State guide
Louisiana ID scanning laws
Louisiana does not restrict ID scanning, and door and counter checks carry no scan-specific rules on what is recorded or kept.
For bars, restaurants and retailers, the practical questions are when an ID check is required, which IDs count as proof of age and what information may be kept.
Reviewed September 27, 2026 ยท 16 primary sources linked
Louisiana at a glance
- Is it legal to scan IDs in Louisiana?
- Yes.Louisiana does not restrict ID scanning. Its alcohol law focuses on which ID the customer presents and what it shows.
- Do you have to check IDs in Louisiana, and when?
- It depends on what you sell.Every tobacco, vape and consumable hemp sale requires an age check. Alcohol self-checkout, vending-machine sales and deliveries also require identification. For other sales inside a bar, restaurant or store, there is no statewide rule to card every customer.
- Which IDs provide protection in Louisiana?
- For alcohol, the six IDs the law lists.They are a Louisiana or out-of-state driver's license, a Louisiana or out-of-state special ID card, a passport or visa and a military or federal ID card issued by the federal government. Each must show on its face that the customer is at least 21 and appear genuine.
- Can you keep data from an ID scan in Louisiana?
- Yes.Louisiana sets no scan-specific field list or retention period for door and counter checks. Keg and alcohol-delivery records have transaction-specific minimum retention periods.
- What other Louisiana laws reach the data you keep?
- A stored name plus a driver's license, state ID or passport number can trigger Louisiana's security and breach rules.A broader state privacy law takes effect January 1, 2027 for businesses that meet its thresholds.
- Does scanning give you a defense if you serve a minor in Louisiana?
- A scan does not create a standalone defense, but it can document which ID the customer presented.Louisiana's permit rules focus on whether the customer presented one of the listed IDs, while its Responsible Vendor Program protects a certified vendor's permit from suspension or revocation for a first underage sale in 12 months.
- Can a customer refuse an ID scan in Louisiana?
- Louisiana does not specifically regulate refusal of a scan or require a manual alternative.Venue policy generally controls, subject to public-accommodation law and any transaction that specifically requires age verification.
What Louisiana venues should know
Is it legal to scan IDs in Louisiana?
Yes. Louisiana does not restrict ID scanning.
Louisiana law does not require a bar, restaurant or store to scan an ID, and it does not prohibit doing so. The alcohol law focuses on which ID the customer presents and what that ID shows.
The same law also allows age to be verified through "a real-time age verification system authorized by the commissioner", the head of the state's Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. Where a venue relies on one of the listed IDs, the ID itself must show on its face that the customer is 21 or older, whether staff read it by eye or with a scanner.
Do you have to check IDs in Louisiana, and when?
It depends on what you sell.
Alcohol
Louisiana does not require every alcohol customer to be carded. Its alcohol law prohibits selling or serving anyone under 21 unless the customer presents one of the listed IDs or is verified through a system authorized by the commissioner. A retailer may sell alcohol at a self-checkout, or let a customer use an alcohol vending machine, only after the customer has shown an ID to a clerk or employee.
A licensed alcohol retailer may not intentionally allow anyone under 18 to visit or loiter in a place where alcohol, beer or consumable hemp products are the main things sold, apart from certain charitable and religious events. Consumable hemp products were added to this rule on August 1, 2026.
Alcohol delivery
A retailer delivering alcohol must check the recipient's state-issued photo ID, or use a real-time system authorized by the commissioner, and get the recipient's signature. A third-party delivery agent must verify age with an age verification device approved by the commissioner.
Tobacco and vape
Retailers must check the ID of every tobacco, nicotine and vape purchaser, whatever the customer's apparent age.
Consumable hemp
Retailers must verify the age of every customer before the sale, using a valid federal or state photo ID or the state's digital ID.
