Party buses dropping minors off at rural bars a growing concern in states like North Dakota

Rural areas in North Dakota are dealing with a growing concern—party buses carrying large numbers of often underage people who enter bars and try to purchase drinks, Becky Jacobs reports for The Bismark Tribune. On Friday 26 minors, all students at the University of North Dakota, were arrested for minor in possession at a bar in Emerado (Best Places map) 17 miles west of Grand Forks. The 26 students were part of a group of 28 students on a party bus.

Grand Forks County Sheriff Bob Rost, who said his department has been called to the bar before for similar complains of minor in possession, said the minors typically would have been cited and released, but the students on Friday became belligerent and refused to produce identification, Jacobs writes.

Rost said a lack of ID scanners and bouncers "can lead to underage drinking problems at other bars," Jacobs writes. Rost said "in addition to the rural bars being on alert, 'bus drivers need to be more aware of whom they’re letting on their bus.' Rost told Jacobs, "If a bus driver is hauling people on a bus, and they have alcohol, they need to ensure these guys are of age." (Read more)