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Social Host Liability


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Social host liability laws hold individuals responsible for underage drinking events on property they own, lease or otherwise control.Social host liability laws hold individuals responsible for underage drinking events on property they own, lease or otherwise control. Unlike laws that prohibit furnishing alcohol to youth under 21, social host laws focus on preventing underaged drinking on private property without regard to who furnishes the alcohol. The law’s focus is on the setting in which underage drinking takes place, rather than on the furnishing of the alcohol. While law enforcement typically is unable to determine who provided the alcohol when they arrive on the scene of an underage drinking party, social host ordinances allow law enforcement to cite the individual who hosted the party. Responsible individuals under social host laws may include parents, landowners and tenants.
 

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Laws Nationwide
Depending on the jurisdiction, violations of social host laws can lead to civil or criminal fines, imprisonment and monetary damages awards. A variety of social host ordinances are in effect throughout the nation:
  • As of Jan. 1, 2008, unlawful social hosting is a crime in 24 states.1
  • As of September 2006, social hosting in 33 states can also result in civil lawsuits against a host who has allowed an underage drinking gathering to occur and subsequently someone is harmed because a guest under the age of 21 is intoxicated.2
  • In addition to constituting state violations, furnishing alcohol and social hosting are civil and/or criminal violations under many city and county codes.
Types of Liability
Social hosts who allow underage drinking parties on their property may face several distinct types of liability:
  • State-level social host civil liability – imposes, by statute or court decision, a civil duty on social hosts across the relevant state that can be enforced through litigation brought by injured private parties seeking monetary damages against the host.
  • State-level social host criminal liability – involves a violation enforced through criminal prosecution and leading to criminal sanctions, such as fines or imprisonment. Social host criminal liability is closely linked to state laws prohibiting individuals from furnishing alcohol to youth under the age of 21.
  • City or county criminal infraction – social host liability is treated as a criminal matter, but the punishment, at most, is a monetary fine.
  • City or county criminal misdemeanors – social host liability is treated as a misdemeanor, carrying possible jail time as a penalty.
  • City or county civil or administrative citation; city or county response costs recovery – offenders face no criminal penalties, no criminal monetary fines and no jail time. Instead, these ordinances declare an underage drinking party on private property a civil public nuisance, which threatens the public health, safety and general welfare.
    • Under city or county civil or administrative citation ordinances, persons who own, lease or otherwise control the property on which an underage drinking party occurs are civilly responsible for civil or administrative monetary penalties for allowing an underage drinking gathering occur on the property.
    •  Under city or county civil response cost recovery ordinances, persons who own, lease or otherwise control the property on which an underage drinking party occurs are civilly responsible for the associated costs of police, fire or other emergency response services. The ordinance allows local governments to recovery the cost of police officer and court time to respond to the offense.
In many cities and counties, social host liability ordinances provide a combination of criminal and civil penalties, ranging from fines, jail time, administrative fees and response costs. Mothers Against Drunk Driving provides a sample social host ordinance that can be used as a resource for communities to use as a reference. 
1Alcohol Policy Information System.
2U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Property Casualty Insurers Association of America; Insurance Information Institute.