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Alcoholic beverage offenses
Summary of the topic
The Alcoholic Beverage Code gives a peace officer a separate set of offenses and a separate set of powers. Chapter 106 defines a minor as a person under 21 and creates five minor offenses: purchase under section 106.02, attempted purchase under section 106.025, consumption under section 106.04, possession under section 106.05 and misrepresentation of age under section 106.07. All five take their punishment from section 106.071, which makes them Class C misdemeanors with mandatory community service and a driver's license suspension of 30 days on a first offense. Section 106.041 separately makes it an offense for a minor to drive with any detectable amount of alcohol in the minor's system, with no need to prove impairment or a 0.08 concentration.
The exceptions matter as much as the offenses. A minor may consume an alcoholic beverage in the visible presence of an adult parent, guardian or spouse, and the possession exceptions add employment by a licensee or permittee and the immediate supervision of a commissioned peace officer enforcing the code. Both sections also carry a defense for a minor who asked for emergency medical help in response to a possible alcohol overdose.
The adult offenses start with section 106.03, which makes it a Class A misdemeanor to sell an alcoholic beverage to a minor with criminal negligence, subject to a defense for a seller who relied on an apparently valid proof of identification. Section 106.06 makes it a Class A misdemeanor to buy for, or give alcohol to, a minor, and a state jail felony where the minor's consumption results in serious bodily injury or death of another person. Section 101.63 covers sale to an intoxicated person and carries a fine of $100 to $500, up to one year in jail, or both.
Section 49.031 of the Penal Code covers open containers. A person commits the offense by knowingly possessing an open container in the passenger area of a motor vehicle on a public highway, whether the vehicle is moving, stopped or parked. It is a Class C misdemeanor, and the officer must issue a written citation and notice to appear instead of making an arrest if the person gives a written promise to appear.
Chapter 101 sets out what the code lets an officer do. Section 101.07 requires peace officers to enforce the code, section 101.02 allows arrest without a warrant for a violation the officer observes, section 101.04 allows entry onto licensed premises to inspect them, and section 101.03 governs search warrants for illicit beverages.
Provisions this topic covers
- Tex. Alcoholic Beverage Code chs. 101, 106 and 109
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