If you’re younger than 21 and try to buy booze, you expect to hear this question: “Can I see your ID?”

But that’s not always the case. Not even close.

State Excise Police have visited 1,263 alcohol retailers during a sting operation over the past few months, and nearly one-third of them — 417 — sold beer and booze to underage decoys. No questions asked.

“I’m just stunned how often they sell to me,” said James, an 18-year-old decoy who is being identified only by his first name.

“Every single place I go into has signs on the door and at the counter that say, ‘We ID,’ and even though they have those signs right in front of their faces, they don’t card you.”

Excise officers first began bringing 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds into alcohol retailers in April 2007. Their mission was simple: Attempt to buy, and record the results.

But until July, officers did not write citations against the businesses. The minors were not allowed to carry cash and would leave the premises once a server brought them a drink or a clerk rang up a product.

What officers found was staggering: 35 percent of the more than 9,000 establishments they visited failed to ask for ID when an underage customer tried to make a purchase. Those findings, in part, helped persuade lawmakers to allow the decoys to complete the purchase under the supervision of excise officers — and for the officers to issue citations.

That led to statewide sting operations that began in July and have resulted in 417 citations at bars, restaurants, grocery stores, liquor marts and other alcohol retailers.

The worst violators: restaurants and liquor stores.

More than 44 percent of restaurants and 40 percent of liquor stores failed the checks. Hotels allowed underage purchases 36 percent of the time, grocery stores 26 percent, drugstores 21 percent and private clubs 12 percent.

“Underage drinking is the number one youth drug problem, so these numbers are very concerning,” said Sarah Butler, a spokeswoman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving’s Indiana office. “This shows we as a community need to do a better job of sending a very direct message: Underage drinking is not acceptable.”

Sgt. Monty McMahan, supervisor for the Excise Police’s Central Indiana district, said the numbers surprised him but also show the importance of the decoy program.

“Before we started this program,” McMahan said, "it was harder to enforce and was hit and miss because you’d have to catch a kid going in and buying something somewhere.

“Now, we’ve got the sure thing.”

The fines can be as high as $1,000 for the first offense. Since July 1, officers have issued 22 citations in Marion and the surrounding counties in Central Indiana, but McMahon said the effort here has been rolled out more slowly than in other places in the state.

Two of the Marion County citations have been issued to Village Liquors stores.

On Oct. 17, an Excise Police sting caught Village Liquors at 3612 W. 30th St. selling to a minor.

Ryan Cobb, the manager of that store, said he and the owner had heard the Excise Police were running stings from other liquor store owners and called the clerk on duty to stress that he card every customer.

Minutes later, a woman who is a regular customer came in with her daughter, Cobb said. She bought a case of 24-ounce Budweiser cans, and her daughter bought a single 24-ounce can.

Four hours later, Excise Police returned to the store to inform Cobb that his employee had sold to a minor.

“Our policy is if they look under 30 or if you suspect they even possibly could be underage, then card them,” Cobb said. “I went back and watched the surveillance tape, and the daughter didn’t look under 30, but I guess she was. Turns out she was 19.”

Cobb said the mother returned to the store a few days later and said the Excise Police had recruited her and her daughter a week before in the store’s parking lot.

However, Jennifer Fults, a public affairs officer with the Excise Police, said excise officers work only with underage youths contracted though the Indiana Prevention Resource Center, which hires the workers. Fults said they do not recruit decoys on site at a retailer.

The violation was the second of the year for the store, so it was fined $2,500 and will have to close for three to seven days.

“It was a big setup. These guys don’t have anything better to do than to come in here and get people caught up so they can get a bigger paycheck?” Cobb said. “The sign on our door says clearly no one under the age of 21 should come in, and for a law enforcement officer to bring somebody in who is under 21 to set somebody up is ridiculous.”

McMahan, the officer in charge of the Central Indiana district, said managers such as Cobb have no excuse.

“They all received notifications about the program before it started,” he said. “The word is getting around, so they know about it, but they’re still surprised when they’re the one that gets caught.”

Fults also disputed the contention that using an underage decoy oversteps the boundaries of law enforcement.

“This allows us to have someone go in and truly see if the business will sell to someone who is actually underage,” she said. “We feel it’s essential.”

DC’s Pub in Zionsville also was issued a violation by the Excise Police for selling to a minor. Owner Chris Ward, though, didn’t have any complaints, saying: “They’re just doing their job. That’s the way it goes.”

Two Kroger stores — one in Greenwood and the other on the Far Southside — also have been cited this month.

“That’s disappointing,” said John Elliott, a public affairs manager for Kroger. “Having failed stings, frankly, it’s upsetting. There will be some stern action taken within Kroger, I can assure you.”

Elliott, however, stressed that the violations represented just two of the more than 4 million alcohol transactions that take place at Kroger’s Indiana stores every year. “Our target is zero violations, and anything more than zero is not acceptable,” he said. “This program clearly points out where the error in the system is: the ID check. It comes down to having the proper judgment. It comes down to the clerk.”

The Indiana Retail Council, which represents grocery and convenience stores; the Indiana Restaurant Association; and the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association, which represents bars and taverns, support the excise program.

“No segment of the industry is doing very well, but these numbers are way too high, and we’re concerned about that,” said John Livengood, who represents the restaurant and liquor store associations. “I think this has served as a wake-up call for a lot of people.”

Grant Monahan, executive director of the retail council, agreed.

“To us, these numbers are not good enough,” he said. “Our members know they need to improve these numbers, and we think these compliance checks will help retailers do that.”

But Monahan is concerned that the Excise Police “tend to pick minors who really look much older than they actually are.” Still, he said, that is no excuse, and retailers “need to do a better job of checking IDs and asking the appropriate questions at the point of sale.”

Fults said the Excise Police do not look for participants who appear older and that decoys are no longer allowed to participate once they are within three months of their 21st birthday.

“When I started this job, I told my mom I doubted anyone would sell to me, because I don’t think I look like I’m close to being over 21,” said James, the 18-year-old decoy. “I’m still surprised how often people sell to me.”

Since August, James has visited about 150 alcohol retailers, and he, too, said he’s successful in making a purchase about one-third of the time.

“I think about 90 percent of the time, it’s not that they don’t care, but they’re really just not thinking about it,” he said. “Other times, they’re just really busy or just lazy.”

James vividly remembers his first sting at a convenience store.

He said he picked out some cheap beer, nervously walked to the counter and took out his cash. The clerk took the money and handed James his beer.

No questions asked.