Server Training
After the 2009 legislative session, the legislature tasked the Law and Justice Interim Committee with studying the DUI laws in Montana. The committee spent the following year conducting research on the issue. Out of that research, during the 2011 legislative session, the committee proposed 14 bills to the legislature. One of those bills was SB29 the Responsible Sales and Service Act. The alcohol industry representatives worked closely with the committee and the legislature to modify the bill.
Effective February 12, 2012, The Responsible Sales and Service Act requries the following be trained:
- Anyone who serves or sells alcoholic beverages
- Their immediate supervisor, and
- the licensee if they serve or sell themselves
Any new employee hired after February 12, 2012 needs to receive training within 60 days of hire and every three years thereafter by a state approved training provider. Click here for a list of approved training providers.
People who serve alcohol as a profession can be a positive force in reducing alcohol-related deaths and injuries. Responsible alcohol sales and service training educates retailers on how to sell and serve alcohol safely.
The training promotes four key principles to help businesses operate within the constraints of the law and reduce their liabilities.
- Eliminate selling to underage persons.
- Eliminate secondary selling.
- Eliminate selling to intoxicated customers.
- Refuse altered or false identification.
Training
Several companies have been approved by the state to provide alcohol sales and service training. Click here for a list of approved training providers. The state also has it's own alcohol sales and service training program called, Let's Control It. More than 450 certified state trainers teach the class across the state. Alcohol server training enhances public health and safety through the following actions:
- Educating licensees and servers/sellers about Montana liquor laws
- Providing information to servers/sellers to protect them from third party liability lawsuits
- Reducing illegal alcohol sales to underage persons
- Promoting responsible consumption
- Reducing the number of drunk drivers
- Reducing alcohol abuse
- Reducing overservice of alcohol to patrons
What the Student Learns
Responsible alcohol sales and service training helps servers and sellers develop knowledge and skills that support responsible alcohol service. Classes cover the following topics:
- Why training is important
- Responsibility of servers and sellers
- Effects of underage alcohol use
- Effects of underage tobacco use
- Hours of operation
- Forms of liability
- Reasonable effort
- Developing company policy
- How to identify minors
- Acceptable forms of identification
How the State Class is Taught
The Department of Revenue (DOR) certifies community trainers across the state to provide the responsible alcohol sales and service training. The DOR designs, reviews, and updates the model curriculum, issues certificates of training and maintains training records. To assure accurate, quality instruction, the DOR regularly monitors class evaluations, and each trainer is required to attend an 8-hour train-the-trainer session, pass a certification exam, and recertify every two years.
How to Find a State Trainer
Check calendar for a state class Choose Department of Revenue from the drop down menu. In the "search" field, enter the city you are looking for training or enter "Alcohol Server Training" to search state classes in all cities.
Check for a state trainer by city
Check for a state trainer by county
Trainers schedule their own classes and process their own registrations.
