The Greene County supervisors are ready to take action to thwart a lucrative entrepreneurial activity that has grown in the county in recent months – that of hosting underage beer parties.
Chief deputy Jack Williams suggested to the supervisors at their regular meeting Monday that they adopt a “social host” ordinance similar to the one that has nearly eliminated underage parties in Boone County.
Williams told the supervisors there has been a “huge influx” in underage beer parties, that the sheriff’s office has been responding to a party a week recently. Williams said they’ve found drugs and either found or seen guns at every party. He added the sheriff’s office has received seven or eight complaints of sexual assaults in the last few weeks, at least one of which came from a beer party. “We can’t get it stopped with just our criminal infractions,” he said.
Williams explained that the people who host the parties sell keg beer for $5 a cup, and that they’re making between $500 and $2,000 per party. “If you have 200 or 300 kids, you’re making pretty good profit,” Williams said. Under current law, providing alcohol to a minor carries a $250 penalty. “They don’t care about the citation. They’re making more than that,” he said.
The Boone County ordinance has a penalty of $250 for a first offense and $500 for a second offense. Williams suggested penalties of $500 and $1,000. “Why not go with $1,000 the first time?” supervisor Tom Contner asked.
The parties average 100 kids. The attendees are between the ages of 13 and 30. The last three parties had no attendees from Greene County. Williams said the parties are costly to the county, as deputies are called in and work overtime responding to them.
Sheriff Steve Haupert said the people hosting the parties are coming from Fort Dodge and using properties here with permission or the knowledge of the property owners. “They’re coming for a specific purpose, and they’re poisoning everybody else around here.”
“We’ve got to do something. These kids are obviously driving back home,” Williams said. “It feels like our hands are tied on the criminal side. We’re spinning our wheels and getting nowhere.”
Board chair John Muir said he wanted the penalty to be large enough people would know they’re serious. “We don’t want to slap their hands. We want to stop it,” supervisor Guy Richardson added.
The supervisors plan to have on their Oct. 19 agenda the first reading of a social host ordinance with a penalty of $1,000 for the first offense and $1,500 for subsequent offenses. There was discussion of expediting the process to put the ordinance into effect as soon as possible.
There would be an investigation before issuing the citation, and if the property owner really had no knowledge of the party, there would be no citation. Williams said he has talked to the property owner where more than one party has been held and not gotten results. He hopes a civil penalty will make a difference.
In all the parties over the summer, only five or six Greene County youngsters were involved. Most party-goers are from Webster or Boone County. “I give credit to our Greene County kids. It’s a pretty severe crowd that’s coming to these parties. Our kids stay away,” Haupert said in closing.
