Attorney Hammad Matin, center, speaks with Brent Murphy, the clerk for Hardesty’s Inn in Newburg, left, who failed to check a customer’s identification and was fined by the Alcoholic Beverage Board of Charles County Thursday, Feb. 11.

La Plata, MD – Hardesty’s Inn in Newburg was given a hefty fine and closed for two days after a clerk at the liquor store sold alcohol to an underage patron.

The Alcoholic Beverage Board of Charles County fined the owner, Song S. Kim $2,000 and the clerk, Brent Murphy, $150 for the infraction, Thursday, Feb. 11.

Kim said she has been a license holder for 15 years at the Newburg business. They have four full-time employees, she told the board.

Attorney Hammad Matin told the board that Ms. Kim understood the severity of the offense.

“There was a recent prior offense,” Matin noted.

Kim’s husband recently had a prior sale a minor, he added.

Kim explained she has instituted a daily sign-in sheet to remind her employees every day about the importance of checking IDs on everyone who enters the store.

“The reason we have this daily sign in sheet, it’s very important to check everybody’s ID,” she said.

“The reason you did that is because you’re looking at very serious sanctions, as a good citizen and a good business person for Charles County,” Matin added. “This is a way to remind people every day.”

Matin said the only person working at the store who was not certified was Murphy, 23, who has worked there for nine months. He said Kim has since paid to have the employee TAM certified.

Kim told the board she is investing “several thousands of dollars” into a new register system which requires clerks to scan in the ID of the purchaser.

“If you don’t check the ID, the sale cannot take place,” she said.

“This is a pretty revolutionary system,” Matin stressed.

“This is really great,” Liquor Board Chair Pamela Smith said. “But this is your second offense. You’re supposed to have these policies in effect from the beginning. You should have been doing this since day one.”

“Why implement a complex system there’s a simple system?” Board Member James Young asked. “Just take the ID. If it’s vertical you don’t serve.”

Board Member Guy Black suggested two-day closure with a third day held in abeyance.

Kim was fined $2,000, Murphy $150 and the store will have to close Feb. 22-23.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com