Riverton Council Weighs ‘Points System’ To Crack Down On Liquor License Violations

The original story by Katie Roenigk for County 10.

The Riverton City Council is set for a busy night on Tuesday, Dec. 2, and one of the big topics on the agenda is a new point-based enforcement system for businesses that hold liquor licenses.

The regular meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Riverton City Hall, 816 N. Federal Blvd. A brief Finance Committee session will be held beforehand at 6:45 p.m. in the same room.

Both meetings are open to the public and will also be live-streamed on the city’s YouTube channel, where recordings of past meetings are available. Anyone with questions can call City Hall at (307) 856-2227.

First up on the agenda: a public hearing and council vote on a restaurant liquor license for Taqueria Los Amigos Inc. If approved, the local restaurant would be able to serve alcohol with meals under the city’s licensing rules.

The council will also consider granting a hangar ground lease at Central Wyoming Regional Airport to Jerry Bornhoft, allowing him to use airport property for a private hangar.

The main policy discussion of the night will come during a second public hearing on a proposed ordinance that would overhaul how Riverton enforces its liquor license rules.

Instead of handling violations case-by-case with less structure, the city is looking at adopting a point-based system that assigns penalties based on:

• How serious the violation is;
• How often a business has gotten into trouble in the past.

According to a staff memo, the new framework is designed to make enforcement more consistent and fair across all license holders.

Here’s how it would generally work:

• Each type of violation (for example, selling to minors, overserving, or failing to follow hours or reporting rules) would be assigned a point value.
• Those points would add up over a 12-month period for each business.
• As a business hits certain point thresholds, the city would apply progressive penalties – starting small and getting more serious with repeat problems.

Penalties could include:

• Written warnings for lower-level or first-time issues;
• Fines for more serious or repeated violations;
• Suspension of a liquor license in more severe or persistent cases;
• Revocation of the license if a business continually racks up violations.

The ordinance would also spell out how the process works behind the scenes, including:

• How and when license holders are notified of alleged violations;
• How they can request a hearing;
• How they can appeal decisions to a hearing examiner or the City Council itself.

In short, the city wants a system where businesses know exactly what to expect if they break the rules – and where enforcement doesn’t depend on who happens to be handling a particular case.

Later in the meeting, the council will hear an annual construction report, covering recent and ongoing projects in Riverton.

If needed, the council may go into an executive session – a closed-door portion of the meeting allowed under state law for certain legal, personnel, or contractual matters – before officially adjourning for the night.

Riverton residents who want to weigh in on the new liquor enforcement system, support or oppose the new restaurant license, or just keep up with what their city government is doing can attend in person or tune in online Tuesday night.