INDIANAPOLIS —
Indiana lawmakers have rolled back a much-disparaged law requiring everyone, regardless of age, to be carded when buying alcohol, but some retailers say they may keep up the practice anyway.
A new law that kicks into effect July 1 means store clerks selling carry-out alcohol will no longer have to ask for proof of age from anyone who “reasonably” appears older than 40.
But some retailers say they won’t be asking their employees to judge whether somebody’s hit the magic “40” mark, and will tell them to keep carding everyone, no matter how old they appear.
“We’ve got 60 cashiers working for us and that means 60 different opinions about who looks like they’re 40,” said Jerry Corliss, owner of the Chalet Party Shoppe liquor stores in Northwest Indiana. “We’re going to keep carding everyone.”
Corliss, past chairman of the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, predicts a similar response from other liquor store owners, who like him, were avid supporters of a short-lived state law that required store clerks to ask customers for their ID — even people who looked like their grandmother.
That law went into effect in July 2010, and state legislators quickly heard outcries of protest from people who hadn’t been asked to show their ID in years. By last fall, legislators started talking about rolling back the law. In April, they did just that, by passing a new law that only requires store clerks card people who appear younger than 40.
Corliss acknowledged there were early complaints about the 2010 law, but said they’ve died down.
“The only ones who complain now are 70-year-old guys. They get real mean,” Corliss said.
John Elliott, manager of public relations for the Kroger stores in Indiana, said customer complaints skyrocketed when the old law went into effect last summer. “We had overwhelmingly negative feedback, but it quickly faded,” Elliott said. “Both our associates and customers got used to it.”
Elliott said Kroger hasn’t made a decision yet on how it will approach the new alcohol ID law. The way the law is written, it allows retailers who sell alcohol to continue carding everyone, in addition to requiring them to card anyone who looks younger than 40.
John Livengood, head of the Indiana Association of Beverage Retailers, is encouraging his members to continue carding everyone. He cited a “compliance check” report released earlier this year by Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission which found a significant drop in the number of violations incurred by grocery stores and liquor stores for alcohol sales to minors since they started carding everyone.
“We know from the compliance check statistics that it works,” Livengood said.
Making a mistake can be costly. Under the new law, retailers who fail to check the ID of someone who, for example, is 35, but may look older than 40, could be hit with a fine and the clerk who sold the alcohol could be charged with a misdemeanor. Too many violations put the store’s alcohol-sales permit in jeopardy.
But Livengood said small retailers are worried they’ll lose customers to the “big box” stores that sell alcohol along with a wide array of items, if those big stores decide to stop carding older customers.
“I hope many retailers will continue to card everyone,” Livengood said. “It would take a number of lost customers to cover any fines a store will receive if they fail to card a minor.”
Corliss agrees. He started carding everyone who came into his liquor stores 3 years ago, before the 2010 law required it. “All my worries went away,” Corliss said. “My biggest worry always was that we were going to sell alcohol to a minor who was going to go out and get into a terrible accident.”
Now his cash registers are programmed so that an alcohol sale can’t go through without the buyer’s birth date being entered into the register.
Corliss also said that he’s told his fellow liquor store owners not to worry about alienating older customers by asking for their I.D. “The males over 70 who did all the complaining when we started carding everyone were less than one percent of customers,” Corliss said. “I can afford to let them get mad.”
Maureen Hayden is statehouse bureau chief for CNHI’s Indiana newspapers. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.
Indiana Legislature
Despite new alcohol ID law, some retailers will keep carding all
- Indiana Legislature
-
-
Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul
INDIANAPOLIS — An overhaul of Indiana’s criminal sentencing laws aimed at sending fewer nonviolent offenders to prison has been approved by the Legislature.
-
Budget deal calls for 5 percent income tax cut
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana taxpayers will see their personal income tax rate reduced by 5 percent over the next four years under a budget plan agreed to by state lawmakers.
-
Revoked charters could be forgiven $12M in loans
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering forgiving $12 million in loans that “failing” charter schools accepted from the state.
-
Indiana House set to vote on school safety grant plan
INDIANAPOLIS — A stripped-down proposal that would start a state grant program toward helping school districts hire police officers and buy safety equipment is set to be voted on by Indiana legislators.
-
Indiana Senate approves minimal voucher expansion
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Senate is signing off on a limited expansion of the state’s school voucher program.
-
Group, bill promote natural gas fueling stations
INDIANAPOLIS — Natural gas advocates want to create incentives for building fueling stations across the state in hopes that more people will operate vehicles using alternative fuels.
-
Senate OKs smaller tax cut than Pence wants
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence appears to be holding firm to his demand for a 10-percent income tax cut, despite some movement from Senate Republicans who are willing to give him a smaller slice of what he wants.
-
Pence: Indiana Senate GOP income tax cut not enough
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence says an income tax cut in the Indiana Senate’s proposed budget is a start but he’ll still push for the $500 million cut he has proposed.
-
Indiana Senate leader against school guns mandate
INDIANAPOLIS — The leader of the Indiana Senate has come out against a proposal that would require all public schools in the state to have an employee armed with a loaded gun.
-
House panel approves HIP expansion, strips grants
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana House panel has altered a plan that would use the state’s Healthy Indiana Plan to expand Medicaid coverage in the state.
-
Bill seeks in-state tuition for some immigrants
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers are considering rolling back the state’s two-year-old immigration law so that illegal immigrants who were attending public colleges then would again be eligible for in-state tuition rates.
