§ 63-19-2440 — Beer and wine purchase, consumption, or possession.

(A) It is unlawful for a person under the age of twenty-one to purchase, attempt to purchase, consume, or knowingly possess beer, ale, porter, wine, or other similar malt or fermented beverage. Possession is prima facie evidence that it was knowingly possessed. Notwithstanding another provision of law, if the law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a person is under age twenty-one and has consumed alcohol, the law enforcement officer or the person may request that the person submit to any available alcohol screening test using a device approved by the State Law Enforcement Division. A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hundred dollars or must be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both. (B) A person who violates the provisions of this section also is required to successfully complete a DAODAS approved alcohol prevention education or intervention program. The program must be a minimum of eight hours and the cost to the person may not exceed one hundred fifty dollars. (C) A person eighteen years of age and over lawfully employed to serve or remove beer, wine, or alcoholic beverages in establishments licensed to sell these beverages is not considered to be in unlawful possession of the beverages during the course and scope of his duties as an employee. The provisions of this subsection do not affect the requirement that a bartender must be at least twenty-one years of age. (D) This section does not apply to an employee lawfully engaged in the sale or delivery of these beverages in an unopened container. (E) The provisions of this section do not apply to a student who: (1) is eighteen years of age or older; (2) is enrolled in an accredited college or university and a student in a culinary course that has been approved through review by the State Commission on Higher Education; (3) is required to taste, but not consume or imbibe, any beer, ale, porter, wine, or other similar malt or fermented beverage as part of the required curriculum; and (4) tastes a beverage pursuant to item (3) only for instructional purposes during classes that are part of the curriculum of the accredited college or university. The beverage must remain at all times in the possession and control of an authorized instructor of the college or university who must be twenty-one years of age or older. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to allow a student under the age of twenty-one to receive any beer, ale, porter, wine, or other similar malt or fermented beverage unless the beverage is delivered as part of the student's required curriculum and the beverage is used only for instructional purposes during classes conducted pursuant to the curriculum. (F) The provisions of this section do not apply to a person under the age of twenty-one who is recruited and authorized by a law enforcement agency to test an establishment's compliance with laws relating to the unlawful transfer or sale of beer or wine to a minor. The testing must be under the direct supervision of a law enforcement agency, and the agency must have the person's parental consent.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, SECTION 2.