How TABC’s Penalty Schedule Turns a Violation Into a Fine, Suspension, or Cancellation

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A TABC sanction is measured in days of suspension, up to 60 days for most permit violations, or cancellation. For most violations the Alcoholic Beverage Code requires TABC to let the business pay a civil penalty instead of serving the suspension, at $150 to $25,000 for each suspension day. TABC’s rules set the starting point: a schedule of suspensions for public safety violations, with an optional $300 penalty per suspension day, and base penalties of $250, $500, or $1,000 for regulatory violations, both adjusted for repeat violations and other circumstances.

Chapter 11 of the Alcoholic Beverage Code sets the outer boundaries:

  • Suspension or cancellation. After notice and a hearing, TABC may suspend a permit for up to 60 days or cancel it for the grounds listed in Section 11.61(b). For that section, the “permittee” includes each partner and, for a corporation, each officer and majority owner.
  • A fine instead of suspension. Section 11.64(a) requires TABC to offer a civil penalty in place of a suspension, unless the violation is on a listed set of serious grounds, including sales to minors and to intoxicated persons, breach of the peace, sales or consumption during prohibited hours, and offenses involving prostitution, human trafficking, gambling, or drugs. For those, TABC decides whether to offer the option.
  • The amount. The civil penalty is $150 to $25,000 for each day the permit would have been suspended. If the business does not pay before the sixth day after TABC gives notice of the amount, the suspension takes effect.

What the amount may and may not depend on

Section 11.641 requires the penalty to fit the nature and seriousness of the violation and lists what TABC considers: the type of license or permit, the type of violation, aggravating or mitigating circumstances, prior violations, and, for a business that has violated the Code before, whether and how much it profited from the violation. It also rules out basing the penalty on the volume of alcohol sold, the business’s receipts, the taxes it paid, or its financial condition. No penalty, including cancellation, may rest on a criminal prosecution that ended in acquittal or dismissal or has not reached final adjudication.

The two schedules in TABC’s rules

Public safety violations Regulatory violations
Rule 16 Texas Administrative Code Section 34.2 Section 34.10
Starting point a range of suspension days for each violation, rising for second and third violations a base penalty of $250, $500, or $1,000
Money optional $300 per day of suspension, except for cancellation adjusted under TABC's published Penalty Policy
Binding? a guideline in a contested case, not required a guideline in a contested case, not required

Both charts are non-exclusive: a violation missing from them can still be enforced. TABC publishes the charts, its penalty policy for regulatory violations, and a calculation worksheet on its violations page. The public safety chart posted there is dated February 2021, and Rule 34.2 was amended in June 2022, so the day ranges in that copy should be checked against the current rule before relying on them.

What makes a sanction climb

Rule 34.1 sets how repeat violations are counted. A later violation of the same provision draws a higher sanction when the business received written notice of the earlier one and the later one is:

  • a public safety violation within 36 months of the earlier one;
  • a regulatory violation carrying a $1,000 base penalty within 24 months of the earlier one; or
  • a violation found through covert investigative activity.

TABC staff can recommend deviating from the chart for aggravating or mitigating circumstances, but only with approval from the executive director or a designee before the settlement offer goes out. Suspension days run consecutively, and TABC may split a sanction between days of suspension and a civil penalty.

Estimating exposure

Identify the provision violated and which schedule it falls under, check the business’s written notices of prior violations of that provision within the 36- or 24-month window, and determine whether the violation is on the Section 11.64 list where a fine in lieu of suspension is not automatic. Those three answers set the realistic range before any settlement discussion.

A hypothetical shows the arithmetic. Suppose a public safety violation leads TABC to propose a 7-day suspension and to offer a civil penalty instead:

Measure Amount
Rule 34.2's optional penalty at $300 per suspension day $2,100
Section 11.64's statutory range at $150 to $25,000 per day $1,050 to $175,000
Deadline to pay and avoid the suspension before the sixth day after TABC gives notice of the amount

If the violation is on the Section 11.64 list, such as a sale to a minor, TABC decides whether to offer the civil penalty at all, and the business may have to serve the 7 days.

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.

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