Stage 5 of 7 · Penalized
TABC Civil Penalty vs. Suspension: Which Should You Choose?
In this guide
You can choose only if TABC offers the choice, and the Alcoholic Beverage Code decides when it must. Section 11.64 requires TABC to offer a civil penalty in place of a suspension unless the violation is on a statutory list, which includes sales to minors and intoxicated persons, sales or consumption during prohibited hours, refusing inspection, and breaches of the peace; for those, TABC decides whether to offer it. When the choice is offered, it is a business decision: the penalty amount against the cost of having no alcohol sales for the suspension days, with the same violation on the record either way.
When TABC must offer the fine, and when it may refuse
Under Section 11.64(a) of the Alcoholic Beverage Code, when TABC is authorized to suspend a permit, it “shall give the permittee or licensee the opportunity to pay a civil penalty rather than have the permit or license suspended,” unless the basis for the suspension is a listed ground. Besides the grounds above, the list includes drink solicitation and offenses relating to prostitution, trafficking of persons, gambling, or controlled substances. TABC Rule 34.4 confirms that for those listed violations the executive director may decline to offer the civil penalty. TABC’s commission voted on September 22, 2026, to propose amendments to Rules 34.1 through 34.4 and 34.10, for publication in the Texas Register on October 9, 2026; the rules described here are those in effect as of October 2, 2026.
The amount has statutory limits: “not less than $150 or more than $25,000 for each day the permit or license was to have been suspended.” And there is a deadline: if the business “does not pay the penalty before the sixth day after the commission or administrator notifies him of the amount,” the suspension is imposed.
How TABC sets the amount
Section 11.641 requires the amount to be “appropriate for the nature and seriousness of the violation.” TABC must consider:
- the type of license or permit;
- the type of violation;
- aggravating or mitigating circumstances, including those listed in Section 11.64(c);
- the business’s previous violations; and
- for a business that has violated the Code before, whether and how much it profited from the violation.
The amount “may not be based on” the volume of alcohol sold, the business’s receipts, the taxes paid, or the business’s financial condition.
Within those limits, TABC’s rules supply the starting figures. For public safety violations, Rule 34.2(a) attaches an optional penalty of $300 per suspension day. For regulatory violations, TABC’s Penalty Policy calculates a dollar penalty first and converts it to suspension days by dividing by the base penalty.
The forms an offer can take
TABC’s AIMS guide to responding to an administrative notice lists the order types a settlement can produce:
| Order type | What the business does |
|---|---|
| Civil Penalty Only | Pays the stated amount |
| Suspension Only | Closes alcohol sales for the stated days |
| Suspension or Civil Penalty | Chooses: pays by the due date, or serves the days |
| Suspension and Civil Penalty | Serves the suspension and pays the penalty |
| Cancellation | Loses the permit |
| Warning | Acknowledges the warning |
Under Rule 34.1(f), suspension days run consecutively, and TABC may agree to divide a sanction between suspension days and a civil penalty.
What a suspension costs beyond lost alcohol sales
A suspension stops alcohol sales for its full term, reaches the permit’s secondary certificates, and is reported by TABC to the wholesalers that supply retailers in the area. A civil penalty, by contrast, is a payment with a deadline. Neither choice removes the violation: TABC’s settlement form states that the violation becomes part of the license or permit history, and that history can affect the sanction for a later violation.
Comparing the two
For example, imagine a public safety violation for which TABC offers 4 days of suspension or a civil penalty at Rule 34.2’s $300 per day, which is $1,200 due before the deadline. The comparison is:
| Pay the penalty | Serve the suspension |
|---|---|
| $1,200, paid by the due date | Four consecutive days without selling, serving, or delivering alcohol |
| Operations continue unchanged | Food and non-alcohol sales can continue; staffing, events, and customer traffic over those days change |
| Violation on the record | Violation on the record |
The questions that decide it are the business’s own: what four days of alcohol sales and the related traffic are worth, whether those days fall on a weekend or an event, and whether the business can pay before the sixth day after notice. If the offer is “Suspension Only” or TABC declines the penalty option for a listed violation, there is no choice to make, and the remaining decision is whether to accept the settlement or request a hearing.
This article is general information about Texas alcoholic beverage law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutes and TABC rules change; confirm current requirements with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the relevant city or county, or a licensed Texas attorney before acting.