Regulations - Answers These are the regulations related to the consumption, sale and service of alcohol
in the state of Arizona.
Legal Age to Consume, Possess and Buy 21Legal Age to Sell / Serve On-Premise 18Legal Age to Sell Off-
Premise 18Legal Age to Make Deliveries Off-Premise 21
The legal age to sell off-premises for an establishment that primarily sells items other than spirituous
liquor 16 **if supervised by a person on the premises who is at least eighteen years of age
Limit for driving while intoxicated 0.08 BAC
Hours of Alcohol Sales - Answers The legal hours of alcohol sales in Arizona are:
Monday-Sunday: 6 AM to 2 AM
These regulations concerning acceptable hours of sale may be further restricted by local ordinances. Be
sure to check with your establishment or the town clerk to be certain.
Alcoholic beverages can be consumed for 30 minutes after the set time for concluding alcohol sales. In
most areas, this allows patrons to consume their legally purchased drinks until 2:30 AM.
However, you may NOT sell alcohol after 2 AM.
A person caught violating any of these regulations is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.Additional
penalties for the owner / licensee may be levied.
Laws Regarding Underage Consumption - Answers It is illegal to serve, sell or give alcohol to any person
under 21 years of age.
When an underage person attempts to purchase alcohol from you, your best course of action is to call
the police. Remember, this attempt to illegally purchase alcohol not only causes problems for you, it also
puts your employer at risk.
Arizona state law expressly prohibits anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing, receiving, consuming
or possessing spirituous liquor. An underage person may be charged if any amount of alcohol is detected
in their system.
,Anyone under the age of 21 who violates these laws is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. In addition,
individuals under age 18 may have their driving privileges suspended up to 180 days.
Penalties for Serving Underage Individuals - Answers As a server, you must make every effort not to
serve or sell alcohol to an underage person. Such action may result in heavy fines levied against the
business and in some cases, the loss of their liquor license, which would effectively put them out of
business.
Dram Shop Laws can hold you the server civilly responsible for improperly serving alcohol.
Penalties for Serving Underage Individuals
In Arizona it is illegal: - Answers to sell, serve or give away alcoholic beverages to or allow a person to
sell, serve or give away alcoholic beverages to an underage person
to knowingly allow an underage person to have in their possession or consume alcohol on the premises
for the licensee or employee to accept gratuity or compensation for serving an underage person or
allowing them on the premises
A server violating any of these laws is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor with additional penalties for the
owner / licensee. An additional $500 fine will be levied on a server who accepts any gratuity or
compensation for serving an underage person or allowing them on the premises.
When to Require Identification - Answers 1. Demand identification from the person.
2. Examine the identification to determine that the identification reasonably appears to be a valid,
unaltered identification that has not been defaced.
3. Examine the photograph in the identification and determine that the person reasonably appears to be
the same person in the identification.
4. Determine that the date of birth in the identification indicates the person is not under the legal
drinking age.
Documenting ID Inspection - Answers If you follow these four procedures and record and retain a record
of the person's identification on this particular visit, Arizona state law considers this a defense should
someone under the age of 21 be served alcohol. This defense applies to actions of the licensee and all
, employees of the licensee after the procedure has been employed during the customer's particular visit
to the licensed premises. Therefore if there is an employee placed at the door checking IDs, who has
already followed all the required procedures and recorded it in an ID log, you do not need to verify this
customer's ID on this particular visit before serving him or her alcohol.
Documenting ID Inspection Cont. - Answers Any of the following types of records are acceptable forms
for recording the person's identification:
A writing containing the type of identification, the date of issuance of the identification, the name on the
identification, the date of birth on the identification and the signature of the person. The DLLC provides
an ID log on their website for this purpose.
An electronic file or printed document produced by a device that reads the person's age from the
identification.
A dated and signed photocopy of the identification.
A photograph of the identification.
A digital copy of the identification.
Sellers can also defend their action of serving alcohol to an underage person when / if they are working
in cooperation with law enforcement.Remember, servers and sellers can be criminally charged for
serving alcohol to someone who is underage. Checking an ID is your best defense. The safest course for
you to take is to check an ID for any customer who appears to be under the age of 27 and document it.
Underage Policies: Presence in a Bar - Answers An underage person is allowed in the area of a bar or
restaurant that is primarily used for the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages only if
accompanied by a spouse, parent or legal guardian of legal drinking age or is an on-duty employee of
the licensee.Members of the military and military veterans who are underage are allowed to enter such
areas unaccompanied if the establishment is a club as defined by A.R.S. 4-101(8)(a). While underage
individuals are allowed on the premises under such circumstances, they are still not allowed to
consume, possess or buy alcoholic beverages.Licensed premises may construct a designated area for
underage patrons that completely separates it from the drinking area by a physical barrier. However it is
important to know that in a restaurant, the primary purpose of a restaurant (to serve food) can change
at any given moment (for example: the restaurant may begin operating as a bar if the majority of the
patrons are drinking, not eating, even before 10 p.m.). Therefore it is important to be aware that if the
restaurant begins operating as a bar, underage persons are not permitted on the premises
unaccompanied. If underage persons are on the premises in this situation, it could constitute a violation
if a DLLC investigator was present.
Underage Policies: Entertainment