How Sales-to-Intoxicated-Person Violations Arise, and How They Are Contested
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Selling alcohol to an intoxicated person is a crime under Section 101.63 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code when the seller acts with criminal negligence, and the same sale is a ground for suspending or cancelling the permit. Because intoxication is judged from what a server could see and hear, these cases are contested on the evidence of the customer’s condition at the moment of service and on whether the server’s failure to recognize it was criminally negligent. The permit has separate protection through the safe harbor.
The offense
Section 101.63 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code makes it an offense to:
- sell an alcoholic beverage, with criminal negligence, to a habitual drunkard or an intoxicated or insane person; or
- deliver an alcoholic beverage for commercial purposes, with criminal negligence, to an intoxicated person.
| Offense | Penalty |
|---|---|
| First offense | a fine of $100 to $500, up to one year in jail, or both |
| After a prior conviction under Section 101.63 or for a sale to a minor under Section 106.03 | a fine of $500 to $1,000, up to one year in jail, or both |
The delivery provision reaches alcohol delivered to a customer’s door, not only drinks poured across a bar.
What the permit faces
The same sale is a ground for suspending or cancelling the permit under Section 11.61(b)(14), and TABC treats it as a public safety violation, where the usual cushions, such as an automatic option to pay a fine instead of a suspension, do not apply.
How these cases are contested
The standard is criminal negligence, not hindsight. A contest can turn on three questions:
- What was observable? The customer’s speech, balance, coordination, behavior, and appearance at the time of the sale, as shown by video, receipts, witness accounts, and the timeline of what the customer was served.
- What did the server do? Whether the server watched for signs of intoxication, counted drinks, slowed or stopped service, or consulted a manager, and whether the employee had completed seller training.
- Who made the sale? Whether the business can show the safe harbor conditions for an employee’s sale: the employer required TABC-approved seller training, the employee completed it, the employer did not encourage the violation, and the further conditions TABC applies are met.
Evidence of consumption elsewhere, of a customer who hid their condition, or of a short time at the premises can bear on the first question. Records showing training, drink counts, and a cutoff procedure bear on the second and third.
The civil standard is different
Chapter 2 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code sets a separate civil cause of action against a provider of alcohol. Under Section 2.02(b), it requires proof that at the time of the sale it was apparent to the provider that the person was obviously intoxicated to the extent of presenting a clear danger to themselves and others, and that the intoxication was a proximate cause of the damages. A criminal case, a TABC case, and a civil suit can arise from the same night, each under its own standard.
Preventing the sale
- Train and certify every server and their managers through a TABC-approved course, and keep the records.
- Write a cutoff procedure that tells staff when to slow and stop service and backs them when they refuse.
- Track what each customer is served through the point-of-sale system.
- Apply the same rules to delivery, where the driver hands alcohol to the customer.
- Document refusals and incidents at the time they happen.
This article is general information about Texas alcoholic beverage law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes and TABC rules change; confirm current requirements with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the relevant city or county, or a licensed Texas attorney before acting.