Lowering the bar: Centre County tops Pennsylvania in underage drinking citations
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Centre County led Pennsylvania in underage drinking citations during the most recent five-year period for which data is available, the administrative arm of the state Supreme Court said earlier this month.
Not including DUI offenses, about one in 10 offenses in the county that’s home to Penn State were for underage drinking from 2019-23, according to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. About 8% of offenses in Allegheny County were for underage drinking, the second-highest percentage in the state.
In addition to recording the greatest share of underage drinking offenses, Centre County also reported the most in raw numbers. More than 3,600 underage drinking citations were handed out in Centre County, topping the nearly 2,700 in Allegheny County.
Rural Cameron and Forest counties had only two such citations over that same period.
Statewide, underage citations dropped sharply since the coronavirus pandemic. There were more than 9,700 in 2019, but only about 6,800 were reported in 2023 — a decrease of about 30%.
About $2.2 million in fines were collected over the five-year period, according to the AOPC.