Dedicated to Improving the Standards & Practices of Liquor Law Enforcement |
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If you have Alcohol Law Enforcement news to share please send it to Carrie Christofes, Executive Director
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Register Soon!
The 2021 Annual Conference, will be held November 15-17 in Montgomery, Alabama at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center,
in collaboration with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) State Bureau of Investigation. Conference registration and hotel accommodations are still available!
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Metro Council looks to increase enforcement against problem bars
Louisville Metro Council is expected to vote this week on whether to increase the number of officers who regulate the bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. The proposed ordinance would give Louisville Metro’s Department of Codes and Regulations an additional $388,000 to hire three more Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) enforcement officers. The new officers would patrol on nights and weekends, targeting late-night establishments that create a public safety risk. District 8 Council Member Cassie Chambers Armstrong is sponsoring the proposal. Chambers Armstrong, who represents most of the Bardstown Road bar district, has pushed for changes in the area after three people were shot and killed there over a two month period this summer.
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Missouri curbside cocktail law spurs request for more liquor agents
Missouri public safety officials are asking Gov. Mike Parson and the Legislature for more workers to help police a new law allowing restaurants to sell mixed drinks to go. The request for four additional curbside cocktail cops is part of the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control's proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins next July. "These additional agents are needed to ensure that this new provision is being performed in a safe and responsible manner for Missouri residents," the request notes.
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TABC Earns Outstanding Agency Award from Southeast Texas MADD Chapter, TxDOT
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s Target Responsibility for Alcohol-Connected Emergencies (TRACE) unit was honored with the Outstanding Agency Award from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Southeast Texas chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
The award recognizes organizations that have helped investigate and prevent drunken driving accidents. TABC’s TRACE unit is responsible for investigating businesses suspected of selling or serving alcohol to people accused of being involved in alcohol-related incidents, such as assault or drunken driving fatalities. Businesses found to have violated the state’s alcohol laws could be required to suspend alcohol sales or pay a fine. Since the TRACE unit was established in January 2021, it has investigated more than 1,200 suspected incidents, leading to more than 200 active investigations. Of those, 55 have resulted in TABC taking administrative action against a business. More than three-quarters of TRACE investigations involve suspected DWIs, TABC Executive Director Bentley Nettles said.
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TABC cracks down on liquor stores
“Alcohol, like many things in Texas, is a controlled substance, so there are very specific laws that state when and where it can be transported and who is allowed to do the transporting,” said Chris Porter, Public Information Officer at the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. “In Texas, if anyone wants to transport alcohol across county lines, they have to be a private customer who purchased the alcohol in one location and is taking it home. For commercial purposes, it has to be limited to folks who have what we call a carriers permit,” said Porter.
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CA-ABC Launches New Online Licensing Services Portal for Over 90,000 California Businesses
The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) has launched a Licensing Services Portal to provide online services for over 90,000 licensees. “The new portal offers an easier and more efficient way for licensees to renew their licenses by paying annual fees online,” said ABC Director Eric Hirata. “The online system is part of ABC’s overall plan to modernize and provide faster service through the use of technology.”
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Bend smoke shop owner welcomes Oregon licensing tobacco, e-cigarette retailers to curb youth use
Preventing commercial tobacco sales and marketing to youth will be easier across Oregon beginning in January, as the state enacts a licensing program for tobacco and e-cigarette sales. Earlier this year, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 587, which requires retailers to get a license to sell tobacco products and e-cigarettes, starting in 2022. The Oregon Department of Revenue and Oregon Health Authority are developing the program as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce youth tobacco use and strengthen enforcement of state tobacco laws. Rich Johnson has been in the tobacco retail business for about 18 years. He owns Midtown Direct Smoke Shop in Bend and knows e-cigarettes have become commonly used among teens. “We have to keep the vapes out of the hands of kids. I don’t think there’s any question about that, and whatever it takes to make that happen, great,” Johnson said. Johnson believes that enforcement needs to be at a local level.
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NACS & Conexxus Move New Digital ID Verification Solution Into Pilot Tests
NACS and Conexxus launched additional pilot tests for the TruAge digital solution, which enhances current age-verification systems while protecting user privacy, that will bring it closer to broader rollout.
TruAge was designed to make the traditional carding experience more convenient and accurate. It addresses age-verification beyond the traditional store cash register to online ordering, home delivery and curbside pickup, all of which have grown in popularity during the pandemic.
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Nearly 160,000 bottles of wine illegally shipped into Michigan, a steep decline after AG crackdown
More than a third of alcohol shipped into Michigan during the first quarter of 2020 was shipped illegally. This might not seem like an obvious cause for celebration but the Michigan Beer and Wine Wholesalers Association is raising a glass as the industry corks the flow of illegal alcohol into the state.
The association found a 78% drop from 2019′s illegal alcohol shipping numbers after compiling data from carrier reports from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission and excise tax data from the state of Michigan.
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3 arrested after 15 people shot, 1 woman killed at a bar in downtown St. Paul overnight shooting Sunday
Three men have been taken into custody in connection with an overnight shooting that left one dead and 14 others wounded Sunday. Multiple 911 callers "frantically begged for help," reporting shots fired in a busy bar on West Seventh Street, about a block away from the Xcel Energy Center. At 12:15 a.m. at the Seventh Street Truck Park bar, police found a "chaotic scene" and 15 people with gunshot wounds. After securing the area, officers worked with good Samaritans to aid the wounded before St. Paul fire medics were able to enter the scene safely, according to police. "There were gunshot wound victims lying in the street outside the bar," Steve Linders, public information officer for the St. Paul Police Department, said. "There were gunshot wound victims lying on the sidewalk outside the bar. There were gunshot wound victims lying on the floor inside the bar."
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Call for removal of ‘punitive’ Kentucky barrel tax
According to the KDA, Kentucky distillers are expected to pay a record US$33 million in ageing barrel taxes in 2021. Kentucky distillers pay about US$2 billion annually to the government in taxes, the KDA revealed.
The KDA is calling for the removal of taxes after data from the Kentucky Department of Revenue revealed there are 10.3m barrels of Bourbon ageing in distillery warehouses across the state as of 1 January 2021.
Furthermore, the industry achieved a new record in 2020 for the number of Kentucky Bourbon barrels filled in a single year – nearly 2.5m. It also set the record for the total number of all ageing barrels including other spirits such as brandy – reaching nearly 11m.
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2020-21 NLLEA Board Members:
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