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  • TX:  The legality of libations | Can you serve alcohol to minors in your home?

TX:  The legality of libations | Can you serve alcohol to minors in your home?

TX:  The legality of libations | Can you serve alcohol to minors in your home?

Serving booze at your home? Here’s what the law says you’re liable for.

KHOIU 11

Author: Lauren Talarico

November 24, 2019

HOUSTON — A homeowner has been arrested for furnishing alcohol to a minor after two people were injured during a shooting at a house party.

Read about the story, here.

Here’s what the law says about serving alcohol at your home, whether it is to someone over or under 21 years- old.

Q: Is it ever legal to give an underage person alcohol?

A: According to the National Institutes of Health; yes, however, the person providing the alcohol must be a parent, guardian or spouse and they must be present during possession and consumption.

For everyone else it is illegal and a class A misdemeanor which carries up to a $4,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

Q: If an underage person brought their own alcohol into someone’s home and drank it without the homeowner knowing, criminal charges are unlikely to be filed.

A: According to KHOU legal analyst Gerald Treece it’s all about intent. So, if a homeowner didn’t know the alcohol, was there’s no intent.

Q: What about an adult? Are you liable if an adult drinks at your home then gets into trouble driving home?

A: Treece says the answer is no. In Texas, homeowners are not liable if that person is 21 or over. The law is different for commercial establishments.