2023 Tennessee Code › Title 57 - INTOXICATING LIQUORS (§§ 57-1-101 — 57-10-102) › Chapter 5 - BEER AND ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES CONTAINING LESS THAN FIVE PERCENT ALCOHOL (§§ 57-5-101 — 57-5-609) › Part 3 - PROHIBITED ACTS (§§ 57-5-301 — 57-5-304) › Section 57-5-301 - [Effective 1/1/2025] Sales to minors or intoxicated persons prohibited - Employment of certain offenders prohibited - Hours of sale and consumption - Loitering by minors - Possession by minors unlawful - Signs on vendors' premises

(a)
(a)
(1)
A permit holder engaging in the business regulated hereunder or any employee thereof shall not make or permit to be made any sales to minors or persons visibly intoxicated. Prior to making a sale of beer for off-premise consumption, the adult consumer must present to the permit holder, or any employee of the permit holder, a valid, government-issued document, such as a driver license, or other form of identification deemed acceptable to the permit holder, that includes the photograph and birth date of the adult consumer attempting to make a. beer purchase. Persons exempt under state law from the requirement of having a photo identification shall present identification that is acceptable to the permit holder. The permit holder or employee shall make a determination from the information presented whether the purchaser is an adult. In addition to the prohibition of making a sale to a minor, no sale of beer for off-premises consumption shall be made to a person who does not present such a document or other form of identification to the permit holder or any employee of the permit holder; however, it is an exception to any criminal punishment or adverse administrative action, including license suspension or revocation, as provided for in a violation of this section if the sale was made to a person who is or reasonably appears to be over fifty (50) years of age and who failed to present an acceptable form of identification. Responsible vendors shall post signs on the vendor's premises informing customers of the vendor's policy against selling beer to underage persons. The signs shall be not less than eight and one-half inches by eleven inches (8
1
/
2
" x 11"), and contain the following language:
STATE LAW REQUIRES IDENTIFICATION FOR THE SALE OF BEER.
(2)
Neither the person engaging in such business nor persons employed by that person shall be a person who has been convicted of any violation of the laws against possession, sale, manufacture, and transportation of intoxicating liquor or any crime involving moral turpitude within the last ten (10) years.
(3)
As used in this section, "other form of identification" includes a secure identity verification system that uses an electronic scan of a unique physical characteristic identifiable to the individual that is used by a permittee for the purpose of aiding the employee in determining whether or not the person is at least twenty-one (21) years of age when such person desires to purchase beer procured from a permittee if the system demonstrates that:
(A)
The adult consumer is at least twenty-one (21) years of age; and
(B)
The adult consumer had previously registered with a secure identity verification system provider a valid, government-issued document that - includes the photograph and birth date of the adult consumer attempting to make a beer purchase.
(4)
A violation of subdivision (a)(1) is a Class A misdemeanor.
Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 850,s 2, eff. 1/1/2025.
Acts 1933, ch. 69, § 9a; 1935, ch. 170, § 3; 1943, ch. 53, §§ 2, 5; C. Supp. 1950, § 1191.10; Acts 1961, ch. 170, § 1; 1963, ch. 222, § 1; 1965, ch. 321, § 5; 1970, ch. 353, § 1; 1972, ch. 555, § 1; 1978, ch. 537, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 7, 36; impl. am. Acts 1979, ch. 413, §§ 3, 4; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 57-221; Acts 1982, ch. 877, § 4; 1984, ch. 1006, §§ 4, 10, 18; 1985, ch. 321, §§ 2, 3; 1985, ch. 375, § 5; 1986, ch. 758, § 1; 1986, ch. 788, § 3; 1989, ch. 591, §§ 111, 113; 1991, ch. 473, § 4; 1996, ch. 641, § 5; 1997 , ch. 423, §§ 1-3; 1998, ch. 780, § 1; 2006, ch. 864, § 12; 2006, ch. 900, § 2; 2006, ch. 986, §§ 3, 4, 6; 2008 , ch. 877, §§ 1, 3; 2009 , ch. 208, § 2; 2011 , ch. 27, §§ 2, 3.
This section is set out more than once due to postponed, multiple, or conflicting amendments.