W. Va. Code § 60-7-12b – Liability of intoxicated persons; liability of persons or licensees for knowingly unlawful sales; rebuttable presumptions and exceptions.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the contrary, a licensee or person acting on the licensee’s behalf who sells, furnishes, or serves an alcoholic beverage to a person is not thereby liable in a civil action for damages for injury, death, or damage caused by or resulting from the impairment or intoxication of the person who was furnished the alcoholic beverage, including injury or death to other individuals, unless either of the following circumstances apply:
1. (1) The licensee or person acting on the licensee’s behalf knowingly sells, furnishes, or serves alcoholic beverages to a person who is not of lawful drinking age; or
2. (2) The licensee or person acting on the licensee’s behalf knowingly sells, furnishes, or serves alcoholic beverages to a person who was visibly intoxicated at the time the alcoholic beverage was furnished.
(b) Where either of the circumstances set forth in §60-7-12b(a) of this code are met by a preponderance of the evidence, a person or licensee may become liable for injury or damage caused by or resulting from the intoxication of the person when the sale, furnishing, or serving of alcoholic beverages to the person is the proximate cause of the injury or damage.
(c) In determining whether the sale, furnishing, or serving of alcoholic beverages to a person not of legal drinking age is done knowingly, as provided in §60-7-12b(a)(1) of this code, a rebuttable presumption that the alcoholic beverages were not sold, furnished, or served knowingly exists if:
1. (1) The person selling, furnishing, or serving alcoholic beverages has installed a transaction scan device on its licensed premises and can demonstrate that it requires each employee, servant, or agent to verify the age of any individual to whom alcoholic beverages have been furnished; or,
2. (2) The person selling, furnishing, or serving alcoholic beverages can demonstrate that it requires each employee, servant, or agent to verify the age of any individual to whom an alcoholic beverage is sold by providing evidence:
  1. (A) That it has developed a written policy which requires each employee, servant, or agent to verify the age of each individual to whom an alcoholic beverage will be sold, furnished, or given away;
  2. (B) That it has communicated this policy to each employee, servant, or agent; and
  3. (C) That it monitors the actions of its employees, servants, or agents regarding the sale, furnishing, or provision without charge of any alcoholic beverage and that it has taken corrective action for any discovered noncompliance with this policy.
(d) For purposes of this section, an intoxicated person of lawful drinking age operating a motor vehicle, an executor or administrator of the intoxicated motor vehicle operator’s estate, any person voluntarily riding in a motor vehicle operated by a person known to be intoxicated, or an executor or administrator of any person voluntarily riding in a motor vehicle operated by a person known to be intoxicated, do not have a private cause of action against any licensee, person acting on the licensee’s behalf, or owner or lessor of any building of a licensee, for injuries to his or her person or property arising from the actions of the intoxicated driver.
(e) For any cause of action brought pursuant to this section against a licensee or person acting on the licensee’s behalf that maintains liquor liability insurance in an amount not less than $1 million per occurrence and at least $2 million in the aggregate, a verdict of past medical expenses is limited to $1 million, and an award of punitive damages may not exceed two times the amount of compensatory damages awarded.
(f) For purposes of this section, these terms are defined as follows:
“Alcoholic beverage” includes alcohol, beer, including nonintoxicating beer and nonintoxicating craft beer, wine, spirits and any other liquid or solid capable of being used as a beverage.
“Knowing” or “knowingly” means knew or should have known under a totality of the circumstances.
“Transaction scan device” means any commercial device or combination of devices used at a point of sale that is capable of deciphering in an electronically readable format the information enclosed on the magnetic strip or bar code of a driver’s license or other government-issued identity card.
“Visible intoxication” or “visibly intoxicated” means actual evidence of a person’s action or series of actions that present objective signs of intoxication. A person’s blood alcohol content or the number of alcoholic beverages a person consumes do not constitute prima facie evidence to establish that a person is visibly intoxicated within the meaning of this section but may be admissible as relevant evidence of the person’s intoxication.
(g) Notwithstanding any other effective date to the contrary, the amendments to this article, enacted during the 2025 regular legislative session, apply to all cases filed on or after August 1, 2025.