The exact wording
No person holding a retail dealer's permit, and no person permitted to sell alcoholic beverages at retail to consumers, and no agent, associate, employee, representative, or servant of any such person shall do or permit any of the following acts to be done on or about the licensed premises: (1)(a) Sell or serve alcoholic beverages to any person under the age of twenty-one years, unless such person submits any one of the following means of identification or a similar means of verification provided through use of a real-time age verification system authorized by the commissioner:
No retailer may sell or deliver beer, spirits, wine or any other alcoholic beverage, whether high or low alcoholic content, in a retail establishment to any person through any unattended or self-service checkout counter or mechanical device unless the purchaser submits to a clerk a valid driver's license, selective service card, or other lawful identification which on its face establishes the age of the person as 21 years or older and there is no reason to doubt the authenticity and correctness of the identification prior to approaching the self-checkout counter.
At the time of delivery of alcoholic beverages, the third party's delivery agent shall obtain the recipient's signature and verify the age of the recipient through the use of an electronic age verification device that shall be approved by the commissioner.
All persons engaging in the retail sale of tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products shall check the identification of any tobacco purchaser to establish the age of the purchaser.
A retailer shall verify the age of any person attempting to purchase or receive a consumable hemp product prior to the sales transaction of the product. A retailer shall require a purchaser to produce a valid federal or state issued photo identification card or a digitized identification card as defined in R.S. 51:3211.
La. R.S. 26:90Acts 2026, No. 392LAC 55:VII.305La. R.S. 26:308La. R.S. 26:911La. R.S. 3:1482
Which IDs provide protection in Louisiana?
Louisiana's alcohol law gives venues a six-category ID list and also requires the ID to appear genuine and show on its face that the customer is 21 or older.
Louisiana's alcohol law names six IDs, each of which must be valid and current:
- A Louisiana driver's license with the holder's photo
- A driver's license from another state with the holder's photo and date of birth
- A Louisiana special ID card with the holder's photo
- A special ID card from another state with the holder's photo and date of birth
- A passport or visa from the federal government or another country, with a permanently attached photo and the holder's date of birth
- A military or federal ID card from the federal government, with the holder's photo and date of birth
Each ID must show on its face that the customer is 21 or older, and there must be no reason to doubt that it is genuine and correct. An expired, defaced, damaged or altered ID does not count, and school, check-cashing and employee IDs are not accepted.
Louisiana's digital ID law also says that a business asking a customer for proof of age must accept the state's digital ID, which is downloaded to a phone through a state-approved app. A copy, photo or screenshot does not count, and the phone must be handed back promptly once the ID has been checked. The same law says a business cannot be held liable for the use or misuse of a digital ID.
Tobacco and vape retailers may accept a driver's license, selective service card or other lawful ID that shows on its face the customer is 21 or older. Consumable hemp retailers accept a valid federal or state photo ID or the state's digital ID.
The exact wording
(i) A valid, current, Louisiana driver's license which contains a photograph of the person presenting the driver's license. (ii) A valid, current, driver's license of another state which contains a photograph of the person and birth date of the person submitting the driver's license. (iii) A valid, current, special identification card issued by the state of Louisiana pursuant to R.S. 40:1321 containing a photograph of the person submitting the identification card. (iv) A valid, current, passport or visa issued by the federal government or another country or nation, that contains a permanently attached photograph of the person and the date of birth of the person submitting the passport or visa. (v) A valid, current, military or federal identification card issued by the federal government containing a photograph of the person and date of birth of the person submitting the identification card. (vi) A valid, current, special identification card of another state which contains a photograph of the person and birth date of the person submitting the identification card.
Each form of identification listed above must on its face establish the age of the person as twenty-one years or older, and there must be no reason to doubt the authenticity or correctness of the identification. No form of identification mentioned above shall be accepted as proof of age if it is expired, defaced, mutilated, or altered.
In addition, an educational institution identification card, check cashing identification card, or employee identification card shall not be considered as lawful identification for the purposes of this Paragraph.
