A compliance check of Montgomery County restaurants and stores that sell alcohol found the vast majority of waiters, bartenders and storekeepers follow the rules when it comes to checking IDs.
The county’s Department of Liquor Control reports that its annual compliance check returned an 81 percent compliance rate, up from 72 percent last fiscal year.
Non-compliance during the check does carry some significant penalties. The first offense means a $1,000 fine for the business and a mandatory review hearing before the county’s Board of License Commissioners.
Liquor Control and Police train and send out volunteers, usually high school students, to try to buy alcohol with some very specific instructions: no facial hair, provocative clothing or sunglasses. The only things the volunteers are allowed to carry are a cell phone, buy money provided by Liquor Control and a valid ID.
In Maryland, underage IDs are vertical, all the more reason it should be obvious to servers the client isn’t 21 or older.
The county will try to hit about 400 of the 1,000 alcohol-selling businesses in Montgomery during the compliance check each year, meaning each business should be checked once about every two years.
