Immunity of permit holder, agent or employee.
Columbus City Codes § 2325.639
in effect2325.639 - Immunity of permit holder, agent or employee.
No permit holder, the permit holder's agent, or employee, may be found guilty of a violation of any section of this chapter in which age is an element of the offense, if any court of record finds all of the following:
(A) That the person buying, at the time of so doing, exhibited to the permit holder, the permit holder's agent or employee or other person, a driver's or commercial driver's license or an identification card issued under Sections 4507.50 to 4507.52 of the Revised Code showing that the person buying was then at least twenty-one years of age if the person was buying beer as defined in Section 2325.01 of the City Code or intoxicating liquor or that the person was then at least eighteen years of age if the person was buying any low-alcohol beverage;
(B) That the permit holder, the permit holder's agent or employee or the other person made a bona fide effort to ascertain the true age of the person buying by checking the identification presented, at the time of the purchase, to ascertain that the description on the identification compared with the appearance of the buyer and that the identification presented had not been altered in any way;
(C) That the permit holder, the permit holder's agent or employee, or other person had reason to believe that the person buying was of legal age.
In any action or proceeding before a court of record in which a defense is raised under this section, the registrar of motor vehicles or the registrar's deputy who issued an identification card under Sections 4507.50 to 4507.52 of the Revised Code shall be permitted to submit certified copies of the records, in the registrar's possession, of such issuance in lieu of the testimony of the personnel of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles at any proceeding.
(ORC 4301.639; Ord. 2535-94; Ord. No. 2019-2021, § 1, 7-26-2021)
Source: City of Columbus, City Codes and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/oh/columbus/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT23GEOFCO_CH2325LICO_2325.639IMPEHOAGEMFetched: 10/27/2026