Enforcement coordinator and stakeholders urge on-site training, debate charging servers after compliance checks

County enforcement staff, licensee representatives and a local coalition discussed compliance-check practices, on-site training and the question of whether individual servers should be issued civil citations after underage-sale findings.

Corporal James Stone, the county's alcohol-enforcement coordinator, told the board he has discretion to issue civil citations to servers but has not consistently done so because court follow-through has been uneven. He said he gives businesses a year and a day to decide whether to charge individual employees criminally and that, in many cases, administrative board actions have been the default.

"A lot of times ... tracking them back down, serving them the citations, seem to be ineffective," Corporal Stone said, explaining why he sometimes refrains from charging servers criminally and instead brings matters to the board for administrative action.

David Dent, representing the St. Mary's County Licensed Beverage Association, described a planned confidential "mystery shopper" program: association volunteers over 21 would attempt controlled buys at member establishments to test employees' ID-checking practices and provide private feedback to licensees. Dent said the association also supports on-site, cooperative training with the sheriff's office and the board's RAS program.

The Community Alcohol Coalition said it will promote responsible-drinking posters during the holidays and continue campus outreach to address binge drinking.

Why it matters: The county is balancing enforcement with education. Board members and stakeholders debated whether pursuing civil citations for servers would be an effective deterrent or whether education and employer accountability are better tools.

Ending

Board members asked the enforcement coordinator and stakeholder groups to coordinate on training and agreed to monitor whether administrative penalties and RAS training reduce violations.