Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

Va. Code Ann. § 4.1-304

Persons to whom alcoholic beverages may not be sold; proof of legal age; penalty

Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case Jarrett v. Woodward Bros., Inc. (2000)

Most recently applied in Manning v. Caldwell for City of Roanoke (July 2019)

Code 1950, § 4-62; 1970, c. 686; 1974, c. 460; 1979, c. 537; 1981, c. 24; 1982, c. 66; 1983, c. 608; 1985, c. 559; 1990, c. 771; 1993, c. 866; 2013, c. 562.

How often courts cite this section

199920002010201920
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

A. No person shall, except pursuant to subdivisions 1 through 5 of § 4.1-200, sell any alcoholic beverages to any individual when at the time of such sale he knows or has reason to believe that the individual to whom the sale is made is (i) less than 21 years of age, (ii) interdicted, or (iii) intoxicated. Any person convicted of a violation of this subsection is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

B. Any person who sells, except pursuant to subdivisions 1 through 5 of § 4.1-200, any alcoholic beverage to an individual who is less than 21 years of age and at the time of the sale does not require the individual to present bona fide evidence of legal age indicating that the individual is 21 years of age or older is guilty of a violation of this subsection. Bona fide evidence of legal age is limited to any evidence that is or reasonably appears to be an unexpired driver's license issued by any state of the United States or the District of Columbia, military identification card, United States passport or foreign government visa, unexpired special identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, or any other valid government-issued identification card bearing the individual's photograph, signature, height, weight, and date of birth, or which bears a photograph that reasonably appears to match the appearance of the purchaser. A student identification card shall not constitute bona fide evidence of legal age for purposes of this subsection. Any person convicted of a violation of this subsection is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 4.1-202, the Board shall not take administrative action against a licensee for the conduct of his employee who violates this subsection.

C. No person shall be convicted of both subsections A and B for the same sale.

Official source: Virginia Law Portal (LIS). Reproduced from public-domain Virginia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.