Underage drinking
- A$467 beer? The cost of underage drinking (05-20-07)
- SoundOff: Whatever happened to The Hawk, the bar that was going to lose itslicense because of underage-drinking violations? (12-10-06)
- Bar'slawyer says state regulators have changed the rules (01-09-06)
- TheHawk to receive state report on underage drinking violations(12-20-05)
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The Hawk, a popular bar among Kansas University students, will continue to fight the state's efforts to close it.
The Kansas Department of Revenue in April upheld a ruling a year ago by the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control that The Hawk, 1340 Ohio, have its liquor license revoked because of several instances of minors drinking inside the bar.
But an attorney representing The Hawk's owners filed an appeal in Douglas County District Court last week.
The appeal claims, among other things, that The Hawk or its employees did not permit minors to drink, and that in instances when minors were drinking at the bar, it was after they had presented fake identification.
Under Kansas law, drinking establishments cannot knowingly or unknowingly allow minors to possess or consume alcoholic beverages.
The ABC alleged in its original order that 17 instances of minors in possession of alcohol occurred at The Hawk within three years; some of those cases have since been dismissed.
Tom Groneman, director of the ABC, said The Hawk had exceeded the threshold of nine violations in four years, which previous directors had adhered to.
That prompted the ABC to move to revoke The Hawk's license, an action the agency doesn't often use.
"I would say it happens probably in 2 percent of the cases," Groneman said. "Not more than 5 percent of the cases that are filed."
Tom Devlin, co-owner of The Hawk, referred comment about the case to his attorney, Dan Owen.
Owen was unavailable for comment Thursday.
The Hawk remains open for business while its appeals are heard.
The business' appeal in district court is one of several possible appeals remaining, which means The Hawk could stay open for the foreseeable future.
"If the district court was to uphold my decision and the Secretary of Revenue's decision, then their license would be revoked and they would have to shut down," Groneman said. "But the district court could be appealed on up to the court of appeals."
Comments
Michael Capra 10 years, 2 months ago
groneman and his hitler crew have no laws to tell them how to act they do as they please and go after anyone they want and charge any fine they feel for that day lets get the AG to controll this madness
thomgreen 10 years, 2 months ago
Yeah, we wouldn't want to hold the business owner responsible for being known as THE place for underage drinking.
gwjayhawk 10 years, 2 months ago
that interactive map is very cool. just a side note.
trinity 10 years, 2 months ago
yeah absolutely no culpability or liability for the underagers who do go in there&drink, eh? not fair. just not fair. the Hawk should be left alone! c'mon&try to tell me that it's the ONLY bar in lawrence that has underage drinkers. it is an institution and should be treated as such. period.
Katie Van Blaricum 10 years, 2 months ago
When I went to KU (just a few years ago), everyone knew that The Hawk was THE place to go if you weren't 21. I gather it's been that way for a long time, and still is that way today. How could it get that reputation if it weren't doing something wrong?
lacoov 10 years, 2 months ago
The Crossing is packed with underaged drinkers during the school year, nothing is ever done there....
Joel Hood 10 years, 2 months ago
Did anyone else notice that the interactive map labeled Wakarusa Drive, south of Bob Billings Drive (aka, 15th Street), "Dragstrip Rd" ??? Wow - how did that reference get in there. That name goes back 20+ years! I can't believe that Google Maps would have that. I'm sure there was no under age drinking on "Dragstrip Rd" back in the day.
lawrence623 10 years, 2 months ago
In defense of The Hawk, that establishment does everything it can to curb underage drinking in the bar. Try to get in there without having your ID looked at, ran through a 4-camera system and getting a wristband slapped on you. The vast majority of the problem (and responsibilty) lies with the underage people that go to great lengths to use fake/false ids. That is also the reason that so many of the MIP cases against The Hawk get dismissed. Tom and the other owners do EVERYTHING they can, and then some, to stay legal. You want to slow down the number of MIPs in Lawrence? Have every bar do the same thing that The Hawk does to keep U-21s away from booze.
flyin_squirrel 10 years, 2 months ago
The Hawk isn't the only bar in town that ABC is trying to revoke. There are at least 6 bars Groneman is after. The LPD is the reason Lawrence is having so many bars in trouble with ABC. Local police don't do bar checks in KC, Olathe, Topeka, Manhattan, Witchita, etc... They have better things to do than check bars for college kids. In Lawrence, on any given night, you will see two to six police officers walk through the college bars, and no Last Call isn't one of them.
Kontum1972 10 years, 2 months ago
kids who produce fake ID's should be prosecuted for using an illegal ID they paid money for an illegal state ID,someone is making and selling these I do believe one frat house lost their national charter for having this occur in their chapter. The buck should stop with the ones who buy these ID's...prosecute them, fine the hell out of them have them rat out who is selling the ID's and shut them down. Is this not a function of the KBI?
Instead of lawrence cops checking out the chicks in bars they need to find out who the people are creating these fake ID's.
Kat Christian 10 years, 2 months ago
Close it. We don't need it anyway. Just another place where kids can get drunk and cause trouble or better yet harm themselves in many ways - even subtle ways of having unprotected sex. CLOSE IT I say.
flyin_squirrel 10 years, 2 months ago
Maybe ABC and the LPD should try going after some of the restaurants and bars that don't card anyone, and let the high schoolers drink (a few mexican restaurants come to mind).
imastinker 10 years, 2 months ago
It's been quite a qhuile since I was at KU, but the hawk was where kids went to drink underage. I've actually never been there, but that's what I heard.
heysoos 10 years, 2 months ago
10 years ago I had a fake KSDL that never failed me. I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to spot a fake now with the advances in computer technology and image editing that are available. I'm glad I don't have the responsibility of verifying the validity of IDs in Lawrence.
justthefacts 10 years, 2 months ago
Ahhh casual commenter.... the AG does not control the ABC or Dpt. of Revenue or LPD. The ABC is part of the Dpt. of Revenue. It is true that the AG hires an Assistant AG to work with ABC, but that person also has to get approved by the Sec. for Dpt. of Revenue and is not paid by the AG. The attorney working for Dpt. of revenue is supervised by that agency and is paid out of their budget. Lots of state agencies have attorneys who have gotten special Assistant AG designations for purposes of enforcing state laws. But very few of them are supervised by the AG.
If you want to get the Hawk's license back - you may want to put your political clout to work on the agency that actually does make prosecution decisions in connection with violation of state liquor laws (the Dpt of Revenue) or the elected official who appoints that agency's head (the Governor).
Or better yet, find someone new (and unconnected) to buy the Hawk - so it can be run in compliance with state law, for a change.
Keith 10 years, 2 months ago
How on earth did the Free State get a perfect score? Maybe the Hawk could take lessons if they are interested in bettering their average.
leadrain 10 years, 2 months ago
I was in line at Cork & Barrel on 9th behind some schnockered schmuck trying to purchase some PBR. For anyone makingusing these blatently obvious fake IDs should make sure that the magnetic tape is facing right-side-up. It also helps not to abuse the clerks with obscenities. Cussing someone out doesn't swing the scale in your favor.
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