When a person requests a consumer to produce valid identification for the purpose of furnishing proof of the consumer's identification or age, the person shall accept a state-issued digitized identification card as a valid form of identification.
A digital copy, photograph, or image of a digitized identification card which is not downloaded through a state-approved application on a mobile device shall not be considered a valid digitized identification card as provided for by this Chapter.
A person shall verify age by submitting a driver's license, selective service card, or other lawful identification which on its face establishes the age of the person as twenty-one years or older and there is no reason to doubt the authenticity or correctness of the identification.
Can you keep data from an ID scan in Louisiana?
Yes. Door and counter checks have no scan-specific field list or retention rule, while keg and delivery transactions have their own recordkeeping periods.
Louisiana sets no list of details a venue may keep from an ID check and no time limit for keeping them. Once records holding a customer's name and ID number are no longer to be kept, the breach law requires them to be destroyed or made unreadable.
Some alcohol records have minimum retention periods. Keg-sale forms, which include the buyer's photo ID number, must be kept for at least six months after the keg is returned. Retailers delivering alcohol keep delivery records, including the recipient's name, date of birth and signature, for two years.
Third-party delivery companies keep delivery records for three years. The age verification device their agents use must be able to store the recipient's name, age and date of birth, the ID's expiration date and the date and time the ID was scanned.
The exact wording
Prior to the sale of any malt beverage in a keg for consumption off premises, the retail dealer or his employee or agent shall: (1) Require the purchaser to provide a photo identification card issued to the purchaser by a local, state or federal government agency. (2) Fill out all the information required in Subsection C of this Section on the form provided by the office of alcohol and tobacco control. (3) Require the purchaser to sign the declaration as required in Paragraph (C)(7) of this Section. (4) Provide one copy of the completed form to the purchaser and maintain one copy in his records for not less than six months after the date the keg is returned to the retail dealer.
The retail dealer keeps a record of all deliveries of alcoholic beverages and retains such records for two years from the date of the delivery.
A record of each delivery of alcoholic beverages shall be retained for three years from the date of delivery and made available to the commissioner of the office of alcohol and tobacco control upon request for the purpose of investigating and enforcing the provisions of this Title.
Such device shall be capable of all of the following: (a) Verifying proof of age through technology of a magnetic card reader or an alternative technology capable of verifying proof of age. (b) Reading a valid state-issued driver's license, a valid state issued identification card, a valid military identification card, or a valid passport. (c) Storing the recipient's name, age, date of birth, the expiration date of the identification, and the date and time that the identification was scanned.
Any person that conducts business in the state or that owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information, or any agency that owns or licenses computerized data that includes personal information shall take all reasonable steps to destroy or arrange for the destruction of the records within its custody or control containing personal information that is no longer to be retained by the person or business by shredding, erasing, or otherwise modifying the personal information in the records to make it unreadable or undecipherable through any means.
La. R.S. 26:306La. R.S. 26:153La. R.S. 26:308La. R.S. 51:3074
What other Louisiana laws reach the data you keep?
Stored ID numbers can trigger Louisiana's data-security and breach rules, with a broader privacy law arriving in 2027.
A customer's first name or initial and last name, stored with a driver's license, state ID or passport number, is personal information under Louisiana's breach law when the name or the number is not encrypted or redacted. A business holding it must use reasonable security, destroy the records once they are no longer to be kept and notify affected residents after a breach.
The Louisiana Data Privacy Act takes effect January 1, 2027. It applies to a business with annual gross revenue over $25 million, one that buys, receives, sells or shares for commercial purposes the personal information of 75,000 or more consumers, households or devices a year, or one that earns half or more of its revenue from selling personal information. Where it applies, a business must limit what it collects to what is adequate, relevant and reasonably necessary for the purposes it has disclosed to the customer.
Does scanning give you a defense if you serve a minor in Louisiana?
No, but a scan record can help show which ID the customer presented.
