Liquor law requires broad new training

A new liquor law with a rapidly approaching deadline could bring big penalties for business owners in Washoe County.

The law requires alcohol-awareness training by July 31 for bartenders, cocktail waitresses, food servers, cage cashiers who give out drink tokens, casino and restaurant managers and supervisors, clerks in retail stores that sell liquor, and even security guards - basically anyone who delivers alcohol or is around it.

Fines for non-compliance range as high a $5,000 for a third offense within 24 months.

Legislation from 2005 set the requirement in Washoe County when its population reached 400,000.

After July 1 business owners or managers cannot hire or employ anyone who does not have the alcohol-awareness card or plans to earn one within 30 days.

By law, awareness trainers cannot charge more than $40 for certification, which must be renewed by a minimum two-hour refresher course every four years.

A similar law has been in place in Las Vegas for many years, and Nevada has more than a half dozen certified alcohol awareness trainers, says David Pearlman, administrator for the Commission on Post Secondary Education, which oversees the alcohol-training curriculum.

Chris Nielsen, deputy director for the Department of Taxation, which will enforcement program, says the department will keep in mind that certification options are still limited in Washoe County.

So far, just one Clark County trainer has set up shop in Reno.

Wally Bindig, who has operated Alcohol Education Services for six years, leased an 800-square-foot space at 989 Bible Way in Reno for classroom space.

The company also has been holding classes at Washoe County casinos to help companies beat the July 31 deadline.

"We are the only ones coming up there," Bindig says. "We are going to be part of the community."

Awareness training programs cover the effects of alcohol on the body, methods of identifying intoxicated people, state and local liquor laws, methods of preventing fights and prevention of sales to minors.

"It is good information for anyone to have," says Bindig, who charges $20 for certification. "The law says no more than $40, but we think $20 is fair. There are a lot of people who don't know this is coming."

(For a complete list of approved schools, log on to the commission's Web site at www.cpe.state.nv.us. Under "general info," look for the tab for alcohol awareness.)

Money from fines will be split between a newly created state alcoholic beverage awareness program and the Fund for the Compensation of Victims of Crime.

To speed employee hires and cut costs, many large casinos and organizations in southern Nevada employ their own awareness trainers.

Char Coburn, human resources manager and a 23-year employee at Bonanza Casino on North Virginia Street, long has conducted a similar training program for her new hires.

"This means I no longer have to do it," she says. "But it is an unusual expense. Our people, all of a sudden they have to come up with $20 to be certified to do something they have been doing for God knows how long."

Jeff Tompkins, who has been pouring beer as owner of the Pizza Baron on Keystone Avenue in Reno for nearly 20 years, is among those unaware that he and eight fellow employees must obtain certification. "At least having one person on-site with certification should be enough," he says.

Paul Sonner, president of Bully's, says his company already sent employees through the training.

To Sonner this new ordinance "is nothing," but he takes a shot at one statewide ordinance. "The smoking ban is the most ridiculous law this state ever came up with," he says.

The Department of Taxation will mail more information with monthly sales and use tax returns.

"We have a couple of investigators that will be involved with this violation, but we will primarily be relying on referrals from local laws enforcement agencies," Nielsen says.