The weird Georgia law that makes eating fried chicken with a fork illegal

Georgia Magazine notes that since 1961, law enforcement officials have visited many guests for violating the city’s anti-utlery law, including government officials and one particularly well-known face. In 1977, the one and only Colonel Sanders was “arrested” for violating his “finger licking” motto. He was also “condemned” to finish his meal without forks and had to return to Gainesville for more fried chicken ventures.

Years later, in 2009, Ginny Dietrick reunited with friends and family at a local diner to celebrate her 91st birthday. The Gainesville Times reports that she was eating her plate of crispy fried chicken, fork in hand, when the city’s police chief approached her and announced that she was under arrest for violating sacred Georgia law. Little did Dietrick know that she was being pranked by a friend, which coincidentally ended up with Dietrick’s comical crime being “dismissed” almost immediately by the town’s mayor. Dietrick was soon named Georgia’s honorary poultry princess for the year and, like Colonel Sanders, encouraged to return to town to eat more fried chicken.

Fortunately, this law has no serious repercussions. Gainesville is commonly referred to as the “Poultry Capital of the World” because of its large number of poultry farms. For this reason, community members via 10News drafted the 1961 Act to popularize the city’s nickname. The city is currently represented by its towering chicken monument and hosts annual poultry festivals.