The city of Racine, Wis., has announced a policy change that will see liquor outlet owners -- not clerks -- slapped with hefty fines when alcohol is sold to minors, the Racine Journal Times reported May 26.

Previously, clerks who sold alcohol to underage buyers were hit with a $536 fine, but now the Racine Police Department will issue the ticket to the store or bar owners, instead.

"It's really the owner's responsibility to train their employees and control their employees and it's their license," said Racine Police Capt. Carl Pavilonis. "If we keep citing clerks, there's really no incentive for the agent to abide by the law."

A series of compliance checks in the Racine area over the past few years have failed to cut the rate of alcohol sales to minors, experts say, with about a quarter of establishments selling to underage drinkers.

"After we had the five rounds, we really had a sense of pattern," said Mary Esther Schnaubelt, project coordinator of the group Focus on Community, which is involved in alcohol-sale compliance issues. "It definitely says we need to change the way we're approaching the problem ... The hope is that will put the responsibility where it lies ... and encourage store owners to train their clerks, help them so they know the right procedures to follow on how to prevent underage sales."