Ind. excise police: Alcohol sales to minors at all-time low

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WANE) - The Indiana State Excise Police said the number of Indiana businesses that are selling alcohol to minors is at an all-time low.

Police said when the Alcohol & Tobacco Commission launched in 2007, 33.1 percent of businesses in Indiana sold alcohol to minors without checking for proper identification. Since then, the numbers have fallen each year. In 2011, 5.59 percent of businesses sold alcohol to minors and in 2012, police say only 5.2 percent of businesses sold alcohol to minors.

A spokesperson for the Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission said the businesses that sold alcohol to minors in 2012 included farm wineries, horse tracks, satellite facilities, gaming sites, historic river vessels, and hotels.

The businesses that were the least likely to sell alcohol to minors were civic centers and economic redevelopment projects, both with zero failures, private clubs, drug stores, and grocery stores. Liquor stores sold alcohol to minors in 7.7 percent of excise inspections, while restaurants and bars sold alcohol to minors in 6.8 percent of inspections.

Scott County had the highest failure rate at 40 percent, followed by Crawford County at 37.5 percent. Other counties with high failure rates included Owen, Orange, and Marion counties.

Seventeen counties had zero failures:

• Adams
• Benton
• Carroll
• Cass
• Clay
• Fountain
• Jefferson
• LaGrange
• Newton
• Parke
• Pike
• Pulaski
• Putnam
• Rush
• Tipton
• Union
• Wells

This means when excise officers conducted an inspection, none of the businesses in these seventeen counties sold any alcohol to minors.

Excise police did not mention how certain counties ranked in selling alcohol to minors, including Allen County.