2012 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 63 - South Carolina Children's Code
Chapter 19 - JUVENILE JUSTICE CODE
Section 63-19-2450 - Alcoholic beverages purchase, consumption, or possession.

(A) It is unlawful for a person under the age of twenty-one to purchase, attempt to purchase, consume, or knowingly possess alcoholic liquors. Possession is prima facie evidence that it was knowingly possessed. It is also unlawful for a person to falsely represent his age for the purpose of procuring alcoholic liquors. Notwithstanding another provision of law, if the law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a person is under age twenty-one and has consumed alcohol, the law enforcement officer or the person may request that the person submit to any available alcohol screening test using a device approved by the State Law Enforcement Division.

(B) A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hundred dollars or must be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both.

(C) A person who violates the provisions of this section also is required to successfully complete a DAODAS approved alcohol prevention education or intervention program. The program must be a minimum of eight hours and the cost to the person may not exceed one hundred fifty dollars.

(D) The provisions of this section do not apply to a student who:

(1) is eighteen years of age or older;

(2) is enrolled in an accredited college or university and a student in a culinary course that has been approved through review by the State Commission on Higher Education;

(3) is required to taste, but not consume or imbibe, any alcoholic liquor as part of the required curriculum; and

(4) tastes the liquor pursuant to item (3) only for instructional purposes during classes that are part of the curriculum of the accredited college or university.

The alcoholic liquor must remain at all times in the possession and control of an authorized instructor of the college or university who must be twenty-one years of age or older. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to allow a student under the age of twenty-one to receive alcoholic liquor unless it is delivered as part of the student's required curriculum, and it is used only for instructional purposes during classes conducted pursuant to the curriculum.

(E) The provisions of this section do not apply to a person under the age of twenty-one who is recruited and authorized by a law enforcement agency to test an establishment's compliance with the laws relating to the unlawful transfer or sale of alcoholic liquors to a minor. The testing must be under the direct supervision of a law enforcement agency, and the agency must have the person's parental consent.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, Section 2.