05-07-2012 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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2010 CANADIAN DAYS CELEBRATION SUGGESTED RULES FOR THE SALE OF ALCOHOL In order to ensure that the sale of alcohol occurs responsibly and that Canadian Days is a safe event, below is a set of rules that City Staff is suggesting be followed during this year's Canadian Days Celebration. These rules have been developed based on the meeting held between the City, the Canadian Days Committee, and Little Canada Recreation Association held earlier this year and will be recommended by City staff to the City Council as a condition of all future liquor licenses issued for Canadian Days. Additionally, these rules are based on the following information obtained from the League of Minnesota Cities relative to alcohol sales as fundraisers on city properties due to the resultant liability exposure. Information from the League of MN Cities Criminal Penalties: The criminal penalties for violating liquor sale laws can be very severe. For example: v It is a gross misdemeanor to sell, give, or furnish alcoholic beverages to an obviously intoxicated person. The penalty for a gross misdemeanor is a fine of up to $3,000, imprisonment for up to a year, or both. Y It is a gross misdemeanor to sell, give, or furnish alcohol to a person under the age of 21. y It is a felony to sell, give, or furnish alcohol to a person under 21 if that person becomes intoxicated and causes or suffers death or grave bodily harm as a result. Civil Liability: Anyone who causes the intoxication of another person by illegally selling alcohol to that person can be held liable for damages resulting from that illegal sale. It is illegal to: Sell without a license; Sell to a person under 21; Sell to a person who is already intoxicated; Sell after hours. Any of these can lead to liability, under MN's Civil Damages Act, MS 340A.801 -802 (also known as the Dram Shop Law. In addition to liability for illegally selling alcohol, a person can also be held liable for furnishing or permitting the consumption of alcohol by persons under 21. MS 340A.90. The typical way the Civil Damages Act comes into play is that the licensee sells a drink to an intoxicated person, who then gets into his car and causes an accident. By law, the seller is liable for the injuries resulting from that accident. There are no dollar limits on how much the seller can he held liable for, and the potential exists for that liability to be very large. A young person who's left a paraplegic for life, or a well -paid breadwinner who's killed and leaves several young dependents behind, are a couple of examples that could easily result in a multi - million dollar damage award. Lrdividual Liability: From the individual server's standpoint, there is a concern about personal liability as well. While liquor liability claims are typically brought against the licensee, the statute actually refers 10