Ward County Approves Temporary Alcohol License for State Fairgrounds Vendor

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MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) - After the previous year's North Dakota State Fair, concerns were raised by the Ward County Sheriff’s Office due to several alcohol-related violations that occurred during the event.

As the year 2026 begins, Ward County is working closely with the fair's vendor to ensure that minors are not served alcohol. During a recent special meeting of the Ward County Commission, several liquor licenses were reviewed before they were set to expire at the end of the year.

Commissioner John Fjedahl mentioned that the commission took a closer look at the request from M&S Concessions, the company responsible for serving alcohol on the North Dakota State Fairgrounds. Following reports of underage drinking violations at last year’s state fair, the commission decided to suspend M&S's license for 10 days in August.

Jeff Senger, the owner of M&S Concessions, stated that the company took the situation "very seriously" and wanted to collaborate with the county and local public health providers to enhance their system.

Fjedahl explained that the commission temporarily approved the company’s license for the month of January, but with some conditions. One of these conditions involves "better defining the use and location within the whole fairgrounds facilities," according to Fjedahl.

He noted that the concessions company usually receives a "blanket" license without specifying where it will be used on the fairgrounds. This is different from other applications for special events, which list an exact time and place.

"As far as how it's policed and who's in charge of that is done properly," said Fjedahl.

There are approximately 10 buildings on the fairgrounds that are used to serve alcohol at some point during the year. Fjedahl emphasized that having more detailed information from the vendor would help determine if they have all the necessary resources to properly verify customers' ages.

"Know who the responsible parties are and if the responsible parties need to hire, bring in their own carding entities or whatever, to make sure it's managed properly," said Fjedahl.

Fjedahl explained that licenses are approved by the state’s attorney and the sheriff’s office before being presented to the commission. He added that the state fair itself is not responsible for the license, as they only provide the facilities.

The commissioners unanimously voted to grant the temporary license. They plan to revisit the decision no later than their meeting on January 13.

We contacted M&S Concessions for comment and will update you once we receive a response.