Relating to requiring the use of electronically readable information to verify a purchaser's age in the retail sale of alcoholic beverages.

Contracts

• POS Vendor Agreements: Immediately audit contracts to ensure Point of Sale software supports driver's license scanning and manual entry for damaged IDs.
• Data Privacy Clauses: You must verify that your POS vendor does not automatically retain/store scanned PII (Personally Identifiable Information). Retaining this data without TABC authorization is a statutory violation.
• Insurance: Review Liquor Liability policies; carriers may mandate scanning hardware as a condition of coverage effective 9/1/2025.

Hiring/Training

• Employee Handbooks: Update policies to classify "failure to scan" as a terminable offense. Staff must understand they face personal criminal liability (Class A Misdemeanor).
• Protocol Training: Train staff on the specific "Manual Entry" protocol for damaged IDs and the "Visual Inspection" fallback protocol strictly for internet outages.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Connectivity Logs: To utilize the statutory defense for failure to scan, you must prove a "disruption of connectivity." IT must implement automated logging to document internet/data outages at the POS level.
• Data Purge: Ensure systems scan for verification but immediately purge data to comply with Section 109.61(b).

Fees & Costs

• Hardware CAPEX: Budget immediately for 2D barcode scanners for all checkout lanes if not currently equipped.
• Software Upgrades: Potential fees for POS software updates to enable age-gating and disable data retention.