Age Requirements – If the minor is:
Employed by a licensee or permittee.In the visible presence of an adult parent, guardian, or spouse or other adult who they have been committed to by a court.Under the immediate supervision of a commissioned peace officer engaged in enforcing the provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Code. See Section 106.05.
Off-Premise Retailers Generally, no license/permit holder may employ someone younger than 18 to sell, prepare, serve or otherwise handle alcoholic beverages or help in doing so. The exceptions are:
Package Store Permit (P): Must be 21 or older to work on premises in any capacity or to deliver alcohol off-premises. This age limit does not apply to someone who is employed by the person’s parent or legal guardian to work in a package store owned by the parent or legal guardian.Retail Dealer’s Off-Premise License (BF): No minimum age (unless part of a wine-only package store).Wine and Beer Retailer’s Off-Premise Permit (BQ): No minimum age.Wine-Only Package Store Permit (Q): 16 years old in any capacity.
On-Premises Retailers No person under 18 can be employed to sell, prepare, serve or handle alcoholic beverages or assist in doing so. Unless they’re the minor’s parent, legal guardian or adult spouse, any person who makes an alcoholic beverage available to a minor violates the law and is subject to criminal penalties.
See Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 106. However, there is a defense to prosecution if the minor falsely represents themselves to be 21 or older by displaying an apparently valid Texas driver’s license or Department of Public Safety ID card with a physical description consistent with their appearance.
State law does not require that a person over 21 provide any ID to purchase alcohol in Texas. But since store clerks, wait staff and bartenders can be held criminally liable for selling to a minor, they often require a military, state or federal government-issued photo ID to prove their age.
Learn more on our Age Verification page, Generally yes, if they do not possess or consume an alcoholic beverage. A minor may not enter the premises of a package store unless accompanied by an adult parent, spouse or guardian. A licensee or permittee may have a “house rule” that minors may not enter their licensed premises.
There is no minimum age for attending a seller/server training course. Depending on the type of permit held by the establishment, there may or may not be age limits for selling/serving alcohol. The limits are as follows:
Off-premises license or permit (e.g., most grocery or convenience stores): no age restriction on employees.On-premises license or permit (e.g., bar or restaurant): employees must be 18 or older.Package store (liquor store): employees must be 21 or older.Wine-only package store (store that sells wine for off-premise consumption containing a higher alcohol content than your typical grocery store): employees must be 16 or older.
Contents
Can a 17 year old sell alcohol in Texas?
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b), (c), (e), and (f), no person may employ a person under 18 years of age to sell, prepare, serve, or otherwise handle liquor, or to assist in doing so. (b) A holder of a wine only package store permit may employ a person 16 years old or older to work in any capacity.
Can you be a bartender at 18 in Texas?
Step 1: Age requirements – Texas has strict minimum age requirements for people who wish to sell or serve alcoholic beverages. The minimum age to sell or serve alcohol, according to Texas law, is determined by the kind of license or permit that the establishment has.
This means to determine how old you have to be a bartender in Texas, you must consider the nature of the company. So, can you be a bartender at 18 in Texas? Yes, you must be at least 18 years old to sell or serve alcohol in places like pubs and restaurants where it is consumed on-premises and you must be at least 18 years old to sell it to customers who will consume it off-premises at a grocery store or other location.
This refers to both servers and bartenders.
Can you buy alcohol in Texas under 21?
Underage Drinking: Underage Purchase of Alcohol Purchase is prohibited, but youth MAY PURCHASE for law enforcement purposes.
Does Texas sell alcohol past 12?
Where Can You Buy Beer In Texas? – Aside from the local brewery, you can buy beer in Texas at various liquor stores, convenience stores, and gas stations. But you may find straight liquor the hardest to get hold of. Basically, the only place you can buy whiskey, vodka, or any other kind of liquor is at a liquor store.
Can an 18 year old buy alcohol in Texas?
Penalties for Minors in Possession of Alcohol – A minor found drinking alcohol faces severe consequences in Texas. Any individual younger than 21 years of age who buys alcohol, becomes intoxicated in a public place, lies about his or her age to obtain or purchase alcohol, or who attempts to buy, consume or possess alcohol faces arrest and being charged with Minor in Possession (MIP), or underage drinking.
Up to $500 in fines Court-ordered participation in an alcohol awareness education class Up to 40 hours’ community service Lost driving privileges for 30 days to 180 days
A minor over age 17 may face maximum $2,000 fines, up to 180 days behind bars, and an automatic suspension or revocation of his or her driver’s license.
Can a 16 year old serve alcohol in Texas?
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 106.09 – Employment of Minors Provisions Relating to Age Except as provided by Subsections (b), (c), (e), and (f), no person may employ a person under 18 years of age to sell, prepare, serve, or otherwise handle liquor, or to assist in doing so.
- A holder of a wine only package store permit may employ a person 16 years old or older to work in any capacity.
- A holder of a permit or license providing for the on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages may employ a person under 18 years of age to work in any capacity other than the actual selling, preparing, or serving of alcoholic beverages.
A person who is 18, 19, or 20 years of age is not prohibited from acting as an agent under Chapter,, or, provided the person may carry out the activities authorized by those chapters only while in the actual course and scope of the person’s employment.
The holder of a permit or license providing for the on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages who also holds a food and beverage certificate may employ a person under 18 years of age to work as a cashier for transactions involving the sale of alcoholic beverages if the alcoholic beverages are served by a person 18 years of age or older.
