ANDERSON — Local businesses are securing liquor licenses before a new quota system goes into effect.

On Oct. 6, the Alcoholic Beverage Board of Madison County will hold a public hearing to consider requests for 12 new licenses, including 11 by Ricker Oil Co., the local petroleum supplier and convenience store chain.

The surge in requests is related to legislation passed during the most recent session of the Indiana General Assembly.

A new quota system, passed under House Bills 1118 and 107, makes more liquor licenses available in some Indiana counties and takes them away in others.

“The quota has changed, it went from one for every 1,500 population to a really weird calculation in the last Legislature,” said Shirley Kirby, office manager for the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.

“Ricker’s and Thornton’s are among those who applied for the licenses prior to the July 1 quota change.”

On the local board agenda are eight applications for beer and wine licenses for Ricker’s locations in Anderson, one each for locations in Chesterfield, Elwood and Pendleton, and one for McClure’s in Anderson. Kirby said the 12 licenses in question were filed before July 1 and are considered pending.

Meanwhile, two new licenses are being made available.

Ricker Oil operates 29 convenience stores in Madison, Allen, Delaware and Henry counties. This month, Jay Ricker said he hoped to begin selling cold beer at his convenience stores, and also sell it on Sunday. He says current laws favor liquor stores and limit customers’ choice.

“What I think is the most unfair is that anybody who has a grocery, convenience or drugstore cannot sell cold beer,” Ricker told The Herald Bulletin. “The liquor stores have always had a very strong voice in shaping those rules, and they’ve made it so that they’re the only ones who can sell carryout that’s cold.”

Ricker declined to comment for this story. But owners of strictly regulated liquor stores support the status quo.

“If Jay Ricker thinks he’s serving the public by adding cold beer and alcohol to his convenience stores’ offerings, then he doesn’t know the public he serves,” said James Hackleman of Keg & Bottle in Anderson. “Gas stations’ convenience stores do not have the same strict regulations, furthermore, monitoring these added outlets would cost the taxpayers millions.”

Hackleman believes Sunday sales would diminish Indiana’s status as a state with one of the lowest alcohol-related fatality rates in the nation. He pointed to New Mexico where the permitting of Sunday sales drove up alcohol-related crashes by 29 percent and alcohol-related fatalities by 42 percent.

“Not only is Ricker’s seeking to sell cold, ready-to-consumer beer in roadside locations popular with teenagers, but they also want to sell it on most important intersections in the town,” said Linda Jackson, account director for the Borshoff public relations firm, which represents clients opposed to the change in current laws.

She said Anderson will have only two liquor licenses to devote to economic development projects. But the Ricker Oil’s influence may be expanding with its business.