Kentucky Dram Shop Laws

Section KRS 413.241 of the state’s Revised Statutes defines Kentucky dram shop laws.  As per the statute, vendors can be held accountable when a person under the influence ends up injuring someone or costs them money in damages done to their property. However, alcohol vendors’ liability is subject to the condition that a ‘reasonable person’ in a similar scenario should be able to identify that the individual being served is already intoxicated.

To better understand this, suppose that Brad goes to buy a drink from the bar. The vendor notes that Brad’s speech is slurred, and he is having difficulty walking straight but serves him alcohol, nonetheless. On his way out of the bar, Brad stumbles into another visitor, causing them to trip and get injured. In this situation, the visitor who got hurt can take legal action against the vendor for serving Brad as any ‘reasonable’ person could tell that Brad was already heavily under the influence.