Selling alcohol to a minor in Texas: what the license holder faces

Two cases from one sale

One sale can produce two cases: TABC's administrative action against the license or permit and criminal charges against the seller, often prosecuted by a county attorney, according to TABC.

TABC sting procedures are covered in TABC stings: how they work, and the notice and the first month in after a failed alcohol compliance check. A sale to a minor is also a public safety violation, which puts the business on TABC's priority list for additional inspections over the next six months.

TABC: ViolationsTABC Administrative Rules, 16 TAC 34.1, 34.2, 34.4, 34.20, 35.3 and 50.31 (TABC, PDF)

What the license or permit can lose

Section 106.13 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code sets the limits on sanctions when TABC finds, after notice and a hearing, that a retail license or permit holder sold alcohol to a minor with criminal negligence. TABC's penalty chart in 16 TAC 34.2 sets the standard sanction it works from.

TABC's rule applies the higher row to a repeat within 36 months of an earlier violation for which the business received written notice, and to a repeat involving covert investigative activities. A settlement off the chart, for aggravating or mitigating circumstances, needs the approval of TABC's executive director or a designee before it is offered.

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.13TABC Administrative Rules, 16 TAC 34.1, 34.2, 34.4, 34.20, 35.3 and 50.31 (TABC, PDF)

Paying a civil penalty instead of a suspension

Section 11.64 generally has TABC offer a civil penalty in place of a suspension, but a sale to a minor is a listed exception: TABC decides whether the business gets that option at all.

When the option is offered, TABC's chart attaches $300 to each day of suspension. The statute allows anywhere from $150 to $25,000 for each day the suspension would have run, and if the business does not pay before the sixth day after TABC tells it the amount, the suspension is imposed. TABC can also split a sanction between a civil penalty and days of suspension.

In deciding whether to offer it, TABC's rule has it consider:

• The type of license or permit
• The violation charged
• The business's record of past violations, including their number, type and frequency
• The date the license or permit was issued

It may also weigh other circumstances, among them whether the violation was intentional or reckless and what the business has done to fix the problem and prevent another.

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 11.64TABC Administrative Rules, 16 TAC 34.1, 34.2, 34.4, 34.20, 35.3 and 50.31 (TABC, PDF)TABC Public Safety Penalty Chart, 16 TAC 34.2 (PDF)

When TABC can lighten the sanction

Section 106.13 lets TABC relax its suspension and cancellation rules and impose the sanction it finds just if, at a hearing, the business establishes one of three things:

• The violation could not reasonably have been prevented by the exercise of due diligence
• The business was entrapped
• An agent, servant or employee broke the law without the business's knowledge

Section 11.64 repeats those grounds and adds three: the business did not knowingly violate the code, it has shown good faith, including action to put the violation right and deter others, or the violation was technical. On any of the six, TABC can also reinstate a suspended license or permit early for a fee of $75 to $500.

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.13Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 11.64

When an employee's sale does not count against the business

Section 106.14 says an employee's actions are not attributable to the employer when the employer requires its employees to attend a TABC-approved seller training program, the employee has actually attended one and the employer has not directly or indirectly encouraged the violation. How TABC's rule applies those conditions, from a current certificate to written policies, staff records and repeat sales, is set out in the TABC stings guide.

A business claims the protection through an affidavit to TABC within 10 days of receiving the administrative notice, stating that the conditions were met at the time of the sale. TABC's certification FAQ adds that the owner or manager supplies every employee's name, Social Security number and date of birth so TABC can check certification, and that the relief does not cover a sale by the owner or an officer of the company.

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.14TABC Administrative Rules, 16 TAC 34.1, 34.2, 34.4, 34.20, 35.3 and 50.31 (TABC, PDF)TABC: Certification FAQsTABC: Code and rulesTABC, proposed amendments to 16 TAC 34.1 to 34.20, September 2026 (PDF)

The seller's own case

Section 106.03 makes selling alcohol to a minor with criminal negligence a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $4,000, up to a year in jail or both. The charge belongs to the seller: TABC's certification FAQ notes that even where the business's permit is protected, the seller will probably be arrested.

Section 106.03(b) gives the seller a defense:

A person who sells a minor an alcoholic beverage does not commit an offense if the minor falsely represents himself to be 21 years old or older by displaying an apparently valid proof of identification that contains a physical description and photograph consistent with the minor's appearance, purports to establish that the minor is 21 years of age or older, and was issued by a governmental agency.

The statute says that ID may include a Texas driver's license or ID card, a passport or a military ID. Subsection (d) takes the defense away from a seller whose scan under section 109.61 identified the license or ID card as invalid.

A certified seller's TABC certificate is also at stake. After a sale to a minor, the holder has 30 days to recertify by completing an approved course and passing TABC's test, or TABC may revoke the certificate. A second sale to a minor or an intoxicated person within 12 months can bring revocation with no recertification for 90 days, and a third, for a year.

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.03Texas Penal Code 12.21TABC: Underage drinkingTABC: Certification FAQsTABC Administrative Rules, 16 TAC 34.1, 34.2, 34.4, 34.20, 35.3 and 50.31 (TABC, PDF)

Where an ID scan comes in

Section 109.61 gives a seller and a store owner defenses to prosecution that turn on a transaction scan device, and those defenses do not apply in an action against the license or permit, except as TABC's rules provide. Retailers covered by Texas's off-premises scanning requirement have a separate protection: TABC may not discipline them for a sale to a minor if they scanned the ID as required and the device identified it as valid and the buyer as 21 or older. The TABC stings guide sets out each defense, and the Texas ID scanning guide covers which permits the requirement reaches.

AgeShield checks the date of birth on each scanned ID against the venue's minimum age, which starts at 21, flags expired IDs and checks the barcode on US and Canadian licenses and state IDs for signs of forgery, as what an AgeShield scan checks sets out. No scanner catches every fake, so staff still make the call.

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 109.61Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code 106.03