SALE TO MINORS - ALCOHOL

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code § 106.03 makes it an offense to sell an alcoholic beverage to a minor with criminal negligence. A minor for alcohol purposes is a person younger than 21 years of age. Criminal negligence, the required mental state, means the seller ought to have been aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the buyer was a minor — a gross deviation from the care an ordinary seller would exercise — so the State need not prove the seller actually knew the buyer's age. The statute provides a defense when the minor falsely represented being 21 or older by presenting an apparently valid proof of identification with a physical description and photograph consistent with the minor's appearance. This provision governs sales, typically by clerks, bartenders, and wait staff; giving or otherwise furnishing alcohol to a minor without a sale is addressed by the separate offense in § 106.06.

Ranges are the statutory maximums for the level; enhancements, prior convictions and plea agreements change what is actually imposed.

Across 642 Texas bail settings for this charge (5 counties, Apr 2022 – Jun 2025), the median cash or surety bond was $1,500 (middle half: $1,000 – $2,500). 37% of defendants were released on a personal bond, and bail was denied in 7 cases. When this was the only charge at booking (554 records), the median was $1,500 and 41% got a personal bond.

Showing the 5 counties with the most records; use the selector for any county with at least 30. Per-charge bond settings on original magistrations, from Texas OCA bail reporting under SB 6. Bail is set case by case — these are statistics, not a prediction.