Ticketed: An 18-year-old football player. Though he was just 18, the freshman held a clear cup with a blue liquid with his black-inked hand stamped with a large “U.” How did he get into KAM’S bar? Well, as he put it, he was “one of the boys.”

Ticketed: Four out-of-towners, all 18. They told officers that a bar employee had let them in through the back entrance.

Ticketed: A bartender, after police sent in two undercover minors who were served a pair of Bud Lights. When an officer went in to confront the bartender, telling her she just sold to underage patrons, the woman responded, “Was it those two girls without wristbands?”

Those patrons each faced $320 tickets from the city of Champaign, but the legal consequences didn’t end with those who were directly ticketed. These are just a few violations of Champaign’s liquor code city officials pointed to when cracking down on management at KAM’S.

According to police reports and city records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, officers found other liquor code violations by KAM’S 11 out of the 18 times the bar was checked in 2012.

“The pattern which has emerged at KAM’S is alarming not only to the City of Champaign but to the State as well,” said Champaign Mayor and Liquor Commissioner Don Gerard in a letter to KAM’S owner Eric Meyer dated Dec. 13.

After serving a two-week suspension over winter break and paying a $3,000 fine, KAM’S is expected to reopen Friday afternoon with a new city-mandated age of entry of 21 years.

Meyer had the opportunity to dispute the punitive measures, but according to Deputy Liquor Commissioner Teri Legner, he did not request a hearing against the city’s judgement, which could have resulted in the full revocation of his liquor license.

That two-week suspension ran from Dec. 21 to Jan. 4. The over-21 age limit, running contrary to the city ordinance that allows 19- and 20-year-olds into Champaign bars, will end May 12.

Under the liquor violation fine schedule the mayor adopted upon taking office, a liquor license can be revoked after five violations in a fiscal year. But Legner said the mayor was interested in looking for alternatives to forcing KAM’S to shut down.

“There’s a balance between holding a licensee accountable for compliance and putting someone out of business,” Legner said.

But the effects of operating as the only bar restricted to of-age drinkers on KAM’S’ business prospects remains to be seen.

The violations cited against KAM’S include the announcement of a police presence in the bar, the presence of minors under the age of 19 in the bar and sales to underage drinkers, as well as one “threshold violation,” where the number of minor in possession tickets issued in a single bar raid exceeded a limit based on the bar’s maximum occupancy.

No representative from KAM’S was available for comment.

Nathaniel can be reached at [email protected].