State guide

Texas bar ID scanning law: what §109.61 and SB 650 say

By Apparent Logic, LLC · Updated October 5, 2026
Legal sources last checked September 2026 · How we review sources

For Texas bars and alcohol retailers: SB 650’s 2025 ID-scanning requirement covers most retail sales for off-premises consumption, but not sales on a Mixed Beverage Permit holder’s premises (Tex. Alco. Bev. Code §109.61(a-1)).

What the law says

Selling to a minor (§106.03)

Under §106.03(a), a person commits an offense if, with criminal negligence, they sell an alcoholic beverage to a minor. It’s a Class A misdemeanor under §106.03(c). For an individual, that’s punishable by up to a $4,000 fine, up to a year in jail, or both (Tex. Penal Code §12.21). Penal Code §12.51 sets separate fines for business entities.

Under §106.03(b), a seller doesn’t commit the offense if the minor falsely claimed to be 21 or older by showing an apparently valid, government-issued ID whose physical description and photograph are consistent with the minor’s appearance. Under §106.03(d), that exception doesn’t apply if electronically readable information the seller accessed under §109.61 identified the driver’s license or ID certificate as invalid.

Who has to scan (§109.61(a-1))

Senate Bill 650 took effect September 1, 2025. It added §109.61(a-1): in retail sales for off-premises consumption, a covered seller “shall” visually inspect the ID and access its electronically readable information, or may manually enter it into an electronic reader if the ID can’t be electronically scanned.

TABC lists the covered types, except holders that operate a restaurant or hold a Brewpub License on the premises:

• Package Store (P) and Wine Only Package Store (Q)
• Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer’s Off-Premise (BQ) and Retail Dealer’s Off-Premise (BF)
• Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer’s (BG) and Retail Dealer’s On-Premise (BE), for their off-premises sales

(a-1) also excludes sales on the premises of distillers, wineries, brewers, brewpubs, Mixed Beverage Permit holders and restaurants, plus certain event, delivery and outdoor-pickup sales. Our SB 650 guide covers those and the limits in (a-2), (a-3) and (d-1).

TABC discipline for (a-1) violations (§109.61(a-4))

§109.61(a-4) bars TABC discipline for (a-1) violations in sales made before September 1, 2027, and SB 650 §3 requires TABC rules by that date. Violating §109.61, including its scanning, retention and marketing rules, is a Class A misdemeanor under §109.61(d), and SB 650 has no clause delaying that.

The §109.61(e) defense and its limit in (f)

§109.61(e)(1) sets out an affirmative defense to prosecution under the code, for an offense that has a person’s age as an element, if “a transaction scan device identified the license or certificate of the purchaser as valid and that the person is over 21, and the defendant accessed the information and relied on the results in good faith.”

§109.61(e)(2) sets out an affirmative defense for the owner of a store in which alcoholic beverages are sold at retail, when an employee made the sale, if the owner had provided a transaction scan device in working condition and adequate training in its use, and did not directly or indirectly encourage the employee to violate the law. Under §109.61(f), the (e) defense doesn’t apply in actions to cancel, deny, or suspend a license or permit, except as TABC rules provide.

Keeping scan data (§109.61(b), (c))

As amended by SB 650, §109.61(b) reads: “A person may not retain information accessed under this section.” Subsection (b-1) still describes how “information retained” may be printed or stored; how the two fit together is a question for TABC or counsel. Under §109.61(c), the information “may not be marketed in any manner.”

What it means at the counter

At a bar on a Mixed Beverage Permit, (a-1) doesn’t apply to sales on the premises, and §106.03 still applies. Whether an expired or unreadable result counts as “invalid” under §106.03(d), and whether a bar is a “store” under §109.61(e)(2), are questions for your lawyer.

Where Check ID fits

Check ID reads the barcode on US and Canadian licenses and ID cards, checks the birth and expiry dates against your rules, and shows a clear result, such as Verified, Underage or Expired ID. Verified means only that the dates meet your rules, and your staff make the call. It can’t tell whether a card is genuine: a well-made fake can carry a valid barcode. We don’t claim Check ID is a “transaction scan device” under §109.61, or that its results are a legal finding that an ID is valid.

A scan record never keeps the name, date of birth, address, ID number or a picture of the ID, on any plan. It keeps the result, the age in whole years, the issuing state or country, the document type, and when and how the ID was scanned, plus, from version 3.0, the REAL ID indicator as encoded. Free and Pro scan history covers 7 days on your device or in your own iCloud, and can be turned off in Settings. Check ID for Teams keeps records on our servers for two years by default, and each also holds the REAL ID indicator, the venue, the device and which staff member ran the scan.

Barcode scans also make a one-way repeat-entry code, which is still derived from the ID. By default the free and Pro app keeps it on that device, and clears codes older than 7 days at the first scan after the app restarts. Teams keeps a keyed copy on our servers for the repeat-entry window (4 hours by default). Personal guest lists hold the names you add, which can include one saved from a scan. Teams guest lists hold the names your team types in or imports. Security & data shows what each plan keeps.

Whether a scan helps your situation under this law, and whether any of these records, including the repeat-entry code or a guest-list name added from a scan, is “information accessed” under §109.61(b), are questions for your lawyer or TABC.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Tex. Alco. Bev. Code §109.61, retrieved September 2026.
• Tex. Alco. Bev. Code §106.03, retrieved September 2026.
• Tex. Penal Code §§12.21 and 12.51, retrieved September 2026.
• Senate Bill 650, 89th Legislature (2025), retrieved September 2026.
• Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Age Verification, retrieved September 2026.