Perry County compliance checks result in 5 summonses

The Perry County Sheriff's Department issued five summonses to Perry County store clerks who sold alcohol to a 19-year-old informant in a county-wide sweep to find and deter stores selling alcohol to minors Jan. 13.

The alcohol compliance checks are part of a grant from the state that pays for officer and informant salaries and gives reimbursement for mileage.

"This is the second year we have participated in this program and I believe it makes a difference," Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf said in a news release.

In each instance, the informant walked to the cooler, picked up a form of beer and then checked out successfully.

The sheriff's department said it is doing the compliance checks in an attempt to reduce the amount of underage consumption of alcohol and underage driving while intoxicated.

"We know this is only one way underage persons acquire alcohol, but we want to make it a little more difficult for them to get it," Schaaf said in the release.