§ 25-785 — Delivery, offer, or otherwise making available to persons under 21; penalties.

(a) A person who is not a licensee shall not, within the District, purchase an alcoholic beverage for the purpose of delivering the alcoholic beverage to a person who is under 21 years of age.

(b) A person who is a licensee shall not, within the District, offer, give, provide, or otherwise make available an alcoholic beverage to a person who is under 21 years of age, except if necessary to allow the person to perform lawful employment responsibilities that require the person to have temporary possession of alcoholic beverages.

(c) A person who violates any provision of this section shall:

(1) Upon conviction for the first offense, be fined not more then [than] $1,000, or imprisoned up to 180 days, or both;

(2) Upon conviction for the second offense committed within 2 years from the date of any such previous offense, be fined not more than $2,500, or imprisoned up to 180 days, or both;

(3) Upon conviction for the third or any subsequent offense committed within 2 years from the date of any such previous offense, be fined not more than $5,000, or imprisoned up to one year, or both.

(d) A person alleged to have violated this section may be issued a citation under § 23-1110(b)(1) . The person shall not be eligible to forfeit collateral.

(e) The fines set forth in this section shall not be limited by [ § 22-3571.01 ].

Legislative History

Jan. 24, 1934, ch. 4, § 30a; as added May 24, 1994, D.C. Law 10-122, § 2(k), 41 DCR 1658; May 3, 2001, D.C. Law 13-298, § 101, 48 DCR 2959; June 11, 2013, D.C. Law 19-317, § 113(c), 60 DCR 2064