{"data":{"id":"us-vt/7-v.s.a.-658","jurisdiction":"us-vt","citation":"7 V.S.A. § 658","heading":"Sale or furnishing to minors; enabling consumption by minors; minors causing death or serious bodily injury","body":"(a) A person shall not:\n(1) sell or furnish alcoholic beverages to a person under 21 years of age; or\n(2) knowingly enable the consumption of alcoholic beverages by a person under 21 years of age.\n(b) As used in this section, “enable the consumption of alcoholic beverages” means creating a direct and immediate opportunity for a person to consume alcoholic beverages.\n(c) A person who violates subsection (a) of this section shall be fined not less than $500.00 nor more than $2,000.00 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. However, an employee of a licensee or an employee of a State liquor agency, who in the course of employment violates subdivision (a)(1) of this section:\n(1) during a compliance check conducted by a law enforcement officer as defined in 20 V.S.A. § 2358:\n(A) shall be assessed a civil penalty of not more than $100.00 for the first violation and a civil penalty of not less than $100.00 nor more than $1,000.00 for a second violation that occurs more than one year after the first violation; and\n(B) shall be subject to the criminal penalties provided in this subsection (c) for a second violation within a year of the first violation, and for a third or subsequent violation within three years of the first violation.\n(2) may plead as an affirmative defense that:\n(A) the purchaser exhibited and the employee carefully viewed photographic identification that complied with section 589 of this title and indicated the purchaser to be 21 years of age or older;\n(B) an ordinary prudent person would believe the purchaser to be of legal age to make the purchase; and\n(C) the sale was made in good faith, based upon the reasonable belief that the purchaser was of legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages.\n(d)(1) A person who violates subsection (a) of this section, where the person under 21 years of age, while operating a motor vehicle, snowmobile, vessel, or all-terrain vehicle on a public highway, public land, or public waters, or in a place where a Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) trail maintenance assessment or a Vermont ATV Sportsman’s Association (VASA) Trail Access Decal is required, causes death or serious bodily injury to himself or herself or to another person as a result of the violation, shall be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not more than $10,000.00, or both.\n(2) As used in this subsection:\n(A) “All-terrain vehicle” shall have the same meaning as set forth in 23 V.S.A. § 3501.\n(B) “Public land” means all land in Vermont that is either owned or controlled by a local, State, or federal governmental body.\n(C) “Public waters” shall have the same meaning as in 10 V.S.A. § 1422.\n(D) “Snowmobile” shall have the same meaning as set forth in 23 V.S.A. § 3201.\n(E) “Vessel” shall have the same meaning as set forth in 23 V.S.A. § 3302.","path":["Title 7: Alcoholic Beverages, Cannabis, and Tobacco","Chapter 021: Penalties"],"source_url":"https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/07/021/00658","current_through":"2025 session","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T13:23:51Z","sha256":"568ff91512325ee5e228c65d87216cb98a946b8c3478bcd2b8819cc9b24c1513","source_id":"us-vt","stale":false,"prev":"us-vt/7-v.s.a.-657a","next":"us-vt/7-v.s.a.-659"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}