SF 469

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to liquor; lowering the drinking age to 18 
  1.3             years of age; instructing the revisor to make 
  1.4             conforming changes; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, 
  1.5             section 340A.503. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 340A.503, is 
  1.8   amended to read: 
  1.9      340A.503 [PERSONS UNDER 21 18; ILLEGAL ACTS.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [CONSUMPTION.] (a) It is unlawful for any: 
  1.11     (1) retail intoxicating liquor or 3.2 percent malt liquor 
  1.12  licensee, municipal liquor store, or bottle club permit holder 
  1.13  under section 340A.414, to permit any person under the age of 21 
  1.14  18 years to drink alcoholic beverages on the licensed premises 
  1.15  or within the municipal liquor store; or 
  1.16     (2) person under the age of 21 18 years to consume any 
  1.17  alcoholic beverages.  If proven by a preponderance of the 
  1.18  evidence, it is an affirmative defense to a violation of this 
  1.19  clause that the defendant consumed the alcoholic beverage in the 
  1.20  household of the defendant's parent or guardian and with the 
  1.21  consent of the parent or guardian.  
  1.22     (b) An offense under paragraph (a), clause (2), may be 
  1.23  prosecuted either in the jurisdiction where consumption occurs 
  1.24  or the jurisdiction where evidence of consumption is observed. 
  1.25     (c) As used in this subdivision, "consume" includes the 
  2.1   ingestion of an alcoholic beverage and the physical condition of 
  2.2   having ingested an alcoholic beverage. 
  2.3      Subd. 2.  [PURCHASING.] It is unlawful for any person: 
  2.4      (1) to sell, barter, furnish, or give alcoholic beverages 
  2.5   to a person under 21 18 years of age; 
  2.6      (2) under the age of 21 18 years to purchase or attempt to 
  2.7   purchase any alcoholic beverage unless under the supervision of 
  2.8   a responsible person over the age of 21 18 for training, 
  2.9   education, or research purposes.  Prior notification of the 
  2.10  licensing authority is required unless the supervised alcohol 
  2.11  purchase attempt is for professional research conducted by 
  2.12  post-secondary educational institutions or state, county, or 
  2.13  local health departments; or 
  2.14     (3) to induce a person under the age of 21 18 years to 
  2.15  purchase or procure any alcoholic beverage, or to lend or 
  2.16  knowingly permit the use of the person's driver's license, 
  2.17  permit, Minnesota identification card, or other form of 
  2.18  identification by a person under the age of 21 18 years for the 
  2.19  purpose of purchasing or attempting to purchase an alcoholic 
  2.20  beverage.  
  2.21     If proven by a preponderance of the evidence, it shall be 
  2.22  an affirmative defense to a violation of clause (1) that the 
  2.23  defendant is the parent or guardian of the person under 21 18 
  2.24  years of age and that the defendant gave or furnished the 
  2.25  alcoholic beverage to that person solely for consumption in the 
  2.26  defendant's household.  
  2.27     Subd. 3.  [POSSESSION.] It is unlawful for a person under 
  2.28  the age of 21 18 years to possess any alcoholic beverage with 
  2.29  the intent to consume it at a place other than the household of 
  2.30  the person's parent or guardian.  Possession at a place other 
  2.31  than the household of the parent or guardian creates a 
  2.32  rebuttable presumption of intent to consume it at a place other 
  2.33  than the household of the parent or guardian.  This presumption 
  2.34  may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence. 
  2.35     Subd. 4.  [ENTERING LICENSED PREMISES.] (a) It is unlawful 
  2.36  for a person under the age of 21 18 years to enter an 
  3.1   establishment licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages or 
  3.2   any municipal liquor store for the purpose of purchasing or 
  3.3   having served or delivered any alcoholic beverage.  
  3.4      (b) Notwithstanding section 340A.509, no ordinance enacted 
  3.5   by a statutory or home rule charter city may prohibit a person 
  3.6   18, 19, or 20 years old from entering an establishment licensed 
  3.7   under this chapter to: 
  3.8      (1) perform work for the establishment, including the 
  3.9   serving of alcoholic beverages, unless otherwise prohibited by 
  3.10  section 340A.412, subdivision 10; 
  3.11     (2) consume meals; and 
  3.12     (3) attend social functions that are held in a portion of 
  3.13  the establishment where liquor is not sold. 
  3.14     Subd. 5.  [MISREPRESENTATION OF AGE.] It is unlawful for a 
  3.15  person under the age of 21 18 years to claim to be 21 18 years 
  3.16  old or older for the purpose of purchasing alcoholic beverages. 
  3.17     Subd. 6.  [PROOF OF AGE; DEFENSE.] (a) Proof of age for 
  3.18  purchasing or consuming alcoholic beverages may be established 
  3.19  only by one of the following: 
  3.20     (1) a valid driver's license or identification card issued 
  3.21  by Minnesota, another state, or a province of Canada, and 
  3.22  including the photograph and date of birth of the licensed 
  3.23  person; 
  3.24     (2) a valid military identification card issued by the 
  3.25  United States Department of Defense; or 
  3.26     (3) in the case of a foreign national, from a nation other 
  3.27  than Canada, by a valid passport. 
  3.28     (b) In a prosecution under subdivision 2, clause (1), it is 
  3.29  a defense for the defendant to prove by a preponderance of the 
  3.30  evidence that the defendant reasonably and in good faith relied 
  3.31  upon representations of proof of age authorized in paragraph (a) 
  3.32  in selling, bartering, furnishing, or giving the alcoholic 
  3.33  beverage. 
  3.34     Sec. 2.  [REVISOR'S INSTRUCTION.] 
  3.35     The revisor of statutes shall change all references to the 
  3.36  legal drinking age set by Minnesota Statutes, section 340A.503 
  4.1   from 21 to 18 years of age in the next edition of Minnesota 
  4.2   Statutes and Minnesota Rules.