Alaska liquor board votes to accuse three Prince of Wales businesses of underage sales

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board voted unanimously Sept. 1 to issue accusations against three Prince of Wales Island liquor licenses for selling alcohol to people under 21. Board member Doug Moore made the motion, which covers Craig Inn, Hill Bar and the City of Klawock's Klawock Liquor Store. The vote authorizes formal accusations. It does not establish that violations occurred.

The cases come from compliance checks, in which a person under 21 goes into a licensed business and tries to buy alcohol. Alaska State Troopers asked the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office for help with reports of underage drinking on the island, and Investigator Joe Hamilton led a small team there, according to the board's Sept. 1 minutes. Troopers said the July 30 operation in the Craig and Klawock areas found every business checked out of compliance and produced seven infractions.

Chief Investigator Joe Bankowski told the board that employees at three of the four alcohol businesses checked were cited. Vehicle trouble kept the team from reaching other parts of the island.

Bankowski said the state's compliance check program has been gone for about a decade. It stopped because the underage decoys had no official employment status, which raised questions such as workers' compensation. "So, it's really just missing the employment piece," he said. The Prince of Wales checks used Department of Public Safety resources, and he said nothing is set up to do the same elsewhere.

Asked about follow-up on the island, Bankowski said nothing is firm, but "it's clear that there needs to be additional enforcement measures taken there."

Board Chair Dana Walukiewicz said underage drinking has been designated a high enforcement priority and asked whether a temporary agency could employ decoys. The control office has three vacant investigator positions.