How many dry counties are there in Texas?

Three: Borden, Kent, Roberts. These are the only Texas counties where no alcohol may be sold anywhere. A further 171 counties are partially wet, meaning some categories or some areas allow sales and others do not.

What does partially wet mean in Texas?

That the county has not voted a single status for the whole county. Different cities and justice-of-the-peace precincts within it may allow different categories — beer to take home but no bar service, for instance. It is the most common status in Texas.

Can you drink alcohol in a dry county in Texas?

Yes. Dry status prohibits sales, not possession or consumption. You may bring alcohol into a dry county and drink it on private property. Some venues in dry areas operate as private clubs, where members effectively drink from their own stock.

Can I buy beer in a dry county in Texas?

No. In an entirely dry county there are no retail alcohol sales of any kind. You would need to cross into a neighbouring wet or partially wet area.

Why do the rules change between two sides of the same city?

Because local option elections are held at county, justice precinct, and city level, and each vote covers only that area and only the categories on the ballot. A city can straddle a precinct line and carry two different statuses.

How do dry counties become wet?

Through a local option election under Chapter 251. Voters petition to put specific categories on the ballot, and each category passes or fails on its own. That is why a precinct can end up allowing packaged beer but not bar service.

Texas

Dry counties in Texas

The famous dry county is nearly extinct in Texas. The complicated one — the partially wet county — is now the norm.

3 of Texas’s 254 counties are entirely dry: Borden, Kent, Roberts. Another 171 are partially wet, where what you can buy changes from one precinct to the next. Only 80 are wet across the whole county.

Texas counties by wet/dry status
Status	Counties	What it means
Wet	80	All alcohol categories approved for sale county-wide, subject to state hours.
Partially wet	171	Some categories or some areas are approved and others are not. Status can change between cities and justice-of-the-peace precincts inside the same county.
Dry	3	No alcohol sales anywhere in the county.

The three dry counties

All three are rural and thinly populated, in the Panhandle and West Texas.

Borden County — county seat Gail
Kent County — county seat Jayton
Roberts County — county seat Miami

Dry status prohibits sales. It does not prohibit possessing or drinking alcohol you brought with you, and it does not stop private clubs operating.

Why “partially wet” is the number that matters

Texas holds local option elections under § 251.72 on individual categories, not on alcohol as a single question. Each category passes or fails separately, in each county, justice precinct, and incorporated city. After ninety years of these elections, most counties are a patchwork.

Dallas County — Justice of the Peace Precinct 4

PW: B-Off, W-Off, DS-Off, MB, RM

You can buy beer, wine, and liquor to take home, and order a cocktail — but no bar can pour you a beer or a glass of wine on the premises. The neighbouring precincts have full status.

Randall County — Justice of the Peace Precinct 1

W: B-Off, W-Off; PW: RM

Beer and wine to go are fine. A drink with dinner is only possible at a restaurant with a food-required permit, and there are no bars.

Reading a TABC designation

The commission publishes each jurisdiction’s status as a short code string. Once you can read it, the local rules stop being mysterious.

TABC designation codes explained
Code	Formal meaning	In practice
B-On	Malt beverages, on-premise	Beer you drink at the bar or restaurant
B-Off	Malt beverages, off-premise	Beer you buy sealed and take home
W-On	Wine, on-premise	Wine by the glass where you're sitting
W-Off	Wine, off-premise	Wine you buy sealed and take home
DS-Off	Distilled spirits, off-premise	Liquor from a package store
MB	Mixed beverages	Cocktails and spirits at a bar, no food required
RM	Restaurant mixed beverage	Cocktails only at restaurants that serve food

A prefix of W means wet for the codes that follow, PW partially wet, and a single entry can carry both — the Randall County example above is wet for take-home beer and wine, and only partially wet for restaurant service.

Common questions

How many dry counties are there in Texas?: Three: Borden, Kent, Roberts. These are the only Texas counties where no alcohol may be sold anywhere. A further 171 counties are partially wet, meaning some categories or some areas allow sales and others do not.
What does partially wet mean in Texas?: That the county has not voted a single status for the whole county. Different cities and justice-of-the-peace precincts within it may allow different categories — beer to take home but no bar service, for instance. It is the most common status in Texas.
Can you drink alcohol in a dry county in Texas?: Yes. Dry status prohibits sales, not possession or consumption. You may bring alcohol into a dry county and drink it on private property. Some venues in dry areas operate as private clubs, where members effectively drink from their own stock.
Can I buy beer in a dry county in Texas?: No. In an entirely dry county there are no retail alcohol sales of any kind. You would need to cross into a neighbouring wet or partially wet area.
Why do the rules change between two sides of the same city?: Because local option elections are held at county, justice precinct, and city level, and each vote covers only that area and only the categories on the ballot. A city can straddle a precinct line and carry two different statuses.
How do dry counties become wet?: Through a local option election under Chapter 251. Voters petition to put specific categories on the ballot, and each category passes or fails on its own. That is why a precinct can end up allowing packaged beer but not bar service.

Sources

Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 251.71 — Local option elections: status of areas
Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 251.72 — Local option elections: issues to be voted on
Tex. Alco. Bev. Code § 105.01 — Hours of sale: liquor

Last verified August 8, 2026. Statutory text current as of January 1, 2026. How we check this.