Last updated on March 20th, 2024 at 06:54 am
On Thursday, March 7th, Louisiana state representative Beth Mizell introduced Bill SB168, which would make substantial changes to penalties for underage alcohol sales. This bill is a direct response to the tragic death of Madison Brooks at a Tigerland bar in January 2023.
If this bill is passes, there will be several key changes for bar owners and businesses that serve alcohol:
- SB168 increases the fines a business will pay if caught serving a minor
- 1st time offense increases from $50 to $100-$1,000
- 2nd offense upper limit increases from $1,000 to $2,500
- 3rd offense upper limit increases from $2,500 to $5,000
- After any violation, ID scanning will be required before the sale of alcoholic beverages.
These changes, if passed, will go into effect August 1, 2024, right before students head back to school for the fall, which represents one of the busiest seasons for fake ID usage.
Louisiana does not provide any affirmative defense if a fake ID was used. So it is absolutely crucial that the electronic ID scanner used be able to catch fakes.
Our VeriScan software can comply with the legislation. As a Louisiana-based ID scanning software provider, we feel we are the best choice to equip businesses to protect themselves from underage sales, catch fake IDs, and maintain detail logs to prevent litigation.
We look forward to discussing this with the Agency Commissioner in the coming weeks and will be posting updates on our ID Laws page as well as across our social media sites.
