That's a toughie and I think too arbitrary. I was a bartender many moons ago. I always felt that if a patron gets drunk in your bar, the bartender is to an extent responsible. With me, it depended on the customer. Is he a regular? Do I know this guy? Is he going to walk a block home and sleep it off? Is he going get into a car and play beat the light? If the guy walked into my bar and staggering, of course I would not serve him.  Two tap beers can make a person legally "drunk." If a cop doesn't like the bartender or the establishment, a bartender can become prey.

AHHHHH - once again throwing out the baby with the bathwater!!!  Personal responsibility people! It is NOT the bartenders job to determine if you are drunk or not. The bartender is paid to serve drinks, period!

Witter-I 100% agree

That may have been true once upon a time, witter, but if a DUI runs over somebody and it's shown he got that way in your bar, the bartender and the establishment is on the hook. If I bartended today, I wouldn't have the descretion I had years ago.

It really doesn't matter if I think the bartenders should be held accountable for serving drinks to an intoxicated person. The LAW says they can be cited for doing so. Kinda simple.

I use to bartend.  And I'd "cut" people OFF....I didn't like that part of the job, but it had to be done.  Enough is enough when you're drunk and slurring your words, you're done.

Everyone needs to be issued two tickets as they enter the bar.  Each ticket good for one alcoholic beverage.  Not the cost mind you, this is just to let the bartender know when you've had your limit.  Possibly a scale to weigh you so that, if you're big enough, you could have 3 tickets.  Of course, since alcohol more adversly affects women than men, maybe a ticket and a half for most average sized women.

Now, if this is a hotel bar and the customer produces a receipt for his/her room, additional tickets could be issued as long as the customer signed a contract that they would not leave the hotel property.

On a busy night where a cocktail waitress is also working, it would be up to the waitress to collect the tickets and turn them in at the bar when placing her order with the bartender.  To keep people from giving their tickets to others one might need their name stamped on teach ticket and with each order ID would be required to verify that the ticket, in fact, does belong to that person.

Right, OldBlue. Bars, especially hard liquor, can be money makers. Being made responsible for the safety of customers and the public goes with the territory. What I or anyone else thinks, the law is the law. How it is enforced can be debatable but it is rare for the judge to listen to it.

Several years ago, a movie actor left a bar and got killed.

Bar was not liable.

Please give case law on bartenders who have been sued

and bars and restaurants sued.

Or do the Beer Festival promoters go to jail for the murder

at their event?

Drunks are responsible.

Uhh..mine was heavy on the sarcasm..lol