Topeka ? Attorney General Paul Morrison has a warning for parents who host parties where there is underage drinking.

“You allow property that you own or control to be used for a party like that – criminally you are on the hook,” Morrison said Monday. “You can’t use the defense that ‘I didn’t provide the booze.'”

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed Senate Bill 166 into law during a ceremony with Morrison in front of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation headquarters.

The bill closed a loophole that inadvertently left out second-time offenders from the mandatory 40-year sentencing law for sex offenders.

But the bill also amended the law dealing with hosting parties where minors are drinking. It also applies to hosting anyone under the age of 21.

The bill has the support of some in the Lawrence school district, which requires breathalyzer tests at high school dances to curb underage drinking.

“I think we in our society today understand the dangers of drinking,” Lawrence school board member John Mitchell said. “All kinds of things can happen.”

Board member Scott Morgan said he heard a variety of viewpoints about parent-supervised parties.

“It sure throws everything out of whack when the parents are behind the bar serving the drinks,” Morgan said.

Parties where adults host underage drinkers “is a big deal every time of the year, but especially now when there are proms and graduation parties,” Morrison said.

Some parents have said they would rather host a party with alcohol than see youngsters driving somewhere else to drink.

Morrison responded to that, saying, “A good analogy is, you’re going to let your kids go over to somebody’s house to have sex just because their parents are there? I doubt it.”

The law includes a minimum fine of $1,000 and a possible punishment of up to one year in jail for violators.