Most providers pass alcohol compliance checks

Three Flathead County businesses failed but a vast majority of businesses passed weekend compliance checks by the alcohol enforcement team.

Brian’s Conoco in Kalispell, the Silver Bullet Bar in the East Valley and Casey’s Bar and Grill in Whitefish failed checks the weekend of April 17.

Passing businesses were: ZipTrip and Woody’s in Kalispell; West Side Grocery, Great Northern Bar, Palace Bar and Remington Bar in Whitefish; Town Pump and Junction Gas and Grocery in Columbia Falls; Mike’s Conoco in Hungry Horse; and the Glacier Center in Coram.

 During a compliance check, an underage person tries to purchase alcohol at an establishment using his or her real ID. A business fails when it sells to the underage person.

This can happen when an employee fails to card or cards and doesn’t refuse a sale, according to Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Lavin.

He said every individual involved in the checks has to look young, show his or her real ID and tell the truth about his or her age.

Lavin added that those involved also are “age tested,” meaning a poll is taken beforehand inquiring how old the buyers look, and all must agree they look underage.

“For some reason, we’re getting a 20 to 30 percent failure rate,” said Lavin. However, he said that has been steadily decreasing since checks first started in 2004.

That year, only 40 percent of businesses passed, he said. But the passage rate rose to 58 percent the next year and jumped to 72 percent in 2006, the most recent statistic kept by the Alcohol Enforcement Team.

Lavin said a failing business can better train employees or use equipment such as card readers to help employees determine whether a buyer is of age.

“I don’t remember seeing a fail with a business with a card reader,” said Lavin.

Employees should remember to always check IDs and look at them carefully, he stressed.

The next round of compliance checks is scheduled for May.