Liability for Alcohol Sales to Minors

South Carolina licenses and regulates the sale of alcohol in bars, restaurants, and other establishments. There are steep legal consequences for serving or selling alcohol to minors, and state alcohol laws can play a role in determining liability after a drunk driving accident caused by a minor. If a client is the victim of a minor’s conduct while under the influence of alcohol, the liquor liability lawyers at David R. Price, Jr., P.A. represent victims by investigating how the underage person acquired the alcohol and seeking the maximum compensation from the responsible party.

Laws Governing Alcohol Sales to Minors

Pursuant to S.C. Code Section 61-4-50, it is unlawful for a person to sell beer or wine to a person under twenty-one years of age. It is also a license violation for a licensed establishment to sell or serve alcohol to a person under the age of 21. It is also illegal for a bar or other alcohol-selling business to transfer alcohol for underage persons to drink. A retail location that sells alcohol must post signage informing the public that it is illegal for those under 21 to buy or drink alcohol.

Who Can Be Held Liable?

South Carolina alcohol laws primarily hold two main groups responsible for underage alcohol sales: the business itself (and, by extension, its owner) and the individual who sold or served the alcohol.

Sellers and Establishment Owners

A seller is a retail business that is licensed or permitted to sell alcoholic beverages. This can include anything from a liquor store to a grocery store that sells beer and wine. The establishment may face fines or revocation of its alcohol license for violating the law.

Servers and Wait Staff

The specific person who serves alcohol to a minor can also be subject to criminal prosecution.

For a first offense, the server may face a fine between $200 and $300 and/or 30 days in jail. For a second or subsequent offense, the fine may be between $400 and $500 and/or 30 days in jail.

Anyone who violates the law must participate in an alcohol enforcement education program.

How Liability Is Determined

A failure to require identification to verify the purchaser’s age is enough evidence that the law was broken. However, there often isn’t direct proof of a failure to require identification unless either the person who sold the alcohol admits to it or the individual who purchased it was an undercover law enforcement agent. Therefore, these cases often require an injured person to build a case that the seller of alcohol knew or should have known the person was not 21 years of age regardless of whether the seller requested identification.

If you or a loved one was injured in an underage drunk driving crash, you will need to hire experienced legal counsel to prove that the business or employee who sold the alcohol violated the law. This evidence may include:

• Surveillance video footage either outside or inside the establishment
• A statement from the underage drunk driver concerning where he or she obtained the alcohol
• Sales receipts and bank statements showing the purchase of alcohol
• Eyewitness statements (including from other employees)
• Evidence that an adult purchased alcohol on behalf of a minor
• Evidence from an accident scene, including breathalyzer test results
• Police accident reports

Training and Policies for Alcohol Vendors

The Palmetto Retailers Education Program (PREP) is a short course that helps reduce underage access to alcohol as well as the liability risks for businesses and their employees.

PREP is available for managers, servers, and sellers in all 46 South Carolina counties. It is approved by both the S.C. Department of Revenue and the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS).

PREP is the only merchant education program available in the state that covers off- and on-premises alcohol sales practices and the development of manager and supervisor sales policies. A business that completes the program may receive reduced alcohol liability insurance rates and possibly lower administrative fines.

Role of State and Local Enforcement Agencies

Alcohol Enforcement Agents with the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigate possible violations of laws and regulations about underage alcohol sales. Agents may conduct licensed location inspections, unlicensed location investigations, and compliance checks. These compliance checks use underage individuals who cooperate with agents to test whether a business is serving minors alcohol.

Meanwhile, pursuant to S.C. Code Section 23-3-160, in the event of any accident involving injury or death to a person under the age of 21 where there is cause to believe that the person under the age of 21 consumed any alcoholic beverage prior to the accident, the local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction is required to undertake a detailed investigation to determine how the alcoholic beverage was obtained. SLED is also required to assist the investigation.

Local law enforcement agencies, such as police departments, also play an additional role by ticketing underage drinkers. This law enforcement action can lead directly back to the business or employee that was responsible. In the event of an underage drunk driving wreck, the accident report may contain this information as well.

Impact of Alcohol Sales to Minors on Public Health and Safety

Underage drinking increases the risk of drunk driving accidents, putting public health and safety in jeopardy. Alcohol is the most widely used substance among minors. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 19.7% of youth from ages 14 to 15 reported 2022 having at least one drink in their life. That same year, 5.8 million youth ages 12 to 20 reported drinking more alcohol than “just a few sips” in the previous month.

Civil Liability for Selling Alcohol to Minors

When businesses violate South Carolina alcohol laws, there can be consequences. Aside from the criminal penalties mentioned above, there are other potential financial repercussions in the form of civil lawsuits by persons injured by an intoxicated minor.

Lawsuits by Third-Party Victims

Unlike many states, South Carolina does not have a statutory dram shop law that automatically creates financial liability for businesses that serve alcohol to underage drivers who cause drunk driving wrecks. However, the courts have observed that the statutory prohibitions against selling alcohol do establish a duty not to sell alcohol to minors under a theory of liability known as negligence per se. Accordingly, violations of the state’s criminal laws can serve as a basis for victim lawsuits against establishments that sell or serve alcohol to underage persons.

Lawsuits by the Minor who was Provided Alcohol

Additionally, the courts have observed that statutes prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors are designed to prevent harm to the minor as well as to members of the public who are harmed by the minor’s consumption of alcohol. Therefore, where an underaged person injures himself after consuming alcohol that was unlawfully provided to him by a business, he may also have the right to bring a lawsuit against any establishment that sold or served him the alcohol.

Contact Our Experienced Liquor Liability Attorneys Today

Businesses that dispense alcohol have a legal duty to comply with South Carolina alcohol laws and avoid selling or serving alcohol to minors. Therefore, victims who have been harmed because of underage drunk drivers may have a claim against such establishments for the losses caused by intoxicated minors. That’s where David R. Price, Jr., P.A. comes in. Our law firm can review the circumstances surrounding your accident and get to work seeking the monetary damages you deserve. Give us a call today.