Sheriff’s Office receives alcohol enforcement grant
Published 9:31 am Friday, August 3, 2012
The Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded a grant to conduct alcohol compliance checks on the licensed retailers in Freeborn County.
A compliance check is a tool to identify alcohol establishments that sell to underage youth.
In a compliance check, a law enforcement officer works with an underage youth who attempts to purchase alcohol from a bar, restaurant, liquor store, grocery store or other licensed outlet. If the clerk or server asks for identification and refuses the sale, the retailer passes the compliance check. If the clerk or server completes the sale, the retailer has illegally sold alcohol and failed the check.
Compliance checks are a tool for law enforcement to test and assist retailers with good practices of identifying underage buyers of alcohol.
In the next few months, deputies will conduct the first round of compliance checks. A second round of checks will be conducted in the beginning of 2013.
Any retailer caught selling to an underage buyer will be referred to the Freeborn County Attorney’s Office for criminal prosecution. In addition, the owner of the alcohol license will face civil prosecution.