JACKSON — A Vicksburg restaurant owner will have to wait longer for his day in Hinds County Chancery court to challenge a Mississippi Department of Revenue decision forcing him and three other city businesses to cut off alcohol sales at 2 a.m.

And Mayor George Flaggs said police officers have been told to enforce the 2 a.m. ban, which went into effect Monday. He said it was not enforced Monday because it was a holiday.

Hinds County Chancellor Patricia Wise Tuesday ordered David Belden’s lawsuit against the city and the Revenue Department rescheduled after about a 10-minute meeting with attorneys for all sides in her chambers. Belden, who owns KJ’s River Town Grille, filed the suit Jan. 8.

The parties were in court for a hearing on a motion by Belden’s attorney, Jamie D. Travis, for a temporary restraining order preventing the city from enforcing the 2 a.m. last call until a hearing on the KJ’s suit can be held. The judge did not grant the restraining order.

“I’ve ordered Chief (Walter) Armstrong to enforce last call, “ Flaggs said. “No one has told us we can’t enforce it. It will take a judge in a court of law to tell me we can’t.”

City Attorney Nancy Thomas said time limits forced the decision to reschedule.

“The judge said she had set aside one hour for the hearing and had just learned we were going to present four witnesses,” she said after the meeting. “She did not believe there would be enough time in that one-hour time period.” No date was set for the hearing, although Thomas hoped it could be reset by the end of the month.

Travis said he was unaware the city and state were going to call witnesses until Tuesday.

“The only thing in the file was my complaint and the motion for the temporary restraining order,” he said. “The state and the city had not filed a response to my complaint.”

He said the state’s order singled out his clients and the other three businesses, which are not a party to the suit, and lets the city’s four casinos continue to sell 24 hours.

“They offer the same services as my client,” he said after the hearing. “The only thing they offer that we don’t is hotel rooms. The casinos serve food and they serve alcohol; they give it (alcohol) away.”

He also questioned the city’s concern for public safety, which was the primary reason the Board of Mayor and Aldermen sought the change in the resort status.

“Are they using all the complaint calls that were logged, or are they using it as a sword and a shield?” he asked.

The suit comes about four weeks after the Department of Revenue on Dec. 19 restricted alcohol sales at four businesses in the city — KJ’s, Monsour’s at the Biscuit Company, LD’s Restaurant and the Beechwood Restaurant — cutting off alcohol sales at 2 a.m. at the city’s request. All four have resort status.

The city’s resolution requesting the change in hours sought to restrict alcohol sales “for all resort areas and permittees and clubs within the City of Vicksburg with the exception of those casinos and hotels which are under the jurisdiction of of the Mississippi Gaming Commission.”

Resort status is granted by the Mississippi Department of Revenue and allows a business to sell alcohol 24 hours a day.

The Department of Revenue can, however, at the request of a municipality, restrict the hours businesses with resort status can sell alcohol. The move does not revoke the resort status, which is attached to the property the business occupies, not the business.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen passed a resolution on Dec. 10 asking the state to restrict the hours of the four restaurants in the city to prohibit selling alcohol after 2 a.m. At the time of the resolution, the board said the move was done to improve safety in the downtown area.

After the hours of alcohol sale were restricted, the business owners said they were never told about the plan. Flaggs and North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield Monday disputed the owners’ claims, saying they told them in advance what they were going to do.