Louisiana's alcohol permit rules make the ID part of the offense itself. Selling or serving anyone under 21 breaks the rule unless the customer presented one of the listed IDs, showing on its face that they were 21 or older with no reason to doubt it, or was verified through a system authorized by the commissioner. A scan record can help show which ID the customer presented and what it showed.
The separate crime of selling alcohol to someone under 21 works differently. It says that not knowing the customer's age is not a defense.
The Responsible Vendor Program gives the permit its own protection. A certified responsible vendor's alcohol or tobacco permit cannot be suspended or revoked for the first illegal sale to an underage person by a server or security staff member in any 12-month period, and certification must be considered in reducing administrative penalties.
The exact wording
Lack of knowledge of the person's age shall not be a defense.
The alcoholic beverage or tobacco products permit of a vendor certified as a responsible vendor in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter shall not be suspended or revoked on the following grounds: (a) The first illegal sale or service of an alcoholic beverage by any server or security personnel to an underage or intoxicated person or the first illegal sale or service of a tobacco product by any server or security personnel to an underage person in any twelve-month period.
Certification under this Chapter as a responsible vendor shall be considered in mitigation of a vendor's administrative penalties or fines for a server's or security personnel's illegal sale or service of an alcoholic beverage to an underage or intoxicated person, or consumption of alcoholic beverages by a customer on the premises of a Class "B" vendor or for a server's illegal sale or service of a tobacco product to an underage person.
Can a customer refuse an ID scan in Louisiana?
Louisiana does not specifically regulate this situation.
The state does not create a right to refuse a scan or require a venue to offer manual inspection instead. How a venue handles a guest who does not want a scan is generally a matter of venue policy, subject to other applicable laws, including the state's public-accommodation law.
Alcohol, tobacco and hemp
Bars and restaurants
Louisiana leaves the method of the ID check to the venue and sets the IDs that count.
Scanning one of the six listed IDs can be part of the check, and the ID itself must still show on its face that the customer is 21 or older. Places where alcohol is the main thing sold also may not intentionally allow anyone under 18 to visit or loiter, apart from certain charitable and religious events.
La. R.S. 26:90Stores and delivery
Self-checkout, vending machines and delivery each have their own ID rule.
A clerk or employee must check the ID before a customer buys alcohol at a self-checkout or uses an alcohol vending machine. At delivery, retailers check a state-issued photo ID, or use a system authorized by the commissioner, and get a signature. Third-party delivery agents use an age verification device approved by the commissioner.
La. R.S. 26:308Tobacco and vape
Every purchaser's ID must be checked.
The rule applies to tobacco, nicotine and vape sales whatever the customer's apparent age. The ID must show on its face that the customer is 21 or older, and there must be no reason to doubt that it is genuine and correct.
La. R.S. 26:911Consumable hemp
Age must be verified before every sale.
Retailers must verify the age of every customer before the sale, using a valid federal or state photo ID or the state's digital ID. Apart from hemp beverages, consumable hemp products must also be kept where the public cannot reach them without an employee's help.
La. R.S. 3:1482What this means for your AgeShield setup
These are the AgeShield settings affected by the Louisiana rules above. How you configure them is ultimately a decision for your venue.
- How long visits are kept
- Louisiana sets no scan-specific retention period for ID checks at the door or counter. Keg-sale forms must be kept for at least six months after the keg is returned, and alcohol delivery records for two or three years.AgeShield setting: Choose a retention period based on your venue's actual need, while keeping transaction-specific minimums such as keg and delivery records separate.
- Which ID fields are stored
- Louisiana does not prescribe a scan-specific field list. A customer's name stored with a driver's license, state ID or passport number is personal information under the breach law when the name or the number is not encrypted or redacted.AgeShield setting: Keep the fields your venue needs and switch off fields you do not need.
- Consent screen
- Louisiana does not generally require a consent screen for ID scanning.AgeShield setting: Enable the consent screen if it is part of your venue's own policy or another applicable requirement.
