UNDATED (WTAQ) – Fond du Lac County’s “social host” ordinance cannot be enforced because it goes beyond what state law allows, a ruling from the Wisconsin Court of Appeals said Wednesday.
At issue is a high school graduation party on June 20, 2015 that Stuart Muche hosted for family and friends.
Towards the end of the party, several people who were not invited to the party who were under age 21, brought beer and were drinking it. Muche took their keys before sheriff’s deputies arrived.
Muche admitted to officials that he didn’t do anything to stop the underage people from drinking the alcohol they brought, but he says he didn’t host an underage drinking party. Muche was cited for violating Fond du Lac County Ordinance § 6-5, the social host ordinance.
He appealed the ticket, arguing that the penalties and language exceeds what’s permitted under state law is uneforceable. While the circuit court judge disagreed, the appeals court overturned the conviction Wednesday.
“We note that the penalties under the Fond du Lac ordinance are not in strict conformity with those set forth in the state statute… The Fond du Lac penalty applied to Muche exceeds the penalties authorized by § 125.07(1)(b). Thus, Fond du Lac’s social host ordinance is not in strict conformity with the state statute, even if, in substance, it were,” the court wrote.
It ordered the citation be dismissed.
