It is illegal to sell alcoholic beverages to someone unless they show a Texas driver’s license?
The law does not require that a person over 21 provide any identification to purchase alcohol in Texas. But since store clerks, waitresses, and bartenders can be held criminally liable for selling to a minor, they often require a Texas driver’s license or Texas Identification Card issued by the Department of Public Safety, to prove that the person really is 21. The law provides a statutory defense to the charge of selling an alcoholic beverage to a minor when the seller has asked for and examined an apparently valid DPS issued Texas DL or ID card which contains a physical description consistent with the presenter’s appearance and shows the presenter to be 21 years of age of older. So a store, bar or restaurant might or might not sell alcohol to a person with an out-of-state driver’s license, military ID, or passport. What’s acceptable in any establishment is a matter of that establishment’s private business policies.
