Emporia fighting underage drinking

By RYAN WILSON

Special to The Capital-Journal

EMPORIA --- The city of Emporia is taking aim at underage drinking.

Two city ordinances --- one approved and one proposed --- and a ruling by a municipal court judge are intended to make those who sell and purchase alcohol, as well as underage drinkers, more responsible for their actions.

City Manager Steve Commons said the city commission's actions aren't a response to the death last spring of Emporia State University freshman Brian Wagner. Wagner was found unconscious after a fight April 21 near a bar. He died seven days later.

"However, I won't deny that (the Wagner death) is a motivation among many community members to support the commission's actions," Commons said.

An Oct. 7 ruling by Emporia Municipal Court Judge Robert Morton added a 30-day driver's license suspension as an alternative to 10 days in jail for minors in possession of alcohol. In both cases, the offender pays a fine.

In a typical week, Morton said, he sentences two to three youths for MIP violations.

"The single most effective thing you can do (to deter underage drinking) is a driver's license suspension," Morton said.

An ordinance the commission passed Sept. 15 increases to $1,000 the fine for businesses that sell alcohol to minors or permit underage drinking. The ordinance takes effect in November.

Commons said: "This puts added responsibility on the owners and people operating these establishments. Part of their responsibility is to see who is consuming the product in their bar, not just who they sold it to."

Troy Hobelmann, owner of The Dugout and The Wagon Wheel, said, "It's a false hope that (increased fines to businesses) will stop underage drinking."

Registration tags on kegs are another tactic being considered.

Mayor Raymond Toso said he didn't think keg tags would be very effective because they "are only on a local basis."

"Nothing would prevent people from buying from another county, and nothing would prevent people from taking off the tags," he said.

The Lyon County Commission has said it will consider requiring tags on kegs sold in the county if the city commission first passes a keg registration ordinance.

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