The holder of a permit or license providing for the on-premises consumption of alcoholic beverages that derives less than 50 percent of its gross receipts for the premises from the sale or service of alcoholic beverages may employ a person under 18 years of age to work as a cashier for transactions involving the sale of alcoholic beverages if the alcoholic beverages are served by a person 18 years of age or older.
- Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p.515, ch.194, Sec.1, eff.
- Sept.1, 1977.
- Amended by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p.258, ch.107, Sec.11, 12, eff.
- Sept.1, 1981; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch.754, Sec.1, eff.
- Aug.31, 1987; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch.499, Sec.1, eff.
- Sept.1, 2003.
- Amended by: Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch.1190 (S.B.), Sec.18, eff.
September 1, 2013. Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch.46 (S.B.), Sec.1, eff. May 19, 2015. Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch.1359 (H.B.), Sec.329, eff. September 1, 2019. : Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 106.09 – Employment of Minors
Can a 16 year old work in a bar in Texas?
On-premises license or permit (e.g., bar or restaurant): employees must be 18 or older. Package store (liquor store): employees must be 21 or older.
Can any age drink in Texas?
Legitimate age – People must be at least 21 years of age to legally consume alcoholic beverages in Texas with certain exceptions, as in any other state in the United States. However, employment at a company serving alcoholic beverages can be entered into at age 18 provided they get certified by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
Can you buy alcohol at 1 am in Texas?
What Time Can You Buy Wine in Texas Stores? – For grocery and convenience stores, Texas’s alcohol sales times for wine are the same as beer: Monday through Friday, 7 am to midnight, Saturday, 7 am to 1 am; and Sundays now, from 10 am to midnight. Aside from grocery or convenience stores, package stores sell beer and wine, not liquor.
Is 18 still a minor in Texas?
In Texas, as in most states, you become an adult at age 18.
Can you drink at 15 in Texas?
We all remember that one friend in high school that had the “cool mom” who would buy their teenagers beer on a Friday night. As much as I wished for it when I was young, my folks never permitted anything like that. Like most teenagers, I snuck sips of things when nobody was looking.
- So, is it actually truly legal for a teenager to twist off with their old man? The short answer is, yes,
- Even though the legal age to buy and drink alcohol in Texas is 21, minors are 100 percent permitted to drink while in the presence of their legal parent or guardian : In Texas, a person may purchase an alcoholic beverage for or give an alcoholic beverage to a minor if he is the minor’s adult parent, guardian, or spouse, or an adult in whose custody the minor has been committed by a court, and he is visibly present when the minor possesses or consumes the alcoholic beverage.
Minors are not, however, allowed to order their own drink or pay for it at a bar. Their folks have to take care of all of that themselves, and some businesses have their own policies for minors that state they are not allowed to drink at all. It’s basically case by case when you go out to a restaurant with your parents as to whether or not you would be allowed to have a beer.
- Public intoxication is still very illegal in Texas and businesses might not want to take a chance on losing their liquor license by serving a few beers to a scrawny kid who doesn’t have much experience drinking and causes a ruckus.
- It doesn’t matter if their parents are present for that or not.
- It’s still totally illegal to be drunk in public.
At the end of the day, I’m kind of glad my parents didn’t buy me alcohol. I figured it out myself eventually. I do sometimes wish America had the laws they have overseas and teenagers could hang out in pubs and have beers together without their parents around.
Can minors drink with parents in Texas?
A minor in Texas may possess and consume an alcoholic beverage if the minor is in the visible presence of their adult parent, guardian or spouse. [email protected] A minor can possess and consume alcohol when in the visible presence of their parent or legal guardian, Texas law says.
While in the course and scope of the minor’s employment if the minor is an employee of a licensee or permittee and the employment is not prohibited If the minor is in the visible presence of their adult parent, guardian, spouse or other adult to whom the minor has been committed by a court If the minor is under the immediate supervision of a commissioned peace officer engaged in enforcing the provisions of this code If the beverage is lawfully provided to the minor for a certain course of study
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code states that an adult 21 years of age or older is liable for damages caused by the intoxication of a minor under the age of 18 if:
The adult is not the minor’s parent, guardian or spouse; or an adult in whose custody the minor has been committed by a court And the adult knowingly served or provided to the minor any of the alcoholic beverages that contributed to the minor’s intoxication; or allowed the minor to be served or provided any of the alcoholic beverages that contributed to the minor’s intoxication on the premises owned or leased by the adult.
Dalia Faheid is a reporter on the Star-Telegram’s service journalism team. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Can you be a bartender at 17 in Texas?
For establishments where the alcohol is consumed on-premise, like bars and restaurants, you must be at least 18 years of age or older to sell or serve alcohol. This includes both servers and bartenders.
Can a 17 year old sell alcohol in California?
Servers of alcohol who are strictly cocktail servers must be 21 years of age or older. Other servers may be 18 years of age or older. If working in food service, an employee must be at least 18 years old to serve an alcoholic beverage.
Can a minor go to a bar with a parent in Texas?
As long as a legal guardian is present – and the bar permits patrons under the age of 21 – a minor can get wasted with his or her parents (although if you drink too much, you can get charged with public intoxication).
How old do you have to be to work at a bar in Texas?
Can I be a Bartender at 18?
| State | Age Requirement for Bartending |
|---|---|
| Texas (TX) | 18 |
| Utah (UT) | 21 |
| Vermont (VT) | 18 |
| Virginia (VA) | 21 |