Three fail alcohol compliance check

BROOKINGS – Three county businesses failed the latest “alcohol sting” by the Brookings County Sheriff’s Department, it was reported today.

Assistant Sheriff Scott Sebring said 10 businesses were visited Wednesday in a routine compliance check by the sheriff’s office, and those failing the test included:

• RJ’s Fuel Stop

• Six Mile Creek Golf Course

• Skyview Junction

All three of the businesses sold alcoholic beverages to an underage buyer – in this case, a 20-year-old – sent in by sheriff’s deputies.

The failure rate of 30 percent is slightly higher than a March check run by the department when three of 12 businesses violated liquor-sale rules.

License-holders caught in an alcohol sweep are exposed to negative publicity, but more important, both the business and the clerk who sold the alcohol face serious penalties. With repeated offenses, a business could lose its off-sale liquor license.

The first time a business runs afoul of the underage-sale rule, the South Dakota Department of Revenue imposes a fine, which is doubled if the employee who sold the alcohol hasn’t been certified through an approved alcohol sales training program.

Rather than catch someone doing wrong, officers say, they’d rather help to prevent illegal sales in the first place.