Introduction

In Tennessee, alcohol licenses are issued by either the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the local Beer Board, or both. If you only sell beer, your license is issued by the city or county Beer Board in which your business or location(s) are located. If you have a beer license, it is crucial for you to know the ordinances that govern your license in each municipality you have a store.

Selling alcohol to a minor is one of the most common offenses businesses face. In order to check on how businesses are conducting themselves when checking IDs, cities and counties do Compliance Checks commonly referred to as “Stings”.

In Tennessee, you are required by law to see a valid ID (“Card”) for anyone purchasing alcohol for off-premise consumption. The only exception is anyone that appears over 50 years of age. That exception merely says someone cannot be cited for selling alcohol without looking at an ID for someone that appears to be 50 years of age or older.

Some cities and counties take selling to a minor much more seriously than others and some of the penalties were a little over the top. Beer boards were pulling licenses on a first offense, some beer boards had a three strike policy for a company which meant if, in a 12 month period, one store sold illegally three times or three separate stores sold once, the entire company lost all licensing.

The Tennessee Oil Marketers Association, now known at the Tennessee Fuel & Convenience Store Association worked to solve this problem. Although the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission does not regulate beer, the Association got legislation passed that allowed the TABC to implement The Responsible Beer Vendor Program. This program protects businesses on first offense, keeps stores separate within a company, and other benefits but the store/company must actively participate in the program.