“We’re not here to police the public, we’re here to regulate the industry,” Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Region 1 Major Mark Menn said.
Each year TABC conducts minor sting operations leading up to Spring Break.
“Times like this when we know there’s going to be a lot of potential underage students on the road to various spring break destinations, we try to visit the stores where they could potentially try to purchase alcohol and do these operations to ensure compliance,” Menn said.
Region 1’s office regulates each county in West Texas, with one or two agents assigned to each area.
TABC first visits each business that sells alcohol to notify them of their operations. They then send in undercover agents to random establishments to test their compliance rate for unlawful sales to minors or intoxicated adults.
“Restaurants, bars, nightclubs, we have agents that work in plain clothes to go in and monitor the behavior of the customers,” Menn said. “If we see a customer who is exhibiting signs of intoxication and then they’re continually served afterward, then we could possibly take administrative action against that business.”
Menn added that Lubbock historically has one of the best compliance rates in the region, however, took a turn for the worst this year.
“Usually we experience 90, 95, to 100% compliance in the Lubbock area but this time we had 80% compliance which isn’t terrible but we’d like to get it back up,” Menn said.
“Out of 15 locations we had three that actually sold to the undercover minor which is actually a little bit lower of a compliance rate than we usually experience in the Lubbock area,” Menn added. “But there are a lot of variables that can determine whether the clerk or employee sells to the underage minor. It just varies from operation to operation.”
A business that doesn’t comply with the law will face a fine or suspension.
“It can create a fine or suspension for up to 8 days or a fine of 300 dollars per day of that suspension,” Menn said. “So an average fine on a first time offense could be as much as 2,400 dollars or an eight day suspension with a permit.”
