Sale of alcohol

Beer and wine can be sold from 7:00 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, from 7:00 a.m. till 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, and from noon to midnight on Sunday (grocers and gas stations inclusive). Bars/restaurants can allow purchased till 2 AM. Liquor sales are stringently regulated. Liquor sales are prohibited 1) on Sundays, 2) on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day (and when Christmas and New Year’s fall on a Sunday, the prohibition is carried over to the following Monday), and 3) before 10 AM and after 9 PM on any other day Furthermore, only package stores – retail liquor stores, specifically ones in which sealed containers are sold for off-premises consumption – are allowed to sell liquor, and must be closed whenever liquor sales are prohibited (even for sales of otherwise allowable products). These must be further physically separated from any other business. Moreover, an owner cannot own more than five package stores, and no publicly-traded company can own such a store.

Legitimate age

People must be at least 21 years of age to legally consume alcoholic beverages in Texas with certain exceptions, as in any other state in the United States. However, people seeking employment at a company serving alcoholic beverages can be accepted at age 18 provided they get certified by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. No specific training is required to serve alcohol; however, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code states that the actions of an employee (such as serving alcohol to a clearly intoxicated patron) will not be imputed to the employer if 1) the employer requires the employee to complete training approved by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, 2) the employee actually completes the training, and 3) the employer has not directly encouraged the employee to violate the law.

Open container laws

All previously opened containers of alcoholic beverages must be stored and transported in a vehicle’s trunk (or behind the last row of seats in the case a vehicle does not have a partitioned trunk) or other storage to which the driver and or any passengers do not have access.

Blood alcohol content limits

Any person operating a motor vehicle is considered under the influence of alcohol if a chemical screening test shows a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher. No other evidence (such as Field Sobriety tests) needs to be presented to the court to obtain a DUI (driving under the influence) conviction. A driver testing 0.15 percent or more over the legal limit of 0.08 percent faces severe penalties for enhanced BAC. If under the age of 21, a driver in Texas must not test positive for any blood-alcohol content (BAC). That means minors must be completely sober and may be charged with DUI even if the amount tested is under 0.08 percent.