Can you drive, fly or buy alcohol with an expired Texas driver’s license? Here’s the law

Dalia Faheid
·3 min read
6

In Texas, you can legally buy booze and enter a bar with an expired driver’s license, but some establishments may have even stricter rules than what state law requires.

Here’s what Texas law says about buying alcohol, driving and flying with an expired driver’s license.

Can you buy alcohol in Texas with an expired driver’s license?

State law doesn’t require an individual over 21 years old to present any ID to purchase alcohol in Texas. However, because store clerks, wait staff and bartenders can be held criminally liable for selling to a minor, they often require a military, state or federal government-issued photo identification to prove their age. If the customer is obviously over 21, they may not require an ID.

There’s no specific forms of valid IDs for alcohol purchases in the law. A store, bar or restaurant can choose whether to sell alcohol to a person with an expired driver’s license, a foreign passport or other ID. It’s a matter of that establishment’s private business policies.

Some Texas retailers require that customers provide proof of age for all alcoholic beverage purchases, regardless of their age. Some will only accept a Texas driver’s license or Texas ID card as valid identification. Some insist that everyone in a group show ID when one of them is attempting to buy alcohol.

According to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, someone who sells a minor an alcoholic beverage does not commit an offense if the minor falsely represents themselves to be 21 years or older with an apparently valid ID that:

  • Contains a physical description and photograph that appears to match the minor’s appearance.

  • Seems to establish the minor is 21 or older.

  • May be a driver’s license issued by any state, a U.S. passport, a military ID card or any other ID issued by a state or the federal government.

Can you drive with an expired driver’s license in Texas?

Most Texas driver’s licenses are valid for six years before they must be renewed. The Texas Transportation Code Chapter 521 requires all drivers to carry a valid driver’s license, and violations can result in a misdemeanor charge.

The penalties for these violations in Texas, according to LegalMatch:

  • A fine of up to $200 for a first time offense

  • A fine ranging from $25 to up to $200 for a second violation within one year of the first offense

  • A fine of up to $500 along with jail time of no less than 72 hours and no greater than 6 months for a third conviction within one year of the second offense

According to state law, a driver can take the following steps prior to their scheduled court date to avoid larger fines:

  • Obtain a driver’s license renewal

  • Provide proof of the driver’s license renewal

  • Pay a $20 fee

Can you board a flight in Texas with an expired driver’s license?

You can fly out of a Texas airport with an expired driver’s license, until 2025 that is, due to a pandemic-era grace policy. That’s how long the Transportation Security Administration’s exemption for expired driver’s licenses will last.

If your driver’s license or state-issued ID expired on or after March 1, 2020, and you are unable to renew at your state driver’s license agency, you can still use it as acceptable identification at the security checkpoint.

Until May 7, 2025, the TSA will accept expired driver’s licenses or state-issued ID a year after expiration.