Iowa City police conducted a second round of compliance checks Oct. 28, testing liquor sales at 42 local businesses licensed to sell alcoholic beverages.

Plainclothes police officers worked with underage persons to conduct the checks, in which the underage person entered a business and attempted to illegally purchase alcohol. Thirty-six of the 42 businesses refused to sell the underage subject alcohol; six sold to the buyers.

The businesses that failed the check were Airliner, Fareway, John’s Grocery, Liquor House, Micky’s, and the Convenience Store.

Selling alcohol to a minor (as an employee of a licensed establishment) is a simple misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $500. In addition to this fine, violations by each business that sold alcohol to the underage buyers will be forwarded to the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division for civil penalties against their liquor licenses.

— by Matt Starns