Liquor store's license suspension eased

Efforts to curb underage sales drop penalty to one day

A Jefferson City liquor store on Monday successfully appealed a three-day liquor license suspension down to a one-day suspension.

During a Monday appeal hearing, the city's Liquor Control Board voted to suspend Xpress Liquor & Smokes' liquor license on Aug. 25. The suspension comes after an April alcohol compliance check conducted by the Jefferson City Police Department at the Ellis Boulevard location.

Sgt. Jason Payne supervises the checks in which juveniles around 18-19 years old enter the business and attempt to purchase alcohol.

An undercover officer is also in the store to ensure the juvenile's safety, and a uniformed officer awaits outside. If the juvenile is sold alcohol, the uniformed officer will deliver the business a citation.

In the case of Xpress Liquor & Smokes, Jignesh "Jay" Patel, owner of the store's parent company Iswarbapa Inc., is placing blame on a rogue employee. The employee sold the juvenile Mike's Hard Lemonade without asking for identification. The alcohol was purchased with marked money from JCPD.

The same store had its liquor license suspended for a day in 2015 after a similar situation. Since then, the company installed new software at a cost of $5,000 for each register in its 13 central Missouri stores. The software requires the seller to enter a date of birth before completing a transaction.

Jana Kenney, office manager with Iswarbapa Inc., said the clerk completed the transaction, and the company is searching for how she bypassed the date-of-birth portion.

"There must be some way to skip it, and we need to find out how," she said.

Xpress Liquor & Smokes originally faced a three-day suspension, but the board lowered it to a day after hearing testimonies from

Kenney and Patel about the steps taken after the incident.

The store clerk who sold the juvenile alcohol was immediately terminated, Kenney said. At the time of the incident, JCPD also arrested the store clerk, who had a warrant for her arrest. Before she was taken into custody, she called another employee to watch over the store. Neither notified Patel or management about the citation, which led to the other employee's firing.

Kenney said she and Patel found out about the incident several days afterward from a news story. In these cases, a city entity typically contacts the business, but Payne said he was under the impression management was aware at the time. The lag caused the store to lose video of the incident, which Kenney said could have been used for educational and training purposes.

She said the company has also revised its policies and training, which includes checking IDs and how to detect if someone of age is buying alcohol for a minor. Employees are also now required to check all customers' IDs, regardless of their apparent age.

"Now, it's, 'I don't care if you look like Santa Claus, give me your ID,'" Kenney said.

Patel said the company screens potential employees through Missouri's online records system, Case.net, which does not show municipal violations for all Missouri cities. The board recommended the company invest in Missouri Highway Patrol background checks to have a more comprehensive view of an individual's criminal history.