50 percent of their revenue from alcohol sales.

Then the amended version states that any place that sells food can operate regardless of the percentage of alcohol sales, however, businesses that only sell alcohol must shut down and that means bars and clubs had to close their doors.

In July, locals bars in downtown Orlando such as Irish Shannon’s Pub, Latitudes, Ember and Hanson’s Shoe Repair, joined forces and said enough is enough and filed an injunction against the state. 

According to that injunction, bar and club owners were told that the ban was "the fact that COVID-l9 had increased significantly in the state, 'especially among younger individuals, some of these cases involving younger individuals are suspected to have originated from visits to bars, pubs, or nightclubs who have disregarded' the restrictions set forth in prior orders."'

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer says he has been talking with these shutdown businesses.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations with bar owners about having some type of protocol in place if the governor allows it to reopen anytime soon I think everyone is going to continue following safety protocols,” he says. 

Earlier this month, leaders with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation met with local bar and brewery owners to discuss reopening safely.