Alcohol laws of Texas

A person must be at least be 21 years of age to drink an Alcoholic beverage in Texas. An operator of a motor vehicle is considered automatically under the influence of alcohol if a chemical screening shows a blood-alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or greater. If under the age of 21, a driver in Texas is not able to test positive for any blood-alcohol content (BAC) under penalty of DUI charges.

Wet and dry counties

Several counties are completely "dry" counties, where no sales of alcoholic beverages are legal anywhere in the county:[1]

  1. Armstrong
  2. Bailey
  3. Borden
  4. Collingsworth
  5. Crosby
  6. Delta
  7. Fisher
  8. Franklin
  9. Hemphill
  10. Kent
  11. Martin
  12. Ochiltree
  13. Panola
  14. Parmer
  15. Roberts
  16. Sterling
  17. Throckmorton
  18. Yoakum

Many counties are completely "wet" counties, where all alcoholic beverage sales are legal everywhere in the county:[1]

  1. Aransas
  2. Austin
  3. Bexar
  4. Brazos
  5. Brewster
  6. Brooks
  7. Cameron
  8. Childress
  9. Colorado
  10. Comal
  11. Cottle
  12. Culberson
  13. Dimmit
  14. Duval
  15. Ector
  16. El Paso
  17. Fayette
  18. Fort Bend
  19. Goliad
  20. Gonzales
  21. Guadalupe
  22. Hidalgo
  23. Hudspeth
  24. Jim Hogg
  25. Kendall
  26. Kenedy
  27. Kinney
  28. Kleberg
  29. La Salle
  30. Midland
  31. Mitchell
  32. Nolan
  33. Nueces
  34. Presidio
  35. San Saba
  36. Scurry
  37. Sherman
  38. Starr
  39. Sutton
  40. Val Verde
  41. Victoria
  42. Washington
  43. Webb
  44. Wharton
  45. Wilbarger
  46. Zapata
  47. Zavala

All other counties are a combination of wet and dry areas.[1]

Legitimate Age

People must be at least 21 years of age to legally consume alcoholic beverages in Texas with certain exceptions, as in any other state in the United States. However, employment or service which requires vending or handling alcoholic beverages can be entered into at age 18.

Open Container Laws

All previously opened containers of alcoholic beverages must be stored and transported in a vehicle’s trunk or other storage to which the driver and or any passengers do not have access.

Blood Alcohol Content Limits

An operator of a motor vehicle is considered under the influence of alcohol if a chemical screening test shows a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher. No other evidence (such as Field Sobriety tests) need be presented to the court to obtain a DUI (driving under the influence) conviction. A driver testing 0.15 percent or more over the legal limit of 0.08 percent faces more severe penalties for enhanced BAC. When under the age of 21, a driver in Texas must not test positive for any blood-alcohol content (BAC) and may be charged with DUI even if the amount tested is under 0.08 percent.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Wet and Dry Counties". Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Retrieved 7 July 2013.

External links