If you are a student who is thinking about holding a party at your apartment and selling alcohol, you might want to think twice.

DeKalb Police made two arrests last weekend for people who were doing just that.

Michael Cloud, 809 Edgebrook Drive, and Name Withheld, 827 W. Hillcrest Drive, both were arrested for selling alcohol without a license.

At each party, the person arrested was collecting money at the door to a party at which alcohol was being served.

DeKalb Police Lt. Robert McMorrow said, “The department stance for years has been that we will arrest anyone we locate who is basically setting up a tavern in their own home.”

The fine for selling alcohol without a license can range from $300 to $1,000.

McMorrow said the main problem is the people who are giving out the alcohol are not trained to monitor the people consuming it. “They don’t know when to cut people off,” McMorrow said.

This leads to what could be a very dangerous situation. If a person drinking at one of these parties leaves and gets into a car accident, the persons holding the party can be held responsible.

Taverns and bars carry dram shop insurance, which absolves them of liability, in order to help protect themselves in these situations.

However, in the case of an illegal party in someone’s home, the responsibility extends to the person whose home the party is held in, the person who bought the alcohol and the person who is accepting money at the door.

McMorrow said these parties are usually more of a problem around NIU at the beginning of the school year.

In one of the cases this weekend, an officer entered a party in plain clothes after standing in line and paying to enter.

McMorrow said this is done whenever an officer is available. Plain clothes is preferred to having a uniformed officer enter the party because in plain clothes an officer can get into the party before people are aware. McMorrow said this way the officer can see “exactly what’s going on.”