Underage drinkers are not the only ones being cited for non-compliance with the drinking laws in the state of Tennessee. Among the undercover police officers that have been making their visits to establishments in Martin are agents of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC). ABC agents have not only sent a strong message to underage drinkers. They are sending a strong message to businesses in Martin as well.

The message that the ABC is sending is one that is coming with a very hefty fine. The ABC is charged with the responsibility of the enforcement and regulation of all phases of alcohol distribution in the state of Tennessee. They have made several stops in Martin and in total have issued fines totaling more than $14,700.

The establishments in Martin that have been cited by the ABC include those of Cadillac’s on Church Street, Cheers on Lindell Street, Michael’s Steak House on Lovelace Street and Dot’s 3 on Church Street.

Cadillac’s was cited on two counts of sale of liquor to a minor, two counts of sale of alcoholic beverages for off premise consumption and one count of furnishing alcoholic beverages to an intoxicated person. Their total fine amount came to $3,600. The report date listed on the citation was Dec. 21, 2004.

Michael’s Steak House was cited on one count of selling alcohol to a minor. Their fine was $1,500. Cheers was cited on the charge of having a minor in possession of liquor inside their establishment. Their fine was also $1,500. The report date listed on the citation for Cheers was Jan. 10, 2005. The report date listed on the citation for Michael’s Steak House was Dec. 21, 2004.

Dot’s 3 has received two separate citations within the last two months. Their first citation, which has a report date of Dec. 20, 2004, was on the charge of one count of sale of alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption. This fine amount was $600. Their second citation has a report date of Jan. 10, 2005. On this citation, Dot’s 3 is charged with five accounts of sale to a minor. The fine for these violations totals $7,500.

Executive Director for the ABC, Shari Danielle Elks, told The Pacer that each of these establishments can choose to have a hearing within 14 days of a date set by the commission.

At this time, that opportunity to have a hearing still exists for all of those establishments mentioned except Cadillac’s, who has chosen to pay their fine amount of $3,600.

Elks also mentioned that the punishment for these violations is decided on a case-by-case basis. The ABC has the ability to revoke the liquor licenses of establishments and to do this they will look at all the violations that have occurred.

“If an establishment has three or four sales to minors in separate incidents within the same year, then that is looked at a lot more closely than say two to three over a five year period,” Elks said.

Right now, civil penalties (fines) are only issued to the liquor license licensee, not the employees who serve the alcohol. However, employees who serve to minors and who are found to be in violation of other laws are given criminal citations. But, Elks said that the ABC will soon be creating a form and process to not only charge bartenders and servers with a criminal citation but also fine them as they do the license holder.

“We are going to begin citing the individual (bartender or server) against their server permit. This fine would be approximately $250,” Elks said.

Elks also adds that Martin restaurants that serve liquor can expect to see more visits by the ABC. These visits have only occurred recently in Martin, as the liquor by the drink referendum has only been passed for two years.

The referendum allowed for restaurants whose gross income from the sale of food (that has been prepared on the premises) makes up 70 percent or more of that restaurant’s total gross income, to serve alcoholic drinks.

The Pacer also has credible information that indicates at least two more businesses will be notified within the next 10 days of violations that have recently occurred. It is also believed that these citations will go to establishments that have already been cited at least once for the same incident. The Pacer will update its readers with this information as well as mentioning whether those businesses already cited choose to have an appeal.

The ABC employees 36 special law enforcement agents across the state who are authorized to enforce the provisions of the alcoholic beverage statutes in Tennessee. For more information about the ABC, visit their website at http://www.state.tn.us/abc

REPORTER'S NOTE: The Pacer would like to correct one part of an article that appeared in our print edition entitled, "Local student spots fined for alcohol violations." The article stated that Cheers had been fined $1,500 for sale of liquor to a minor. The actual charge was for having a minor in possession of liquor inside the establishment. There is no record that the individual purchased the liquor from Cheers. Although the charge was incorrect, the fine amount was still $1,500. This error occurred because the citation issued by the Alcoholic Beverage Commission originally stated "sale of liquor to a minor." There were, however, handwritten notes on the citation that crossed out the words "sale of liquor" and replaced it with the words, "minor in possession." These changes should also be noted in the graphic that appeared in the print edition.