The Athens-Clarke County commissioners’ quest to halt underage drinking in Athens could go before a new audience early next year – the Georgia General Assembly.

Although still in the planning stages, some ACC commissioners are pursuing stricter state laws to fight underage drinking.

But state representatives would have to share their plans with fellow lawmakers.

Underage drinking laws can’t be enacted at the local level because they would override state law.

Commissioner and mayoral candidate Tom Chasteen said he would like to see doormen held accountable for letting underage patrons into bars.

“‘I tried my best’ isn’t good enough,” he said of some doormen’s excuses.

Commissioner Elton Dodson said he was unsure whether he would support criminal penalties for doormen.

He added that it would be difficult to prove someone intentionally looked the other way for an underage customer.

“I doubt there are many career doormen out there,” he said. “That seems like more of a temporary job, and mistakes are bound to happen.”

Chasteen said he also would like to see legislation passed making it a crime to provide an ID to someone underage.

Chasteen said that although underage drinking is a bigger problem in Athens than in non-college towns, stricter laws would benefit the entire state.

Dodson said officials will scrutinize the language of potential legislation with hopes of avoiding lawsuits.

“The last thing we want to do is take wild shots in the dark with taxpayers’ money,” he said.

County attorney Bill Berryman is in the process of crafting a more viable plan to combat underage drinking for commissioners to review.

He could not be reached for comment.

Chasteen called for the personal information on the bar code on the back of Georgia driver’s licenses to be made available to retailers.

The bar code was placed on the back of state IDs to fight underage drinking, said Susan Sports, spokeswoman for the state Department of Driver Services.

However, she said there was a snag with the retailers of the scanning system, halting its implementation.

While the business debate continues, new measures are being taken to reduce illegal alcohol consumption.

A red box surrounds the identification picture of those under 21.

Within the next year, Sport said the personal information of people under 21 would be displayed vertically, rather than horizontally.

Nevada currently employs such a system.

The state delegation representing Athens will be decided in less than a month, and several candidates could end up taking the issue to the Capitol.

Democrat Jane Kidd is running for the state senate seat in District 46, which includes West Athens, Oconee and Walton counties.

She said she would be open to hearing recommendations from the commission.

“I’m not sure what the solution would be,” she said. “But I think everyone would agree that something needs to be done.”

Her opponent, Bill Cowsert, was unavailable for comment.

Incumbent Ralph Hudgens will defend his District 47 senate seat against Democrat Mac Rawson.

The district is made up of East Athens, Barrow, Jackson, Madison and Elbert counties.

Doug McKillip, Regina Quick and E.H. Culpepper are running to represent Athens in the state House of Representatives.