FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. — Fayette County is threatening stiff fines and jail time for parents caught hosting underage drinking parties.
An ordinance passed Thursday calls for fines up to $500 for the first offense and at least 30 days in jail for a second offense.
Advocates against underage drinking are working to get similar laws passed in Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Tyrone so all of the law enforcement agencies in the county would be on the same page.
"One of the social norms is parents say, 'If they're going to drink, I'd rather they drink at my house," said Dawn Oparah with AVPRIDE, a local nonprofit organization. "With social media you may think you have five people coming but there's hundreds of people coming."
Oparah teamed up with Becky Smith, a fellow advocate against underage drinking, to draft an ordinance that penalizes parents for hosting underage drinking parties.
"This is here now and parents can go to jail," said Smith, executive director of Fayette FACTOR. "The kids were getting minor in possession charges but nothing was happening to the parents."
A push to get a "social host" ordinance in Fayette County began after 19-year-old Andrew Wells was killed in March of 2009 after leaving a party that involved underage drinking. Sheriff Barry Babb estimated there were 300 people in attendance.
James Stalling remembers the shooting because he lives right next door to where it happened. He says he supports the ordinance but has questions on how it will be enforced.
"I don't know how much help it will be, that has yet to be seen, but something clearly has to be done to get the attention of the parents,"
he said.
Smith and Oparah said they're working on a PR campaign to alert parents of the new ordinance. Their research found that Fayette County ranked 27th in the state for underage drinking out of all 159 Georgia counties.
A similar ordinances was passed in Cobb County in 2012.
WSBTV
