It took two votes Thursday for the Mississippi Senate to pass a liquor-law exemption for a downtown Jackson entertainment district.

A bill failed by one vote the first time it was brought up, but got exactly the number it needed to pass a short time later.

There was no debate before the second vote, so there was no explanation about why the vote total changed.

The bill is designed to speed up development in the Farish Street district by creating an exemption so some restaurants there could be licensed to sell liquor.

State law says a restaurant selling liquor must be at least 100 feet from a school, church or funeral home. Some buildings on Farish Street are too close to the Mississippi College School of Law.

Developers said the distance was not a problem until the private Baptist college did some campus renovations.

The House passed the bill Wednesday shortly after Gov. Haley Barbour added it to a special session agenda.

The bill eventually will go to Barbour, but a senator objected Thursday to letting it move immediately to the governor’s desk. Some conservative lawmakers said they object to allowing liquor sales close to a Christian school’s campus.

The bill is House Bill 21.