Ohio Code 4301.69 – Underage persons offenses concerning
(A) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person shall sell beer or intoxicating liquor to an underage person, shall buy beer or intoxicating liquor for an underage person, or shall furnish it to an underage person, unless given by a physician in the regular line of the physician’s practice or given for established religious purposes or unless the underage person is supervised by a parent, spouse who is not an underage person, or legal guardian.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4301.69
- Beer: includes all beverages brewed or fermented wholly or in part from malt products and containing one-half of one per cent or more of alcohol by volume. See Ohio Code 4301.01
- Child: includes child by adoption. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures; this provision does not affect any law relating to signatures. See Ohio Code 1.59
- liquor: include all liquids and compounds, other than beer, containing one-half of one per cent or more of alcohol by volume which are fit to use for beverage purposes, from whatever source and by whatever process produced, by whatever name called, and whether they are medicated, proprietary, or patented. See Ohio Code 4301.01
- Person: includes firms and corporations. See Ohio Code 4301.01
- Restaurant: means a place located in a permanent building provided with space and accommodations wherein, in consideration of the payment of money, hot meals are habitually prepared, sold, and served at noon and evening, as the principal business of the place. See Ohio Code 4301.01
- sell: include exchange, barter, gift, offer for sale, sale, distribution and delivery of any kind, and the transfer of title or possession of beer and intoxicating liquor either by constructive or actual delivery by any means or devices whatever, including the sale of beer or intoxicating liquor by means of a controlled access alcohol and beverage cabinet pursuant to section 4301. See Ohio Code 4301.01
In proceedings before the liquor control commission, no permit holder, or no employee or agent of a permit holder, charged with a violation of this division shall be charged, for the same offense, with a violation of division (A)(1) of section 4301.22 of the Revised Code.
(B) No person who is the owner or occupant of any public or private place shall knowingly allow any underage person to remain in or on the place while possessing or consuming beer or intoxicating liquor, unless the intoxicating liquor or beer is given to the person possessing or consuming it by that person’s parent, spouse who is not an underage person, or legal guardian and the parent, spouse who is not an underage person, or legal guardian is present at the time of the person’s possession or consumption of the beer or intoxicating liquor.
An owner of a public or private place is not liable for acts or omissions in violation of this division that are committed by a lessee of that place, unless the owner authorizes or acquiesces in the lessee’s acts or omissions.
(C) No person shall engage or use accommodations at a hotel, inn, cabin, campground, or restaurant when the person knows or has reason to know either of the following:
(1) That beer or intoxicating liquor will be consumed by an underage person on the premises of the accommodations that the person engages or uses, unless the person engaging or using the accommodations is the spouse of the underage person and is not an underage person, or is the parent or legal guardian of all of the underage persons, who consume beer or intoxicating liquor on the premises and that person is on the premises at all times when beer or intoxicating liquor is being consumed by an underage person;
(2) That a drug of abuse will be consumed on the premises of the accommodations by any person, except a person who obtained the drug of abuse pursuant to a prescription issued by a licensed health professional authorized to prescribe drugs and has the drug of abuse in the original container in which it was dispensed to the person.
(D)(1) No person is required to permit the engagement of accommodations at any hotel, inn, cabin, or campground by an underage person or for an underage person, if the person engaging the accommodations knows or has reason to know that the underage person is intoxicated, or that the underage person possesses any beer or intoxicating liquor and is not supervised by a parent, spouse who is not an underage person, or legal guardian who is or will be present at all times when the beer or intoxicating liquor is being consumed by the underage person.
(2) No underage person shall knowingly engage or attempt to engage accommodations at any hotel, inn, cabin, or campground by presenting identification that falsely indicates that the underage person is twenty-one years of age or older for the purpose of violating this section.
(E)(1) No underage person shall knowingly order, pay for, share the cost of, attempt to purchase, possess, or consume any beer or intoxicating liquor in any public or private place. No underage person shall knowingly be under the influence of any beer or intoxicating liquor in any public place. The prohibitions set forth in division (E)(1) of this section against an underage person knowingly possessing, consuming, or being under the influence of any beer or intoxicating liquor shall not apply if the underage person is supervised by a parent, spouse who is not an underage person, or legal guardian, or the beer or intoxicating liquor is given by a physician in the regular line of the physician’s practice or given for established religious purposes.
(2)(a) If a person is charged with violating division (E)(1) of this section in a complaint filed under section 2151.27 of the Revised Code, the court may order the child into a diversion program specified by the court and hold the complaint in abeyance pending successful completion of the diversion program. A child is ineligible to enter into a diversion program under division (E)(2)(a) of this section if the child previously has been diverted pursuant to division (E)(2)(a) of this section. If the child completes the diversion program to the satisfaction of the court, the court shall dismiss the complaint and order the child’s record in the case sealed under sections 2151.356 to 2151.358 of the Revised Code. If the child fails to satisfactorily complete the diversion program, the court shall proceed with the complaint.
(b) If a person is charged in a criminal complaint with violating division (E)(1) of this section, section 2935.36 of the Revised Code shall apply to the offense, except that a person is ineligible for diversion under that section if the person previously has been diverted pursuant to division (E)(2)(a) or (b) of this section. If the person completes the diversion program to the satisfaction of the court, the court shall dismiss the complaint and order the record in the case sealed under section 2953.33 of the Revised Code. If the person fails to satisfactorily complete the diversion program, the court shall proceed with the complaint.
(F) No parent, spouse who is not an underage person, or legal guardian of a minor shall knowingly permit the minor to violate this section or section 4301.63, 4301.633, or 4301.634 of the Revised Code.
(G) The operator of any hotel, inn, cabin, or campground shall make the provisions of this section available in writing to any person engaging or using accommodations at the hotel, inn, cabin, or campground.
(H) As used in this section:
(1) “Drug of abuse” has the same meaning as in section 3719.011 of the Revised Code.
(2) “Hotel” has the same meaning as in section 3731.01 of the Revised Code.
(3) “Licensed health professional authorized to prescribe drugs” and “prescription” have the same meanings as in section 4729.01 of the Revised Code.
(4) “Minor” means a person under the age of eighteen years.
(5) “Underage person” means a person under the age of twenty-one years.
Last updated March 8, 2023 at 12:12 PM