Alcohol laws of Texas

A person must be at least be 21 years of age to publicly drink an alcoholic beverage in Texas, with some exceptions[1]

Texas is one of ten states (California, Colorado, Maryland, Montana, New York, Texas, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming) that allow consumption by minors in the presence of consenting and supervising family members. In the state of Texas, parents accept responsibility for the safety of minors under 18 when the minor is on their property or on property leased by them and under their care, custody, and control; an adult may provide alcohol to a minor if they are the minor's adult parent, guardian, or spouse, and is visibly present when the minor possesses or consumes the alcoholic beverage.[2] It is against the law to make alcohol available to a non-family person younger than 21, even in one's own residence and even with that parent's permission.[2]

Texas holds parents/adults civilly liable for damages caused by the intoxication of a minor younger than 18 if they knowingly provided alcohol or allowed alcohol to be served on property owned or leased by them and the minor:

  • is injured or dies as a result of drinking on the property,
  • gets into a fight, falls and hurts themself, or is sexually assaulted,
  • damages someone else's property, or
  • leaves and is involved in a motor vehicle accident and causes injury to themselves or others.

An operator of a motor vehicle is considered automatically under the influence of alcohol if a chemical screening shows a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or greater. If under the age of 21, a driver in Texas is not able to test positive for any blood-alcohol content (BAC) under penalty of DUI charges.

Alcohol sales

Voter approval is required (either at the county, county precinct, or city level) to approve sales. Separate votes are required for 1) "on premise" beer and wine sales (sales at a restaurant or bar), 2) "off premise" (take home) beer and wine sales, 3) on premise liquor sales, and 4) off premise liquor sales.

Only five Texas counties are completely "dry" counties, where no sales of alcoholic beverages are legal anywhere in the county:[3]

  1. Borden
  2. Hemphill
  3. Kent
  4. Roberts
  5. Throckmorton

Many counties are completely "wet" counties, where all alcoholic beverage sales are legal everywhere in the county:[3]

  1. Aransas
  2. Austin
  3. Bexar
  4. Brazos
  5. Brewster
  6. Brooks
  7. Burnet
  8. Cameron
  9. Childress
  10. Clay
  11. Collingsworth
  12. Colorado
  13. Comal
  14. Cottle
  15. Crosby
  16. Culberson
  17. Dimmit
  18. Donley
  19. Duval
  20. Ector
  21. El Paso
  22. Fayette
  23. Fisher
  24. Fort Bend
  25. Goliad
  26. Gonzales
  27. Guadalupe
  28. Hidalgo
  29. Hudspeth
  30. Jim Hogg
  31. Kendall
  32. Kenedy
  33. Kinney
  34. Kleberg
  35. La Salle
  36. Midland
  37. Mitchell
  38. Nolan
  39. Nueces
  40. Ochiltree
  41. Presidio
  42. San Saba
  43. Scurry
  44. Sherman
  45. Starr
  46. Sutton
  47. Val Verde
  48. Victoria
  49. Waller
  50. Washington
  51. Webb
  52. Wharton
  53. Wilbarger
  54. Zapata
  55. Zavala

All others are "moist" counties, which are a combination of wet and dry areas.[3]

Sales of alcohol

Beer and wine can be sold from 7:00 AM until midnight Monday through Friday, from 7:00 AM until 1:00 AM on Saturday, and from noon(possibly 10am according to New laws) until midnight on Sunday. Licensed restaurants, bars, and other establishments can additionally serve for consumption on-premises starting at 10:00 AM on Sunday if served with food, and until 2:00 AM every night if the establishment has a late-hours permit in a city or county that allows late-hours sales.[4]

Liquor sales are more stringently regulated. Liquor sales are prohibited 1) on Sundays, 2) on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day (and when Christmas and New Year's fall on a Sunday, the prohibition is carried over to the following Monday), and 3) before 10AM and after 9PM on any other day.[5] Furthermore, liquor can only be sold in "package stores", which must be closed whenever liquor sales are prohibited (even for sales of otherwise allowable products),[6] and which further must be physically separated from any other business.[7] Moreover, no owner can own more than five package stores,[8] and no publicly traded company can own such a store.[9]

Legitimate age

People must be at least 21 years of age to legally consume alcoholic beverages in Texas with certain exceptions, as in any other state in the United States. However, employment at a company serving alcoholic beverages can be entered into at age 18 provided they get certified by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.[10]

No specific training is required to serve alcohol; however, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code states that the actions of an employee (such as serving alcohol to a clearly intoxicated patron) will not be imputed to the employer if 1) the employer requires the employee to complete training approved by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, 2) the employee actually completes the training, and 3) the employer has not directly encouraged the employee to violate the law.[11]

Open container laws

All previously opened containers of alcoholic beverages must be stored and transported in a vehicle's trunk (or behind the last row of seats in the case a vehicle does not have a partitioned trunk) or other storage to which the driver and or any passengers do not have access.

Blood alcohol content limits

An operator of a motor vehicle is considered under the influence of alcohol if a chemical screening test shows a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher. No other evidence (such as Field Sobriety tests) need be presented to the court to obtain a DUI (driving under the influence) conviction. A driver testing 0.15 percent or more over the legal limit of 0.08 percent faces more severe penalties for enhanced BAC. When under the age of 21, a driver in Texas must not test positive for any blood-alcohol content (BAC) and may be charged with DUI even if the amount tested is under 0.08 percent.

See also

References
  1. "When Minor Drinking is Legal in Texas". KFOR TV. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  2. "Alcohol & Your Child" (PDF). Tabc.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  3. "Wet and Dry Counties". Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  4. "FAQs TABC". Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  5. "Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 105.01" (PDF). Statutes.legis.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  6. "Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 22.14(e)" (PDF). Statutes.legis.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  7. "Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 22.14(a)" (PDF). Statutes.legis.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  8. "Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 22.04" (PDF). Statutes.legis.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  9. "Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 22.16" (PDF). Statutes.legis.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  10. "Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 106.09" (PDF). Statutes.legis.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  11. "Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code Section 106.14(a)" (PDF). Statutes.legis.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
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