Penalties for a First-Offense Minor in Possession of Alcohol

Attorney Answer

A first-offense minor-in-possession charge in Connecticut is an infraction, not a crime. You are not facing a criminal conviction, and that is the answer that matters for your internship.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 30-89(b) provides that "[a]ny minor who possesses any alcoholic liquor (1) on any public street or highway, or (2) in any other public or private location, shall, for a first offense, have committed an INFRACTION and for any subsequent offense, be fined not less than two hundred dollars or more than five hundred dollars." In Connecticut an infraction is not a crime. That single word carries the whole answer to your question: there is no jail exposure, no criminal conviction, and no mandatory community service or alcohol class built into the statute.

Before you rely on that, check two things on the paperwork you were handed.

Which subsection. Section 30-89(a) is different. It covers purchasing, attempting to purchase, or making a false statement to procure liquor, and it carries a fine of $200 to $500 rather than the first-offense infraction treatment in subsection (b). If you were cited at a store or with an ID, read the subsection printed on the summons — it is not the same charge.

Whether an exception applies. Subsection (c) excepts possession in the course of qualifying employment, possession on a physician's order, and possession while accompanied by a parent, guardian or spouse who is twenty-one or older. The employment exception is a real one for a 19-year-old who works in a restaurant or retail liquor setting.

So the practical picture is: an infraction is normally resolved by mailing in the plea and the fine set by the fine schedule for that offense. You can instead plead not guilty, which sends the matter to a hearing where the state has to prove it. "Leniency" from a judge is not really the mechanism here — the outcome is largely fixed by the classification.

What you can do

1. Read the summons and write down the exact statute and subsection you were charged under. Confirm it is § 30-89(b) and not § 30-89(a). 2. Check whether any § 30-89(c) exception fits your facts, especially the employment one. 3. Decide your plea before the response date on the summons. Paying resolves it. Pleading not guilty gets you a hearing. 4. Do not miss the response date. Ignoring an infraction summons creates its own problems that are worse than the original ticket. 5. When an internship or job application asks whether you have been convicted of a crime, read the question as written. A first offense under § 30-89(b) is an infraction, not a crime. Answer truthfully and do not volunteer a criminal record you do not have. 6. If the charge is under subsection (a), or if there is a second incident, that changes the calculus and is worth twenty minutes with a defense lawyer.