- Manual entry
- Louisiana's alcohol rule turns on the ID the customer presents and what it shows on its face, not on reading a barcode.AgeShield setting: Enable manual entry so staff can document a check when an accepted ID cannot be scanned.
- Banned and watch lists
- Louisiana does not specifically regulate venue lists, but its public-accommodation law applies to decisions to refuse service.AgeShield setting: Use behavior-based reasons and notes for Banned and custom list entries.
Common questions
Is it legal to scan IDs at a bar in Louisiana?
Yes. Louisiana does not restrict ID scanning at bars, restaurants or stores.
Do you have to check IDs in Louisiana, and when?
It depends on what you sell. Every tobacco, vape and consumable hemp sale requires an age check. Alcohol self-checkout, vending-machine sales and deliveries also require identification. For other sales inside a bar, restaurant or store, there is no statewide rule to card every customer.
Which IDs provide protection in Louisiana?
For alcohol, Louisiana lists six categories of valid, current ID: Louisiana and out-of-state driver's licenses, Louisiana and out-of-state special ID cards, passports or visas and military or federal ID cards issued by the federal government. Each must show on its face that the customer is at least 21 and appear genuine.
Can you keep data from an ID scan in Louisiana?
Yes. Louisiana sets no scan-specific field list or retention period for door and counter checks. Keg and alcohol-delivery records have transaction-specific minimum retention periods.
Does scanning give you a defense if you serve a minor in Louisiana?
A scan does not create a standalone defense, but it can document which ID the customer presented. Louisiana's permit rules focus on whether that was one of the listed IDs, while its Responsible Vendor Program protects a certified vendor's permit from suspension or revocation for a first underage sale in 12 months.
Can a customer refuse an ID scan in Louisiana?
Louisiana does not specifically regulate refusal of a scan or require a manual alternative. Venue policy generally controls, subject to public-accommodation law and any transaction that specifically requires age verification.
Does a Louisiana business have to accept a digital driver's license?
Louisiana's digital ID law says a business that asks a customer for proof of age must accept a state-issued digital ID shown through the state-approved app. A copy, photo or screenshot of one does not count, and the phone must be handed back promptly.
What is the Louisiana Responsible Vendor Program?
It is the state's certification program for alcohol and tobacco vendors. To stay certified, a vendor's servers and security staff must complete approved training within 45 days of starting work, and a certified vendor's permit cannot be suspended or revoked for a first underage sale by a server or security staff member in any 12-month period.
Does the Louisiana Data Privacy Act apply to my venue?
It takes effect January 1, 2027 and applies to businesses with annual gross revenue over $25 million, or above its thresholds for handling or selling personal information.
Sources
- La. R.S. 26:90
- La. R.S. 26:2
- Acts 2026, No. 392
- LAC 55:VII.305
- La. R.S. 26:308
- La. R.S. 26:911
- La. R.S. 3:1482
- La. R.S. 51:3212
- La. R.S. 26:306
- La. R.S. 26:153
- La. R.S. 51:3074
- La. R.S. 51:3073
- Acts 2026, No. 502
- La. R.S. 14:93.11
- La. R.S. 26:935
- La. R.S. 51:2247
This page is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal advice. We research each rule and link its source, so you can check it against your own venue. Questions are welcome at support@ageshield.bar.
ID scanning laws in nearby states
Rules change across state lines. Compare the ID-scanning guidance for nearby states.
- State lawState law
Mississippi ID scanning laws
Mississippi allows ID scanning and requires it for alcohol delivery. See which IDs support the defense and what records you may keep.
- State lawState law
Texas ID scanning laws
Texas requires electronic checks for certain off-premises sales. See what you may keep and the defense a scan earns.
- State lawState law
Arkansas ID scanning laws
Arkansas allows ID scanning and sets no scan-specific retention limit. See which sales require ID and how a documented check can support your process.
Still unsure how Louisiana applies to your venue?
Tell us what type of venue you run and we'll point you to the published rules we know of that may apply.