After a failed alcohol compliance check: the first 30 days

What a compliance check is

A compliance check is a test purchase. A person under 21 tries to buy alcohol while officers from the state alcohol agency or the local police supervise. States call it a compliance check, a minor decoy operation or a sting.

An investigative aide aged 18 to 20 attempts to purchase liquor or tobacco using their real ID. These aides are accompanied by LCB officers.

In Washington, California and Texas the decoy is not using a fake ID. California's decoys are under 20, carry their own ID or none and answer truthfully if asked their age. In a 2016 news release, TABC said the minor in a Texas sting must use their valid ID and may not lie about their age.

In California, once the sale is made, the officer in charge tries to have the decoy identify the seller face to face. The check tests whether staff ask for an ID and read the date of birth correctly, while how to spot a fake ID covers the other half of the job.

Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board: Retail enforcementCalifornia ABC: Minor Decoy ProgramTABC: Results of back-to-school undercover operations (2016)TABC: Back-to-school undercover operations (2022)

What follows

In all three states, two cases can follow on separate tracks. The business faces an administrative case against its license, and the employee who made the sale can face a case of their own. In California and Texas that can be a criminal case brought by local prosecutors, while Washington's board can impose a civil penalty on the employee instead of a criminal citation.

In Washington the license case starts with a written notice that names the violation and the recommended penalty and sets a deadline to respond. TABC sends its notice by email, and in California ABC files an accusation that the licensee can contest at a hearing. Penalties climb with repeat violations in all three states. Washington counts them within two years and California within 36 months.

Washington's board and California's ABC can accept a payment in place of a short suspension, and in Texas the commission decides whether that option is offered for a sale to a minor. Washington's and California's penalty rules also weigh the circumstances: prior violations count against the business, while documented training and written policies can count for it.

WAC 314-29-005WAC 314-29-010WAC 314-29-015WAC 314-29-020Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board: Violations and due processRCW 66.44.270California ABC: Disciplinary guidelinesCalifornia ABC: Frequently asked questions on the disciplinary processTABC: ViolationsTexas Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.13Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 11.64

How it works in Washington, California and Texas

Washington

A Liquor and Cannabis Board officer mails or delivers an administrative violation notice. The licensee has 20 days from receipt to accept the recommended penalty, ask in writing for a settlement conference or ask for a hearing. If nobody responds within 20 days, the recommended suspension goes into effect.

The employee's case is separate. Washington law makes selling alcohol to a person under 21 a gross misdemeanor, and the board can impose a civil penalty of up to $200 for a first violation instead of a criminal citation. A server who holds a mandatory alcohol server training permit can also face a 5-day permit suspension or a $200 monetary option for a first violation.

Mitigating circumstances that may result in fewer days of suspension and/or a lower monetary option may include demonstrated business policies and/or practices that reduce the risk of future violations.

The rule's examples are a signed acknowledgment of the business's alcohol policy on file for each employee and an employee training plan that includes annual training on liquor laws.

California

The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control files an accusation against the license. The licensee is entitled to a public hearing before an administrative law judge and may be represented by a lawyer at its own expense. The seller can also be arrested and charged, in a case brought by local prosecutors.

For a retail licensee, a payment in place of a suspension of 15 days or less is called an offer in compromise. ABC can accept it when it finds the substitution would not harm public welfare and morals, and it equals half of the estimated gross alcohol sales for the suspension period. ABC's guidelines list documented training of the licensee and employees, and positive action by the licensee to correct a problem, among the mitigating factors.

Texas

TABC emails an administrative notice to the primary user on the business's account in AIMS, its online licensing system. The email states how many days the business has to act. If TABC offers a settlement, the business can accept it in AIMS and pay any civil penalty, or reject it and ask for a hearing before a judge from the State Office of Administrative Hearings. If nothing is done by the deadline, the case is set for a hearing.

The employee who sold can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which TABC lists as punishable by a fine of up to $4,000, up to a year in jail or both. TABC also puts a business with a public safety violation on a priority list for additional inspections over the next six months.

Two sections of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code deal with the employer's side. Section 106.14 says an employee's actions are not attributable to the employer if the employer requires its employees to attend a commission-approved seller training program, the employee actually attended one and the employer did not directly or indirectly encourage the violation. Section 106.13 lets the commission relax the suspension and cancellation rules if, at a hearing, the licensee shows to the commission's satisfaction that the violation could not reasonably have been prevented with reasonable care or that an employee acted without the licensee's knowledge.

Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board: Violations and due processWAC 314-29-010RCW 66.44.270WAC 314-17-105WAC 314-29-015California ABC: Frequently asked questions on the disciplinary processCalifornia ABC: Disciplinary guidelinesCalifornia ABC: Minor Decoy ProgramTABC: ViolationsTABC: Underage drinkingTexas Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.13Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.14

The first 30 days, step by step

The notice sets the real deadlines, so the order below bends around it. These are the steps owners commonly take in the first month.

1. 1

   Read the notice the day it arrives

   Note the violation it names, the date and time of the sale, the proposed penalty and the deadline to respond. Put the deadline in the calendar of whoever handles the license, because in Washington, for example, a missed deadline means the recommended suspension takes effect.

2. 2

   Gather the records of that shift

   Pull the schedule, who was on the door and the register, the time of the sale and the receipt, plus any scan or refusal records and the training records of everyone on shift. Security video is worth saving early, before the system records over it.

3. 3

   Hear the employee's account

   A talk with the employee the same day, written down while it is fresh, can cover whether they asked for ID, what they saw and how busy the shift was. The employee may have a citation of their own, which runs separately from the license case.

4. 4

   Retrain the whole team

   Retraining only the person who sold leaves the next shift where it was. Record the date, who attended and what it covered. California's guidelines list documented training and positive action to correct a problem among mitigating factors, and Washington's rule names an employee training plan.

5. 5

   Review the door or register routine

   Look at when staff ask for ID, how they read the date of birth and what they do when a customer has none. A written routine that every employee signs, like the bar door policy template, turns the fix into something the next hire reads on day one.

6. 6

   Decide how to answer

   With the records in hand, the choice is between accepting or settling and contesting the case at a hearing. In Washington the licensee can ask for a settlement conference, and TABC may offer a settlement before any hearing. At a California hearing the licensee may be represented by a lawyer at its own expense.

7. 7

   Mark the end of the look-back window

   Note the date the violation leaves the repeat-violation window. In Texas, a business with a public safety violation also gets additional inspections over the next six months.

WAC 314-29-010WAC 314-29-015California ABC: Disciplinary guidelinesCalifornia ABC: Frequently asked questions on the disciplinary processTABC: Violations

What to keep on file afterwards

Keep one folder for the case: the notice, the response, any settlement or decision, proof of payment and the dates of any suspension. Add the retraining records, the signed policy and the employee's written account.

If the door scans IDs, the scan records for the shift belong there too. Every AgeShield scan creates a visit record of who scanned, when, the document type, the result and what staff decided. Visits show up in Scan Activity and the audit log in the hub, and owners and managers can export the audit log. How a scan works lists what each record holds.