TITLE 4: ECONOMIC RESOURCES DIVISION 5: BUSINESS REGULATION
§ 5559. Sale to Minors and Persons without Identification Card Prohibited; Penalty; Defense. (a) No person shall sell, give, serve or permit his agent to sell, give or serve any person who is under the age of 21 years, and no person under the age of 21 years shall purchase, possess or consume any alcoholic beverage. (b) No person shall sell, give, serve, or permit his/her agent to sell, give, or serve any alcoholic beverage products to any person under 21 years of age. Unless based on actual knowledge or reasonable certainty that the person buying any alcoholic beverage products is at least 21 years old, no person or business establishment shall sell or permit his/her employee or agent to sell alcoholic beverage products to any person without first demanding that the person present an official government document of identification issued by the CNMI Government, Municipalities of the CNMI, the United States Government, United States states, United States territories, or by foreign governments which bears the person’s full name, current photograph, sex, and date of birth indicating that the possessor is 21 years of age or older and that said presentation and verification occurs. (c) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection 5559(a) or subsection 5559(b) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction, be fined not more than $1,000 and/or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both, and shall be required to perform not less than 80 hours but not more than 250 hours of community service which cannot be suspended or converted to a fine. (d) In any criminal prosecution, or in any proceeding for the suspension or revocation of the license of a license, which is based upon an alleged violation of subsection (a) of this section, proof by the alleged violator that he or his agent demanded and was shown, by the person to whom the alcoholic beverage was sold, given or served, an official government identification card that meets the requirements of subsection (b) of this section, shall be a defense to any such prosecution or proceeding. (e) Any parent, guardian, or other adult person having the lawful custody, permanent or temporary, of any minor who suffers or permits or lets, either willfully or negligently, such persons under the age of twenty-one to violate the provision of this chapter shall be fined not more than $1000. (f) The Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Motor Vehicle shall issue to someone under 21 years old, their CNMI Driver’s License in a vertical format with printing in red to the right of the picture. The license shall state in red printing that he or she is “UNDER 21 UNTIL” the date given. The licensee’s picture shall be located on the bottom left side of the ID. (g) The Office of the Mayor of Saipan, Tinian, Rota and the Northern Islands shall issue to someone under 21 their respective Municipal Identification Card (ID) in a vertical format with printing in red to the right of the picture. The identification card shall state in red printing that he or she is “UNDER 21
TITLE 4: ECONOMIC RESOURCES DIVISION 5: BUSINESS REGULATION
UNTIL” the date given. The identification card holder’s picture shall be located on the bottom left side of the ID. Source: MIDC § 11.12.090; PL 17-83 § 2(e), (f), modified, and (j), repealed and re-enacted (Sept. 23, 2012); (b) repealed and reenacted by PL 19-84 § 2 (Jan. 27, 2017), modified. Commission Comment: See the comment to 4 CMC § 5511. [Historical comments removed.] In codifying PL 19-84, the Commission changed “reasonably certain” to “reasonable certainty”, added serial commas, and struck an apostrophe after “United States” in (b) pursuant to 1 CMC § 3806(g).