NABCA Awards
Michigan Liquor Control Commission
Award Year
2022-2023
Education Award $10,000
Supplemental Award $50,000
Focus Area Education | Awareness, Regulatory | Enforcement
Liquor Law Grants Assessment
The Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) provides funding to local law enforcement agencies for compliance monitoring through proceeds from license and license renewal fees. To better understand how these organizations use these resources, MLCC conducted a study to assess the level of awareness of the funding, determine the activities supported by the funds, understand the value of the funds in helping local jurisdictions enact compliance and oversight activities, and identify areas for improvement.
The study concluded that both law enforcement and local government unit (LGU) recipients of this funding value these resources and believe they are important to supporting their ability to undertake enforcement and oversight activity.
LGU respondents primarily use funds for license inspections; law enforcement uses them most frequently for controlled buy operations and inspections. Both law enforcement and LGU respondents say training would help support their efforts.
Based on the results of this study, the MLCC will work to further determine how LGUs are applying the MLCC funds allocated to them, educate LGUs on their responsibility to conduct compliance checks, and provide training from the MLCC on best practices and most effective methods in conducting compliance checks to reduce the unlawful sale/use of
alcoholic beverages.
Michigan Alcohol Responsibility Program
The Michigan Alcohol Responsibility Program, made possible with the help of a NABCA award, is a mystery shopper program that checks if on-and off-premises licensed businesses are checking IDs when selling alcohol. This program included a random sampling of licensees in Ann Arbor and East Lansing, which are both home to major universities. The main goal was to prevent the illegal sale of alcohol to minors by educating licensees and their employees on the importance of checking IDs prior to every sale of alcohol through “teachable moments.”
These compliance checks did not result in a violation against the licensee, nor were they recorded as a “pass” controlled buy with the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC). Rather, they provided a non-punitive educational opportunity for licensees to underscore the importance of remaining vigilant in their carding practices and training protocols to prevent the illegal sale of alcohol to minors.
Across the 20 mystery shops, Ann Arbor had an average “pass” rate of 73.3%, and East Lansing had a 91.6% “pass” rate. The Responsible Retailing Forum prepared community reports that provided aggregate results of the mystery shops and mailed the reports to approximately 120 licensees. These findings will help motivate compliance with ID checking laws, promoting safety and preventing future underage drinking in these college towns.