## Facts

- A corporation held a Class B alcohol beverage license for the Village Green Tavern in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
- Janet Beaudry was the corporation’s statutorily required designated “agent” for the license and was vested by statute with authority and control over the premises and alcohol-related business.
- At approximately 3:45 a.m., a deputy sheriff observed unusual activity at the tavern, including lights, music, a person behind the bar, and glasses on the bar.
- The deputy was admitted by the tavern manager, Mark Witkowski, and found the manager and two men inside drinking.
- Wisconsin law required Class B licensed premises to be closed between 1:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.
- The manager testified that keeping the tavern open and serving after hours was his own idea and was contrary to the owners’ instructions; Beaudry did not authorize or know of it.
- The State charged Beaudry, as the corporate agent, with unlawfully remaining open for business after 1:00 a.m.; the manager was not charged.
- A jury convicted Beaudry and she was fined $200; the court of appeals affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether Wisconsin’s alcohol beverage statutes impose vicarious criminal liability on a corporation’s designated agent for an employee’s after-hours violation of Wis. Stat. § 125.68(4)(c).
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support Beaudry’s conviction despite her lack of personal participation, authorization, or knowledge.

## Decision

- The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the conviction.
- The court held that the statutory scheme places responsibility on the designated corporate agent as if the agent personally held the license, making the agent vicariously criminally liable for employees’ violations occurring in operation of the licensed premises.
- The court rejected the argument that the employee’s lack of authorization precluded liability, concluding the violation was attributable because it occurred on the licensed premises in connection with the tavern’s operation.
- The court rejected due process objections, characterizing the offense as a public welfare/regulatory offense for which strict or vicarious liability with modest penalties is constitutionally permissible.
- The court held the evidence was sufficient because the premises were open and operating after 1:00 a.m. and Beaudry was the statutorily designated agent for that licensed premises; proof of her presence or knowledge was not required.

## Legal Principles

- A designated agent for a corporate alcohol beverage license may be held vicariously criminally liable for alcohol-law violations committed by employees in operating the licensed premises, even without the agent’s participation, authorization, or knowledge.
- For regulatory/public welfare offenses involving heavily regulated activities such as alcohol licensing, the legislature may impose strict or vicarious liability consistent with due process, particularly where sanctions are primarily regulatory and relatively modest.
- In prosecutions under this statutory framework, the State may establish guilt by proving a qualifying violation occurred on the licensed premises and the defendant held the statutory agent status tied to that license, without proving mens rea or personal involvement.

## Conclusion

The court upheld a corporate liquor-license agent’s misdemeanor conviction for after-hours operation based on the statutory allocation of responsibility to the designated agent and the permissibility of vicarious liability for public welfare alcohol-regulation offenses.


State v. Beaudry, 365 N.W.2d 593 (Wis. 1985)