
Did you know? In Virginia, you can buy liquor the day before you turn 21.
In 1963, then-Virginia Attorney General Robert Button made a ruling that created a little-known opportunity for those turning 21.
Button reasoned that common law doesn’t recognize fractions of a day. Therefore, he wrote, if someone’s birthday is Nov. 6, they have technically begun their next year, so they completed their previous year on Nov. 5.
This means a person reaches the legal drinking age the day before their birthday.
This rule — known as the “coming-of-age rule” — was part of English common law, which many states base their code on. This includes Virginia and Maryland.
In 2001, a Maryland circuit court upheld the coming-of-age rule when defining when someone enters adulthood — the day before their 18th birthday.
Not all states recognize this rule, though. Like Maryland and Virginia, North Carolina’s code is generally based on English common law. However, North Carolina adopted the “birthday rule” in 1995 to avoid the confusion that comes with fractions of a day. This means someone is only considered an age on the same day as their birthday.
The Virginia ABC website cautions that some vendors of alcoholic beverages may adopt policies against selling to someone the day before they turn 21. However, ABC stores, by policy, allow it.
While Virginia codified the coming-of-age approach and applied it to drinking and classifying when someone should enter the public school system, its Department of Elections follows the birthday rule. According to Virginia code, someone can only vote if they turn 18 on or before that year’s Election Day – anyone born the day after is out of luck.
This mandatory age cap is a national one — Maryland also applies this age limit — though 16- to 17-year-olds can pre-register to vote even though they can’t officially enter the booth before their 18th birthday.
Contact Reporting Intern Eleanor Shaw at eshaw@richmonder.org