SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The new year will also ring in a new law in Utah. Starting Jan. 1, people convicted of extreme DUI offenses won’t be able to buy alcohol.
The law will also require IDs to be checked for every single alcohol purchase statewide.
Some may have to get a new ID that has a red “no alcohol sale” banner on it.
MORE | New law restricts people with extreme DUI convictions from buying alcohol
“That seems like an easy way to keep people from continuing problematic behaviors,” Connor Czapla said.
But for some businesses that sell alcohol, they feel it puts more pressure on them.
“How do we keep track of that?” Czapla asked.
Czapla works at a business that serves alcohol, and he says people with these marked IDs will still be allowed into bars and restaurants, but they just won’t be served.
But he’s worried about those busy nights when servers can get distracted.
“It’s either put a stamp on you or wear a wristband, but stamps can be washed off, they can be ripped off. There’s plenty of ways around that,” he said.
For him, it’s not about enforcing the law; it’s about whether someone slips through the cracks.
“When we get caught for things like that, it’s not on them. It’s on the restaurant and the server,” he said. ”That’s the point where a restaurant can lose their liquor license, the server gets a fine.”
There’s also some concern about IDing every single person, which could slow things down and lead to lost business.
“We’ve gone through our courses; we’ve gone through our training. It’s a big, huge thing, it costs us money to do all the time,” he said. “People can find ways around it, and if they do, it’s on us.”
One of the lawmakers behind the law told 2News that the point of the bill is to prevent repeat drunk drivers in Utah.
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