Officials say that they have seen improvement in the percentage of Livingston County-area establishments following through on the state’s requirements for alcohol purchases.

The Livingston County Community Alliance, the Livingston Community Prevention Project, and the Michigan State Police visited 103 licensed liquor establishments in Livingston County over the past year for alcohol compliance checks. In 90.3% of the attempts, the employee of the establishment followed the law and checked for identification. The group says that is a significant improvement from one year ago.

In each case, the minor was between the ages of 18-20 years of age and was accompanied by a Michigan State Trooper. The Livingston County Community Alliance says alcohol compliance checks help reduce violations, such as selling alcohol to minors and that helps to reduce the problems that come with underage drinking. They add that it is one of many strategies being implemented in the community to reduce youth access to alcohol. The LCCA also reminds the public that there are serious legal consequences for employees who sell alcohol to a minor. Penalties for anyone convicted of furnishing alcohol to a minor include a $500 fine, possible jail time and/or community service. Additionally, a person supplying alcohol to a minor who dies as a direct result of their consumption of alcohol is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to 10 years and or a fine of $5,000.

The alliance encourages establishments to be diligent in training their employees to never sell alcohol to a minor and to always request identification from persons attempting to purchase alcohol.

The group also thanked the retailers in Livingston County who did not sell minors during the compliance checks. These included retailers from Brighton: Rite Aid, Aldi, Target, Shell, CVS #8111, Marathon, 7-Eleven, 23 Place Liquor, Midway, Woodland Party Store, Meijer, Beverage Cellar, and the Sunoco and Mobil in Fenton. Compliant retailers from Fowlerville include: Marathon, Grand Nickel, Shell, Sav-On, Mobil, and O'Connors. The compliant retailers from Hamburg include: Village Liquor Store, CVS, and Marathon. In Hartland it is: Meijer, Walgreens, Hill Top, Mugg & Bopps, Speedway, Tony Saccos, Kroger, Walgreens #10499, BP Gas. In Howell: Applebee’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, CVS #8308, Mugg & Bopps, Mobil, Rite Aid #04420, M-19 Liquor Store, Shell, O'Connor’s, CVS, CVS #8046, Sunoco, BP, Walgreens, Target, Marathon/Mugg & Bopps, Kroger, Reem’s Mini Mart, Jonna's Market, Eagle Express, 7-Eleven, Mobil, Middletown Market, Whistle Stop, VG's, On the Go, USA to Go, and Marathon. In Pinckney: BP/Smokers Outlet, Dollar General, Rite Aid, Busch's, Village Liquor Store, Sunoco, and Kroger. In Whitmore Lake: Marathon, BP, and Mugg & Bopps.


For further information, contact Megan Palmer, Coordinator of the Livingston County Community Alliance at 517.545.5944 or meganp@livingstoncatholiccharities.org. (JK)