LEAWOOD ? The prospect of Sunday liquor sales continues to advance through the Kansas suburbs of Kansas City.

The Leawood City Council voted 6-1 Monday night to begin work on allowing liquor stores to sell alcohol and to allow grocery stores to sell 3.2 percent beer on Sundays.

“I think the laws in Kansas need to catch up with the times,” Councilman Shelby Story said, “and I think that in our metropolitan area, it doesn’t make much sense for the communities in Kansas to lose the tax revenues that are associated with Sunday liquor sales.”

Mayor Peggy Dunn said she would prefer the council to wait to approve any ordinance until after the courts have ruled.

Atty. Gen. Phill Kline has said he would appeal a ruling by a Wyandotte County judge that found liquor stores there could open on Sundays. Voters in Wyandotte County and Edwardsville last year approved Sunday sales of package liquors.

In the Kansas Legislature, House and Senate negotiators are considering a proposal to allow communities to approve the Sunday sales of package liquor.

Also in suburban Kansas City, the Lenexa City Council was to vote Tuesday night on allowing Sunday liquor sales. The proposed ordinance would allow liquor stores to sell alcohol between noon and 7 p.m. on Sundays. It doesn’t apply to sales of beer at grocery stores.

If approved, the ordinance could become effective as soon as June 22.