AK: Mandatory ID checks for alcohol sales in restaurants, breweries, and bars take effect in 2025
Alaska’s News Source
By Steve Kirch
January 2, 2025
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – An Anchorage ordinance will be going into effect in 2025, and Assembly members hope the new law will decrease the number of alcohol-related fatalities and accidents in the municipality.
State law mandates that individuals must be 21 years old or older to purchase or consume alcohol.
However, in December, the Assembly unanimously passed an ordinance requiring all restaurants, bars, and breweries to verify identification before selling alcohol.
Before approving the measure, the Assembly referenced a memorandum stating that between 2015 and 2019, an average of 562 people died in Alaska due to alcohol use, making it the second-highest alcohol-related mortality rate in the nation.
That same memorandum said according to data from Alaska’s DOT&PF’s Highway Safety Office, 29% of fatal crashes within the state happened in Anchorage.
Assembly member Zac Johnson, who was one of the sponsors of the ordinance along with Karen Bronga and Anna Brawley, stated on Thursday that in 2011, the Assembly enacted a similar ordinance requiring liquor stores to check IDs. The intention was to expand this requirement to restaurants and breweries.
Johnson said he didn’t know why it wasn’t expanded back then, but based on current events, he said Assembly members felt it was time.
“In Anchorage in 2024, you know, amongst other alcohol-related issues, we had a number of pedestrian fatalities, right, in which it looked like there was likely alcohol as a factor with that,” Johnson said.
In response to the mandatory ID checks, Johnson stated that this measure not only addresses underage drinking but also applies to individuals who possess “red stripe” driver’s licenses. A “red stripe” license is issued to those who have been prohibited by court order from purchasing alcohol due to past violent or reckless behavior.
According to the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles, there are 2,110 “red stripe” licenses issued to residents of the Municipality of Anchorage.
“You might be in your 70s, you might have that red stripe, right? I mean, that’s kind of, I think the blind spot right now is, if you’re not checking everyone’s ID, then how are you making sure these people with the red stripes are not getting served,” Johnson said. 3.36 (johnson)
As far as enforcement, according to Johnson and the ordinance, officers in the muni already go out to establishments to enforce alcohol-related ordinances, and this is just another tool for them, Johnson said.
“When they find an infraction, you know, they have discretion about whether or not to issue a warning [or fine],” Johnson said.
One restaurant general manager told Alaska’s News Source on Thursday that this new policy may pose an extra step for some establishments, and some customers might find it irritating. However, he added that for restaurants like theirs, it is not an issue, as they already follow similar practices.
The ordinance will take effect March 1, 2025