-
Bill for tougher Indiana abortion pill law advances
INDIANAPOLIS — A legislative committee has endorsed a proposal that would make Indiana clinics that provide only abortion drugs face the same requirements as clinics that perform surgical abortions.
-
Bill to ban Indiana teacher union deductions advances
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana public schools would be prohibited from handling paycheck deductions for teachers union dues under a proposal endorsed by a Republican-led legislative committee.
-
Bill advances shifting Indiana voucher oversight
INDIANAPOLIS — A Republican-controlled legislative committee has approved a proposal to shift administration of Indiana’s private school voucher program away from the new Democratic state schools superintendent.
-
Indiana school voucher expansion scaled back
INDIANAPOLIS — Republican lawmakers have scaled back a large proposed expansion of Indiana’s private school voucher system.
-
Pence unhappy with GOP budget, Dems seek tax vote
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence is deriding House Republicans’ state budget plan that would replace his proposed tax cut with more spending on roads and education.
-
Grants proposed to add police at Indiana schools
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers say they hope to improve security at schools around the state by offering grants toward hiring police officers and buying safety equipment.
-
Indiana Sunday alcohol sales ban likely to remain
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s longtime ban on Sunday retail alcohol sales will likely continue for at least another year as a vote isn’t being scheduled on a bill to lift it.
-
Indiana bill targets undercover video ‘vigilantes’
INDIANAPOLIS — A Senate panel has approved a bill that would make it a crime to take photographs or shoot footage at Indiana’s farms and businesses without the owner’s permission.
-
Bill would give high-performing schools more flexibility
After focusing on failing schools in recent legislative sessions, some Indiana lawmakers say it’s time to reward high-performing schools with more money and more flexibility.
-
Indiana Senate approves right to hunt, farm proposal
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana voters would decide in next year’s election whether to add the right to hunt, fish and farm to the state constitution under a proposal approved by state senators.
-
Indiana lawmakers push for Sunday alcohol sales
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers hoping to allow stores to sell alcohol on Sunday are facing opposition from liquor store owners, who worry the policy could put them out of business.
-
Bill advances to loosen Indiana superintendent rules
INDIANAPOLIS — School superintendents would no longer have to hold an Indiana superintendent’s or teacher’s license under a bill endorsed today by an Indiana House committee.
-
Bill aims to tighten Indiana laws over ‘bath salts’
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana legislators are again trying to toughen state laws that prohibit businesses from selling synthetic drugs known as “bath salts” and other nicknames.
-
Cold medicines could face tighter Indiana limits
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana Senate committee has backed tougher limits on quantities consumers may buy of cold medications that can be used to make methamphetamine.
-
Indiana senators seek new social networking ban
INDIANAPOLIS — Two Republican lawmakers are looking for a new way to keep registered sex offenders off social media one week after a federal appeals court found a previous ban unconstitutional.
-
Indiana House OKs looser rules on selling old schools
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House has approved a bill that would shorten the time that school districts must hold onto vacant buildings in case a charter school operator wanted to move into the building.
-
Indiana lawmakers don sneakers for anti-cancer effort
INDIANAPOLIS — Numerous Indiana lawmakers and staff members are wearing sneakers around the Statehouse as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer activity sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
-
UPDATE: Indiana lawmakers consider protecting right to hunt
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers have delayed action on a proposed state constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right of residents to hunt, fish and farm.
-
Top Indiana senator seeks gas plant contract review
A top Indiana senator is calling for a review of Indiana’s plans to subsidize a proposed coal-gasification plant.
- More Indiana Legislature Headlines
-
Legislature approves Indiana sentencing laws overhaul
Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse
Officials: Truck Hit Bridge Before Collapse
Bridge Collapse Survivor: 'Rough Day'
Sheriff: No Sign Killing of 2 Kids Was Planned
First Person: Mom Discusses Famous Tornado Photo
Boy Scouts Approve Plan to Accept Gay Boys
Raw: Utah Teen Arrested in Death of His Brothers
Jersey Shore Open for Business
Obama Defends Drone Strikes, With Limits
Raw: Jurors Deadlock on Jodi Arias Penalty
Boy Scouts Decision "First Step" Say Activists
Two Suspects in Murder Known to London Police
Closer Look at Okla. School Where Children Died
Raw: Scuffles in London After Hacking Death
Today in History May 24
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam
Johnson: Don't Blame Islam or UK Policy
ShowBiz Minute: Pickler, Franklin, Potter
Boy Scouts Mom Supports Gay Inclusiveness
"Be Ready": NOAA Warns of Busy Hurricane Season
AK-47-wielding thug may be the most bumbling crook ever
Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage
Trout's cycle a boost for Angels
Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado
Kim Kardashian Flaunts Pregnant Bikini Body in Greece
NBA star pledges $1M to help tornado recovery
Shakira's Shocking Talent
Morgan Freeman falls asleep on air
GRAPHIC: Blood-Soaked Machete Killer Caught on Tape
Elin Nordegren Furious With Lindsey Vonn For Parading Kids in Public
Camera Captures Climber As He Loses Grip And Falls
Helen Mirren Meets with Dying Boy in Queen Elizabeth's Place
Crowd Chants '¡Si, Se Puede!' After Passage of Immigration Bill
DWTS Crowns a Winner
Police Ram House to End Hostage Standoff
Demi Moore a Rocks Bikini at Harry Morton's Family House
Anthony Weiner: I'm running for New York City mayor
Kate Middleton's Dress Flies Up
VIRAL: Baby makes epic soccer goal
The Hangover Baby All Grown Up
