Press Releases
Department of Liquor Control Conducts Compliance Evaluation for Responsible Alcohol Policies in Retail Establishments
For Immediate Release: Monday, November 9, 2009
Montgomery County’s Department of Liquor Control (DLC) recently completed a compliance evaluation test at local business establishments licensed to sell and/or serve alcohol. All of the businesses had recently participated in DLC’s Alcohol Law Education and Regulatory Training (ALERT) as the result of being cited for an underage sale.
The test consisted of a patron over the age of 21 visiting a business to see if the employee would check and carefully read the customer’s identification before serving or selling alcohol to them. Following the test, color-coded flyers were distributed to the employee, depending on their response to the “customer.” Green reflected a job well done; yellow indicated that they would not have received a citation, but further precautions could have been taken; and red signified that the employee did not check the customer’s ID and a citation would have been issued.
Results of the test concluded that 100 percent of those tested carded the patron and 87 percent of those went a step further and asked for the license to be removed from the customer’s wallet for closer examination.
County police and alcohol inspectors work together to complete 600 compliance checks a year. Every establishment in the County is visited for a compliance check at least once every 18 months in addition to routine inspections.
The free, three-hour ALERT class is held twice a month and is open to owners and employees of licensed establishments in the County. For more details, or to register for a class, call 240-777-1999 or email dlc@montgomerycountymd.gov.
Media Contact: Kathie Durbin 240-777-1917