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Council toughens penalties for alcohol sales to underage after ABC data shows sharp rise in violations
Summary
The Metropolitan Council amended Title 9 to increase fines and minimum suspensions for businesses that sell alcohol to minors and underage buyers; attorneys secured an amendment to preserve city-court jurisdiction for individual criminal fines.
The Metropolitan Council on Aug. 6 voted to amend Title 9 — licensing and regulation of trades and occupations — to increase fines and tighten suspensions for businesses and individuals who sell alcohol to minors and to underage buyers (ages 18–20). The change followed ABC board testimony describing a sharp rise in unlawful sales discovered in compliance checks.
Chris, an ABC board representative, told the council that the compliance rate for unlawful sales rose from roughly 6–7% historically to more than 25% in 2024 and about 35% in early 2025. He said the board documented 91 sales in 359–356 compliance checks in 2024 and 59 sales in 168 compliance checks so far in 2025. The board reported increasing numbers of second and third offenses, which guided the authors to propose stiffer penalties.
Under the amendment discussed…
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